By Dan Plouffe
Ottawa natives Jamie and Adam Cutts were beat up on the whitewater by the end of last summer, but the C-2 canoe pair are hoping living through that tough experience in the 2011 season will now pay off when they compete in the March 9-11 Pan American Olympic qualifier in Brazil.
Their 38th-place finish at last year’s world championships was disappointing after training for months in advance on the tough course in Bratislava, Slovakia.
“It’s definitely the biggest, most powerful whitewater course we’ve been on so far,” recalls Adam. “I think by the time worlds came, we were both worn out physically and emotionally from the training.”
The 20- and 25-year-old brothers (Jamie being the eldest) largely paid their own way to compete in some of the world’s biggest whitewater races – no small expense simply for transportation, let alone lodging and meals.
“It sounds great, but especially in Eastern Europe, it gets to be a little tiring,” explains Jamie, who loved visiting the London Olympic venue for training, although his food review is not quite as good. “London was actually the worst. A lot of the restaurants were greasy fish and chips types of places.”
On top of poor food, Adam says there are times when “you’re sick of being on the road, and sick of your brother.”
“I think we get along pretty well, all things considered,” adds Jamie, who believes that competing as a sibling team can be easier since there is the guarantee they’ll be honest with one another. “At the end of the day, we’re brothers and we get back to being pretty friendly no matter what happens.”
But through all the struggles, the Cutts keep at it because of their drive to reach to the top in their sport.
“Some of our coaches have told us that after a long trip like last summer that you might not see the results right away, but I think the whole trip itself was a pretty cool experience to get that long exposure to the top level paddlers,” Adam maintains.
The U.S. boat will be the Cutts’ top challenger for the lone Olympic berth up for grabs. The Nepean High School grads are ranked slightly behind the Americans, but beat them earlier this year in a dual race on U.S. water.
“It’s always been at the back of our minds that it’s possible for us to make the Olympics,” Jamie says.
“It’s exciting,” Adam adds. “Regardless of where we are in the world, we’re still the top Canadian boat in our field and we’re right up there with the Americans, so that keeps us motivated.”
Other Ottawa River Runners competing for Olympic berths include John Hastings in K-1 men, Cameron Smedley and Julian Potvin-Bernal in C-1 men, and Thea Froelich and Sarah Bowdens in K-1 women.
Find schedule and results for the qualifier here: Link