Birthdate: August 5, 1998
Hometown: Trois-Rivières
Canoe Club: Trois-Rivières
Sport: Women’s canoe
Coach: Mathieu Pelletier
RECENT RESULTS:
Bronze medals – U23 worlds in C2 200m (2017)
FOLLOW THIS ATHLETE:
Instagram: @annesoparent
FUN FACTS:
First year on the National Team: 2017
Birthdate: September 18, 2001
Hometown: Edmonton, AB
Canoe Club: Cascade
Sport: Women’s canoe
Coach: Jan Kruk / Adam Mayo / Fred Loyer
Instagram: @sophia_jensen_123
Website: https://sophiajensen.com/
16 year old Sophia Jensen joined the Canoe Sprint National Team in October 2017. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Sophia has been a member of the Cascade Club (Québec) for only 4 years.
Sophia tried canoeing when she first moved to Chelsea, Quebec. She had never heard of sprint canoe and decided to sign up for an 8 week program. She was also signed up for soccer, skiing, volleyball, and field hockey at the same time, but Canoe Kayak was by far her favourite sport she tried.
She won two silver medals at the 2017 Junior Worlds (C1 500m and C1 200m) and also won gold(C1 1000m) and bronze(C1 5000m) at the 2017 Canada Games. Sophia also won 3 gold medals at the 2017 Pan American Championships in Ibarra, Ecuador.
She hopes to qualify for the Junior World Championships in 2018 and is excited that women’s canoe has been added to the Olympic program!
FUN FACTS:
Describe the sport in one word: Exhilarating
Nickname: Sophia
Quote: “it doesn’t matter how good your technique or how fast you are, all that matters is how badly you want to win”
Role model: Laurence-Vincent Lapointe
Favourite training: Sprint work and cross coutry skiing
Pre-race meal: Whatever the hotel has to offer
Post-race meal: Ice cream
Off-season interest(s): Art
Other sport(s): Volleyball, and cross country skiing
Superhero: Thor
Favourite word: Flabbergasted
TV show: The office
Movie: Star wars (all of them)
Book: Lord of the rings
Birthdate: December 3, 1996
Hometown: Mississauga, ON
Canoe Club: Mississauga Canoe Club
Sport: Women’s canoe
Coach: Jan Kruk / Kyle Jeffery
Katie is a proud member of the Mississauga Canoe Club since 2006! She has been on the senior national team since 2016 and has represented Canada at a number of international events.
Katie has won 4 gold medals at World Championships since 2014. These gold medals include: C1 200m at Junior Worlds in 2014, C1 200m at U23 Worlds in 2016, C1 200m at U23 Worlds in 2017, C2 500m at Senior Worlds 2017.
She has been a dominating force with Laurence Vincent-Lapointe in C2 500m, winning gold and beating their previous World Records in this event at both World Cups of the 2018 season (Szeged and Duisburg). Their new world record is 1:51.428!
Katie has her sights set on competing at the upcoming Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024 and LA 2028 Olympic Games where she hopes to compete in the C2 500m and C1 200m events!
RECENT RESULTS:
2019- World Cup 1: Bronze C1 200m, Gold C2 500m; World Cup 2: Gold C1 500m, Gold C2 500m; U23 Worlds: Gold C1 200m, Gold C1 500m; Sr Worlds: Bronze C1 500m, Gold C2 500m; Sprint Canoe Super Cup: Silver Mixed C2 100m; Bronze C1 350m
FOLLOW THIS ATHLETE:
Instagram: @k.vincent_
Twitter: @kvincent96
Website: kitkatkanu.mli.st
FUN FACTS:
First year on the National Team:
2013
What are you most proud of?
Becoming an athlete who uses sport to better themselves as a person on and off the water.
Objectives for the coming years?
Continue to grow and push my own limits
Why was your first race?
Mississauga home regatta june 2006
What is the biggest challenge about your sport?
Gaining a bigger fan base and making the sport accessible around the world
Describe the sport in one word:
Power & grace
Nickname: Kitkat
Quote: “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” – Aristotle
Role model: Adam van Koeverdan, Mark Oldershaw
Favourite training: Catch-Exit-Together
Pre-race meal: Light breakfast and coffee
Post-race meal: A cold beer with my teammates. Hard work deserves reward.
Off-season interest(s): Travel, eating
Other sport(s): Alpine Skiing
Guilty pleasure: Fine cheese
TV show: The Office
Movie: Step Brothers
Band: Busty and the Bass
Birthdate:September 18, 1998
Hometown:Lac-Beauport
Canoe Club:Lac-Beauport Canoe-Kayak Club
Sport:Women’s canoe
Coach:Luc Grenier
Instagram:@anna.roycyr
Anna’s first year on the senior National Team was in 2016. Before that, Anna represented Canada at the Junior World Championships in 2015 where she finished 3rd. She also came 4th this 2018 season in the C2 200m event at World Cup 1 in Szeged, and 6th at the same world cup in C1 500m!
Her goal is to someday compete in the Olympic Games.
Birthdate: May 27 1992
Hometown: Trois-Rivières
Canoe Club: Trois-Rivières Canoe-Kayak Club
Sport: Women’s canoe
Coach: Mathieu Pelletier
Laurence started paddling in 2005 at the Trois-Rivières Canoe Club, and she has established herself as arguably the best female canoer in the world.
She stepped onto the international scene in 2010 and won two gold medals at the World Championships. She repeated her results in 2011 and won another two gold medals in C1 200 and C2 500 with her partner Mallorie Nicholson and again in 2013 with partner Sara-Jane Caumartin. She also became the inaugural Under 23 World Champion in 2013. The streak continued, as Laurence won gold at Worlds in 2014, and again in 2017 in C2 500m and C1 200m.
Laurence currently holds the world record for C1 200m with a time of 44.502 seconds posted at World Cup #1 of 2018 in Szeged, Hungary. She also holds the world record with partner Katie Vincent in C2 500m, with a time of 1:51.428 seconds posted at that same event.
Laurence has been a big voice in advocating for the inclusion of women’s canoe on the Olympic programme and her efforts have paid off- C2 500m and C1 200m disciplines were added to the Olympic schedule for Tokyo 2020! Laurence is hungry for an Olympic medal.
FOLLOW THIS ATHLETE:
Instagram: @laurence_vincentlapointe
FUN FACTS:
First year on the national team:
2010
What are you most proud of?
My stubborness
Objectives for the coming years?
Gold medals in the Olympics (my dream)
Why is paddling the best sport?
It’s a sport where you can feel free, powerful and be outside all the time, can you ask for more?
Canoe or Kayak, why?
Canoe, duh. I just cannot stand to be on my butt for that long.
When was your first race?
Probably in 2004, I most likely didn’t finish in my boat.
What is your best memory about the sport?
All the afternoon with my friends that allowed my to become who I am now.
What is the biggest challenge about your sport?
Balance.
Describe the sport in one word:
Power
Nickname: Lau
Quote: Everyone will hurt at the end of the race, the one who will win is the one that can accept it and keep going past that.
Role model: Dave Frost
Favourite training: Beside paddling? Weights.
Pre-race meal: Something sweet and salty.
Post-race meal: Something good.
Off season interest(s): Spending time with my family and friends (I rarely get to see them)
Other sport(s): Synchronized swimming, water polo (for fun)
Guilty pleasure: Binge watching netflix
Superhero: Wonder Woman
TV show: Brooklyn nine-nine
Movie: The Illusionist
Book: Wheel of time
Band: Panic!At the Disco
