Katie Vincent on the podium. (Photo by Balint Vekassy)
PITESTI, ROMANIA (July 30, 2017) – It was women’s canoe dominating on the final day of the ICF Junior and U23 Sprint World Championships, earning three more medals for Team Canada. Combined with the silver medal from Saturday’s competition, this is Canada’s best performance at this event since 2013.
The highlight of the day was Katie Vincent (Mississauga, ON) who successfully defended her gold medal in the U23 Women’s C-1 200m, rebounding from a disappointing fourth place finish yesterday in the 500m sprint.
“Katie showed us a lot today. She really knuckled down and got past her disappointment in the 500 with a very short turnaround,” said Graham Barton, Canoe Kayak Canada’s Chief Technical Officer. “It’s those kinds of qualities that make the difference on the world stage and have made her a repeat world champion.”
Elsewhere in women’s canoe, Sophia Jensen (Chelsea, QC) earned her second silver medal in as many days, coming second in the Junior Women’s C-1 200m. The 15-year-old phenom turned a lot of heads at this regatta and is eligible for the next two Junior World Championships.
Rowan Hardy-Kavanagh (Ottawa, ON) and Anne-Sophie Lavoie-Parent (Trois-Rivières, QC) took the bronze in the U23 Women’s C-2 200m, while Nadya Crossman-Serb (Winnipeg, MB) and Hannah MacIntosh (Dartmouth, NS) just missed the podium, coming fourth in the U23 Women’s C-2 500m.
“Our emphasis on centralized training has paid dividends for the women’s canoe program,” said Barton. “That said, with the addition of women’s canoe to the 2020 Olympic program, other countries are investing heavily in their athletes and the gap is closing quickly. We have to understand that the fast times we’re clocking now won’t be fast enough two years down the road. We need to keep getting better.”
The centralized training program also proved invaluable to the men’s kayak program after an illness sidelined two paddlers. With the benefit of an intensive training camp this spring, filling a vacant spot on the U23 Men’s K-4 crew was seamless. The Canadian foursome of Maxence Beauchesne (Trois-Rivières, QC), Nicholas Matveev (Toronto, ON), Alexander Scott (Halifax, NS) and Pierre-Luc Poulin (Lac Beauport, QC) came within one-hundredth-of-a-second of the podium in today’s 500m final, and fell just one-tenth-of-a-second short of a gold medal.
“Overall, it was a real eye opener for many of these young paddlers, who now understand how difficult it is to medal at the world level, and how much work it takes to get there,” added Barton. “For some of the more experienced athletes, this was a great lead up to the senior worlds and, eventually, to what we hope will be best-ever performances at the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo.”
Katie Vincent and the Men’s K-4 crew will lead Team Canada at the Senior Sprint World Championships in the Czech Republic from August 23rd to 27th.
Complete event results can be found here.
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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