Birthdate: June 6, 1999
Hometown: Dartmouth, NS
Canoe Club: Mic Mac Amateur Aquatic Club
Sport: Women’s kayak
Coach: Chad Brooks, Chris Chiasson
Grace started out at Senobe Aquatic Club learning how to paddle. At the age of 14, she decided to switch to MIC MAC. Ever since then her love for paddling grew stronger. Her first year making a team was Olympic Hopes in Poland, and once she raced for Canada her love for racing grew. Grace went on after that to race at another Olympic Hopes in Hungary, and two Junior Worlds (in Belarus and Romania). She placed 7th in Romania in 2017, and hopes to make many more A finals in the future for Canada.
FOLLOW THIS ATHLETE:
Instagram: @gracewhebby
FUN FACTS:
First year on the national team:
2018
What are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of representing this country. I love where I live and the people I am surrounded by and
Objectives for the coming years?
To get faster with every opportunity I’m given. In the upcoming years I want to represent Canada internationally at Worlds and go to the Olympic Games.
Canoe or Kayak, why?
Kayak! Maybe because I do it everyday? But maybe I’m just biased 😉
When was your first race?
At the age of 6, I raced my first ever k1 race at the Atom Bomb regatta at Orenda Canoe Club
What is your best memory about the sport?
My best memory about the sport would be when I got to race in the final at last years trials. Leading up to the last set I was so confident in my abilities, but once I made that final and was finally on the line with the fastest girls in Canada I couldn’t have asked for much more. All that was left was a big head wind and a race plan to execute. That moment makes me smile.
What is the biggest challenge about your sport?
I think the biggest challenge about our sport is remembering the process it takes every year to get to racing season. In my opinion, racing is the fun stuff. The most challenging moments are the 10 other months of training leading up to those 2 months in the racing season, where everything needs to come together in under two minutes, or forty seconds. Getting through those 10 months of the year is hard and painful, but having those awesome moments in the season makes it all worth it.
Describe the sport in one word:
Determination
Nickname: G
Quote: “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Henry David Thoreau
Pre-race meal: Banana and crackers
Post-race meal: Boost drink
Guilty pleasure: One Direction
Superhero: The Hulk
TV Show: Grey`s Anatomy
Movie: The Avengers
