LIMA, PERU (July 28, 2019) – Canadian paddlers kicked off the podium appearances on the first two days of the Pan American Games with a gold and silver medal. The women’s K4 crew of Alanna Bray-Lougheed, Alexa Irvin, Andréanne Langlois and Anna Negulic was the highlight second day of the Games in Peru, winning Canada’s first gold medal of the event. This was the second medal for the sprint paddlers, following Drew Hodges and Craig Spence’s silver medal win in the C2 1000m race.
The Canadian K4 crew had an excellent race on Sunday, finishing the 500m race with a time of 1 minute and 34.36 seconds. Just 0.330 seconds behind was Mexico, followed by Argentina.
“We were all feeling really optimistic going in to this race. Our training leading up to the event was going really well so we were excited to get on the water and put a great race under our belts, said the crew. “We’ve seen so much support already from all of Canada, so winning this medal is like a big thank you!”
The men’s K4 crew of Dominik Crête, Eric Ellery, Marshall Hughes and Jarret Kenke just missed the podium and came in fourth place.
Drew Hodges and Craig Spence put down an impressive performance earlier in the weekend, claiming silver in the C2 1000m. Cuba’s Fernando Jorge and Sergey Torres Madrigal were the gold medal winners, and the Mexican crew of Rigoberto Camilo and Guillermo Quirino won the bronze.
“I am always so proud to represent Canada so winning a medal at this big of a competition is such an amazing feeling,” said Spence. “Moving forward, this is a big step towards Tokyo. This is a great learning experience about how to compete at a Games and against high level competitors. Drew and I are an even stronger team after this competition and it will greatly help our growth as athletes.”
The competition will continue for another two days for the sprint paddlers, with many more final races for the Canadian team. On Monday, Marshall Hughes will race in the K1 1000m final, as will Drew Hodges in the C1 1000m final. The K2 crew of Jarret Kenke and Jacob Steele will compete for a medal in the 1000m final at noon EST. At 12:45pm EST, Rowan Hardy-Kavanaugh and Anne Sophie Lavoie-Parent will race in the C2 500m finals, followed by the final of the K1 500m where Andréanne Langlois will compete.
The final day of competitions on Tuesday includes the women’s K2 500m final, the women’s C1 200m final and the men and women K1 200m finals.
View the full schedule and results here.
Visit Canoe Kayak Canada’s website to get more information and make sure to follow @PlanetCanoe and @CanoeKayakCAN for more live updates.
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About Canoe Kayak Canada
Canoe Kayak Canada (CKC) 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:
Laurel MacAdam
Communications Assistant
Colleen Coderre
Communications Lead