Competing in Extreme Slalom Canoe on Ottawa’s iconic Pumphouse course are #144 Florence Maheu (Quebec), #147 Lois Betteridge (Ontario), #148 Gemma Grochmal (Alberta), and #145 Natasha O’Connell (Ontario) in the background. (Photo credit: Carolyn Pullen)
OTTAWA, ONTARIO (August 4, 2017) – For the second time this summer, Ottawa is hosting a major national paddling championship. Taking advantage of the unprecedented excitement around Canada 150 celebrations, Canoe Kayak Canada and the Ottawa River Runners Club are staging the Whitewater National Slalom Championships this weekend. This event follows the July 1-2 Canada Cup Sprint Regatta that drew elite teams from Canada, Mexico, the US, and Australia, along with club teams from across Ontario and Quebec.
This weekend, elite paddlers from six provinces and the United States will take on the challenging Pumphouse Course in the heart of the Nation’s Capital. Winners in the senior categories will be crowned on Sunday. National Team members are using this event as a pivotal tune-up race in advance of World Cup events later this month in Europe, followed by the World Championships in Pau, France in September.
The Pumphouse course has also been the site this week for Downriver Sprint and Extreme Slalom Canoe races involving athletes of all ages, from their teens right into their seventies. Results from the Downriver races can be found here.
“This is such a great showcase for the whitewater discipline,” said James Cartwright, High Performance Manager at Canoe Kayak Canada. “Paddlers young and old have the opportunity to race on the same course as this country’s best whitewater athletes. Staging it in Ottawa, with all the Canada 150 celebrations going on around us, will make this a really memorable experience for everybody.”
The Ottawa River Runners are marking the occasion with the official opening of a new, solar-powered clubhouse to support a full range of programs for paddlers of all ages and abilities.
Click here for more information on the Whitewater National Championships.
About Canoe Kayak Canada
Canoe Kayak Canada is the national governing body for competitive paddling in Canada, one of Canada’s top performing summer sports with a total of 24 Olympic medals, and a leader in the Paralympic movement. Canoe Kayak Canada is a member-based organization that includes an intricate network of clubs as well as provincial, territorial and divisional paddling associations. Elite National Team athletes proudly represent Canada at various competitions around the globe – most notably the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Pan American Games, ICF World Cups as well as Junior, Under 23 and Senior World Championships. Follow Canoe Kayak Canada on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
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For more information:
James Cartwright
High Performance Manager
613.715 0727