The big four Canoe Kayak competitions to watch this week

May
18
Uncategorized
Posted By: admin@canoekayak.ca

OTTAWA, ON (May 18, 2016) – It’s a play-off like week for Canadian paddlers who are competing at four large-scale competitions. Most are part of the qualification process for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For paddling fans the excitement is building as they prepare to watch and track the following four competitions:

  • ICF Paracanoe World Championships (Dusiburg, Germany)
  • Pan American Sprint Championships & Continental Olympic Qualifier (Gainesville, Georgia, USA)
  • ICF Sprint World Cup 1 (Dusiburg, Germany)
  • Canoe Slalom National Team Trials (Pemberton, BC)

World Cup 1 will be televised and webcast by CBC Sports, the Official Broadcast partner of Canoe Kayak Canada. Here is a run-down of who to watch, and how to watch:

 

ICF Paracanoe World Championships (Duisburg, Germany)

The ICF Paracanoe World Championships began yesterday in Duisburg, Germany and both Canadian athletes have advanced to finals on Thursday. Erica Scarff (Toronto, ON) will be competing to qualify Canada a quota spot in the Women’s KL3 for the 2016 Paralympic Games. Scarff was one spot away from doing so last August and in qualifying for tomorrow’s final, she has effectively earned a quota as there are at least 3 additional spots are up for grabs and all five countries Scarff will race against in the final have already qualified quotas. This will be the first Paralympic Games to include Paracanoe.

Christine Gauthier (Pointe-Claire, QC) has already qualified a quota spot in her event with a sixth place finish at Worlds last August. In order to be nominated to the Canadian team both athletes will still have to prove themselves as the top Canadians in their respective classes at National Team Trials 2 in Montreal from June 24 to 26.

 

Pan American Sprint Championships & Continental Olympic Qualifier (Gainesville, Georgia, USA)

The heat is on at Lake Lanier as sprint paddlers take their final shot at earning additional Olympic quota spots. Four-time Olympic medalist Adam van Koeverden will compete in the final on Friday and a win there will earn him a spot on the Canadian Olympic Team. For the others who will be chasing quota spots, this is the second step in the qualification process following National Team Trials two weeks ago. Depending on the number of spots qualified in each discipline, selections are likely to continue into World Cups and race-offs at National Team Trials 2 in Montreal.

In Men’s Canoe, a maximum of two additional quota spots can be earned. Depending on which events are qualified, assessments will go to World Cups to determine which event has the best international medal potential.

Men’s K2 can also earn a maximum of two quota spots between the K2 1000m and K2 200m. As long as at least one crew earns the quotas, World Cups will be used to make the decision based on international performance. In the case of the Men’s K2 200m, crew composition could change after World Cups.

For Women’s Kayak there is an opportunity to earn up to three additional athlete quota spots including the K1 200m and K2 500m. The athletes to fill those spots will likely be determined at race-offs at National Team Trials 2 in Montreal.

Athletes by Event

  • Men’s K1 1000m – Adam van Koeverden (Oakville, ON)
  • Men’s K2 1000m – Pierre-Luc Poulin (Lac Beauport, QC) & Marshall Hughes (Waverley, NS)
  • Men’s K2 200m – Étienne Morneau (Québec, QC) & Ryan Cochrane (Windsor, NS)
  • Women’s K1 200m – Andréanne Langlois (Québec, QC)
  • Women’s K2 500m – Genevieve Orton (Lake Echo, NS) & Kathleen (KC) Fraser (Toronto, ON)
  • Men’s C1 1000m – Mark Oldershaw (Burlington, ON)
  • Men’s C1 200m – Ben Tardioli (Ottawa, ON)
  • Men’s C2 1000m – Paul Bryant & Roland Varga (Richmond Hill, ON)

The Pan American Championships will take place in conjunction with the Continental Qualifier and Canada also has a junior and senior team competing. Jessica MacDonald of Dartmouth, NS proudly carried the Canadian flag into the opening ceremonies this evening.

 

ICF Sprint World Cup 1 (Duisburg, Germany)

Friday to Sunday

CBC TV Broadcast Times (Road to the Olympic Games)

  • Saturday from 5 – 6 p.m. EST
  • Sunday from 2 – 3 p.m. EST (2 p.m. local time in Western Canada)

CBC webcast times – watch online at cbcsports.ca or via the CBC Sports app.

  • Saturday from 6:30 – 8 a.m. EST & from 5 – 6 p.m. EST
  • Sunday from 4:30 – 6 a.m. EST & from 2 – 3 p.m. EST

Follow Results

Six athletes will represent Canada at the first of three sprint World Cups to be broadcast on CBC Television. Two-time World Champion and Olympic bronze medalist Mark de Jonge along with Émilie Fournel (Montreal, QC) will headline the team as Canada’s two confirmed Olympic entries. Alex Scott will also compete in Men’s K1 200m. Pierre-Luc Laliberté (Pointe-Claire, QC) will race the Men’s C1 200m. Katie Vincent (Misissauga, ON) and Nadya Crossman-Serb (Winnipeg, MB) will compete in Women’s Canoe events. The full Canadian team will be in attendance for World Cups 2 and 3.

 

Canoe Slalom National Team Trials (Pemberton, BC)

Canada’s fastest canoe slalom paddlers will be charging down the course at the Rutherford Creek Whitewater Park this weekend. For the Men’s K1 and Men’s C1 athletes, results will count towards Olympic qualification. Some points have already been given out based on last year’s quota spot qualifications at the Pan American Games and World Championships.

The athletes will count their best runs this weekend towards team trials ranking and Olympic point accumulation. The field will get narrowed to a maximum of three athletes in each class who will head to Europe to compete at World Cups. Points accumulated at World Cups 2 and 3 will be the deciding factor for selections to the Canadian Olympic Team.

In Men’s K1, the scene is set for a rematch of the 2012 battle for the Olympic entry. The 2012 selection boiled down to a single run showdown between five athletes – any one of which could take the spot by winning the last race. Four of those athletes are back on the start list including; the 2012 victor Michael Tayler (Ottawa, ON); Ben Hayward (Edmonton, AB) who has made several World Cup finals over the course of this quadrennial, David Ford (Edmonton, AB) who is gunning for his sixth Olympic Games, and John Hastings (Aurora, ON) who retired after missing the 2012 spot but came back to qualify the Men’s K1 quota spot last year in Minden Hills, ON.

Cameron Smedley (Dunrobin, ON) is regarded as the frontrunner in Men’s C1. He’ll be joined in competition by his brother, Liam Smedley (Dunrobin, ON), Yannick Laviolette (Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QC) and Spencer Pomeroy (Ottawa, ON).

In addition to the Olympic selection process, the Trials will also be used to select athletes for additional senior teams. In Women’s C1, Haley Daniels (Calgary, AB) will compete. Daniels will also compete in Women’s K1 along with Pan American Games Champion Jazmyne Denhollander (Chilliwack, BC), Florence Maheu (Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QC), Jessica Groeneveld (Innisfail, AB), and Thea Froehlich (Ottawa, ON).

About Canoe Kayak Canada

Canoe Kayak Canada is the national governing body for competitive paddling in Canada. Paddling has been one of Canada’s top performing summer sports having won an impressive count of 24 Olympic medals. Canoe Kayak Canada is a member-based organization which 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:

Ian Miller
Communications and Marketing Officer, Canoe Kayak Canada
613.314.1352
imiller@canoekayak.ca