By Brendan McConnell
Sending an Ottawa athlete to a world championship is pretty impressive for any local program. But sending seven of them to compete on this year’s biggest international stage? Almost unfathomable, unless you’re the Ottawa River Runners.
July and August are going to be busy months for the seven elite whitewater canoe and kayak athletes who call Ottawa and the Pumphouse home.
With the under-23 world championships coming up July 17-21 in Slovenia and several World Cups before Sept. 11-15’s senior world championships in Czech Republic, Canoe-Kayak Canada is hoping to bring home some hardware – a goal that high-performance manager and three-time Olympian James Cartwright says is well within reach.
“It’s certainly exciting,” enthuses the Ottawa native. “Ottawa’s been a real strong bed for the national whitewater kayak and canoe team for about the last decade or so.”
Among local entries this year are Michael Tayler (Canada’s lone canoe slalom 2012 Olympian), John Hastings (a 10-year River Runner kayak veteran), Cameron Smedley (who’s approaching double-digits in national titles at age 22), Alexandra McGee (who’s eying Rio 2016 when her C1 women’s event makes its Olympic debut), and K1 sr. worlds competitor Thea Froehlich. Up-and-comers Liam Smedley and Spencer Pomeroy are both C1 entrants at the U23 worlds.
While all the elite athletes made the move to Europe in June to prepare for their respective meets, training in Ottawa in the spring was made harder due to the closure of the Pumphouse – the huge outdoor whitewater course that houses the River Runners and the national team – due to construction at nearby Lebreton Flats.
This meant that the Ottawa athletes had to either focus on flatwater training or travel a bit further to places like Valleyfield, Que., to find real whitewater.
“Whitewater is sort of a sport where you have to be ready to adapt to different circumstances,” notes Cartwright, adding that many athletes of all levels often have to deal with unexpected conditions and interruptions.
Despite the closure, however, Cartwright says the elite athletes were not affected as much as the River Runners, who have had to shuttle their boats to choppier water.
A Familiar Olympic Face
This year’s U23 worlds will be the first major international event for Tayler since his top-20 K1 finish at the London 2012 Olympics – an experience he promises he’s going to take forward into this year’s meet.
“It’s definitely going to be a huge help because after you’ve raced in front of 12,000 people, it’s kind of tough to get nervous again,” explains Tayler from his temporary training centre in Slovakia. “But at the same time, you still have to take every race seriously if you want a good result.”
Tayler expects the competition in Slovenia to be tight, especially given the presence of athletes who have won World Cup medals and are amongst the world’s best despite their U23 status. The 21-year-old wants to reach the final for an assured top-10 result and then take a run at the podium in that single race.
“That’s kind of my goal there, to make the finals,” says Tayler, who will return to Ottawa after worlds prior to the Canadian championships in Canmore, Alta. “Then to kind of see what happens and hopefully put down a good race in the final push.”
After a year that included a visit to the Olympics and full-time classes at Carleton University, Tayler says he’s just happy to get back to racing and is looking ahead to the next three years before Rio in 2016.
Worlds for 4 Rideau Paddlers
In flatwater canoe-kayak, four Rideau Canoe Club athletes will compete at world championships – Steven Jorens (sr. worlds), Maddie Schmidt (jr. worlds), and Jean Dagher and Troy Chown (paracanoe).