The crunch is on for Canadian paddlers trying to secure a position on the home team at the 2009 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. The event is being held at the Bell Aliant Racing Centre on Lake Banook in Dartmouth from August 12 to 16. Some athletes have already secured spots on the team after winning events at National Team Trials 2 on Lake Banook last weekend.
Karen Furneaux of Waverley and Andrew Russell of Dartmouth are among seven athletes who have locked down a spot to race in front of a home crowd. Mark Oldershaw of Burlington, ON, Gabriel Beauchesne-Sévigny and Richard Dober Jr. both of Trois-Rivières, QC, and Andrew Willows of Gananoque, ON, have also confirmed positions over the weekend.
2004 Olympic Champion Adam van Koeverden has secured his spot for Worlds in the K1 500 metre, but for the K1 1000 metre he is in the same undecided situation as many top Canadian paddlers.
Canada will announce its final team for Canoe ’09 after National Team Trials 3 in Montreal from July 17 to 19. Athletes will also be assessed during training camps, which start this week in Montreal and Ottawa and lead up to the trials.
Connor Taras of Waverley and Lyall Hatton of Bedford are still in contention for the K2 1000 metre spot at Worlds.
The Olympic canoe events have all been secured, which leaves Olympic medalist Tom Hall and runner-up Richard Dalton having to compete for a spot in C4 or a 200 metre event. Nova Scotians Ben Russell, Genevieve Orton, Una Lounder, Jillian D’Alessio, and Shaun Fair are still competing for crew boat positions.
The final set of National Team Trials will also determine Canada’s World entries for non-Olympic events, including the 200 metre sprint. “The 200 metre is one of my favorites,” said Karen Furneaux, who won a bronze medal at a World Cup in Hungary a few weeks ago. “There’s still lots of training to do and some more racing.”
Andrew Russell and his partner Beauchesne-Sévigny will focus their training on C2, but will also be competing at Trials to gain spots in 200 metre events. “We’re going to try to compete for a spot in the C4 200 at Worlds and some of us will try for the C1 200,” said Russell, “But mostly we’ll just put in a lot of hard work in C2 and gear up for the best at Worlds.”
The next three weeks are crucial for athletes still trying to make the team and for those with their sights set high on medaling in front of a home crowd at Canoe ‘09. The Canadian team will have strong support from the crowd as 100,000 spectators are expected to line the shores of the Bell Aliant Racing Centre on Lake Banook for the largest international sporting event yet held in Atlantic Canada.
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For more information contact:
Stacey Jones-Oxner
Communications Chair
902-424-4163
soxner@canoe09.ca
