HIGH ACHIEVERS: Slalom paddler Lois Betteridge chasing Olympic dream

By Martin Cleary

Lois Betteridge is a young woman in constant motion, whether on water, in the air or on land.

For the past two weekends, the Ottawa River Runners’ canoe and kayak slalom paddler competed in various races at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium to wrap up a 7½-week training session in Australia.

She spent almost a full day on Monday travelling from Sydney to Vancouver to Ottawa so she could enjoy a short break.

The Ottawa Sports Awards committee invited Betteridge to its annual awards dinner Wednesday night, since she was named the city’s canoe slalom athlete of the year for the second consecutive time. But she regrettably declined as she had other commitments around that time and is about to return to training with a serious eye on qualifying for her first Summer Olympics in Paris.

On Sunday, she will serve as an ambassador during the RBC Training Ground tryout, which is the Canadian Olympic Committee’s official talent search for non-nationally-carded athletes ages 14 to 25.

Let’s stop there and catch our breath. OK, let’s look at Betteridge’s agenda now that she’s home for a couple of weeks.

Betteridge, 26, has been a part of the Canoe-Kayak Canada’s national team program (junior, U23 and senior women’s) for the past decade, but she never had an opportunity to participate in the RBC Training Ground experience.

There was a year when she registered for it, but she injured herself the night before the strength, power, speed and endurance testing.

Betteridge, however, will get a full understanding and feel for what it’s all about on Sunday in the Montpetit Hall gymnasium, when she’ll meet dozens of Ottawa and regional athletes hoping to be discovered by national sports organizations looking for future Olympians.

The RBC Training Ground tryout session runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Entering its ninth year, the program has directed and funded hundreds of athletes into the Canadian sports system and seven athletes have become Olympic medallists. Many athletes may be recruited for sports they know little about, but have caught the eye of technical experts because of their various athletic strengths.

“It’s part of what I want to do,” Betteridge said in a phone interview Wednesday about her role as an ambassador. “I know a big part of it is being a role model and engaging with people in sport.”

She will encourage and talk to the athletes as they prepare for and recover from their various testing sessions. She certainly can relate to these young athletes, who are starting down a long pathway that could lead to an Olympic opportunity.

Betteridge has represented Canada between 2015 and 2023 at 10 world championships – five world seniors, four U23s and one juniors – as well as two Pan-American Games. But she hopes to achieve her first Olympic opportunity later this year in Paris.

At the recent 2023 Pan-Am Games in Santiago, Chile, she won silver medals in both the women’s canoe slalom and kayak slalom. She is the only Canadian woman to compete in the canoe and kayak events as well as kayak cross.

Last year, she also was the silver medallist in the women’s senior canoe slalom at the Pan-American championships in Brazil.

During her first Pan-Am Games in Lima, Peru, in 2019, she earned a canoe slalom silver medal.

Betteridge’s double-medal performance at last year’s Pan-Am Games caught the attention of the Ottawa Sports Awards Dinner selectors, who named her the sport’s top athlete for 2023.

“Unfortunately, I had to decline (the invitation),” Betteridge added. “I only got home on Monday and I have a few other engagements and have to be up early on Thursday morning.”

She regretted not being able to sold-out attend, since she also missed last year’s dinner and receiving the award for the first time because she was training in France.

“I’m grateful (for the award). It’s nice to be recognized. It’s sweet,” Betteridge continued.

The recent Canadian team training camp in Australia also was part of the Canoe-Kayak Canada Olympic selection process as the slalom paddlers participated in the Oceania championships Jan. 25-28 and the Australian Open championships last weekend.

But the Pan-American championships in early March in Rio de Janeiro will determine if Canada will have any slalom representation at the Paris Olympics. In Betteridge’s case, there is only one female quota spot remaining available from the Americas zone as the United States and Brazil have secured the first two.

During her Australian competitions, Betteridge was the top Canadian female slalom paddler, placing seventh in the women’s canoe final at the Oceania championships and 10th at the Australian Open. She showed strong consistency in the Oceania slalom race and improved her placement in each race, finishing 10th in her heat and ninth in the semifinal before climbing another two spots in the final.

Betteridge is confident she can earn an Olympic quota spot at next month’s Pan-American championships, especially after her solid results in Australia.

“I felt quite good in the water, racing in high-pressure races,” she explained. “I was definitely not disappointed, but not surprised. I met my expectations. It’s good to hit the target.”

Betteridge has been working on the mental aspect of her sport for the past four years, has returned to training with Ottawa’s Michal Staniszewski, the national team coach, and has rediscovered the fun aspect of slalom.

Here is the list of the winners from the Ottawa Sports Awards Dinner on Wednesday night:

MAJOR AWARDS

Athletes of the Year – Ivanie Blondin (long-track speed skating) and Jared Schmidt (alpine ski cross)

Coaches of the Year – Fabienne Blizzard (basketball) and Scott Faithfull (swimming)

Teams of the Year – Carleton University Ravens women’s basketball and Carleton University Ravens men’s basketball

Lifetime Award, Technical Official – Jean (Rocky) Lamontagne (speed skating)

Lifetime Award, Volunteer/Administrator – Bruce Meredith (adaptive skiing)

Lifetime Award, Coach – Heather Wallace (squash)

Lifetime Award, Media – Martin Comtois (Le Droit)

Mayor’s Cup – Phyllis Bergmans (ringette)

Spirit of Sport Award – Achol Akot (basketball)

Ottawa Sports Endowment – Prezdential Basketball

Special Recognition – The Octokids

INDIVIDUAL SPORT AWARD WINNERS

Archery – Eric Peters

Artistic swimming – Nanxi Jiang

Artistic swimming, adapted – Alana Ittusardjuat

Athletics – Bianca Borgella

Badminton – Aayush Saha

Baseball – Preston Schwartz

Basketball – Achol Akot

Basketball, wheelchair – Desmond O’Shaughnessy

Biathlon – Shilo Rousseau

Bobsleigh – Pat Norton

Bowling, 5-pin – Spencer Murray

Boxing – William Hall-Bastien

Canoe-Kayak, sprint – Madeline Schmidt

Canoe-Kayak, slalom – Lois Betteridge

Cricket – Abdallah Muhammad

Curling – Emily Deschenes

Diving – Kate Miller

Equestrian – Taylor Wood

Fencing – Trinity Lowthian

Field hockey – Rowan Harris

Figure skating – David Shteyngart

Football – Max Charbonneau

Football, Aussie Rules – Riley Turpin

Football, flag – Soraya Bard

Football, Gaelic – Joseph McGuire

Football, touch – Bryan Vallin

Goalball – Amy Burk

Golf – Isaiah Ibit

Gymnastics, artistic – Dalla Weisz

Gymnastics, rhythmic – Selena Pang

Hockey, ball – Hokey Langan

Hockey, ice – Oliver Bonk

Hockey, para – Tyrone Henry

Judo – Ben Kendrick

Lacrosse – Cam Wyers

Lawn bowls – Bill and Sheila Rogers

Orienteering – Emily Kemp

ParaSport – Emma Reinke

Ringette – Jalena Marelic

Rowing – Josh King

Rugby – Olivia De Couvreur

Rugby, wheelchair – Patrice Dagenais

Running, cross country – Katie Newlove

Sailing – Rebecca Heller

Skeleton – Mirela Rahneva

Skiing, alpine – James Budrow

Skiing, cross country – Robin Mason

Skiing, freestyle – Matthew Lepine

Skiing, ski cross – Jared Schmidt

Soccer – Annabelle Chukwu

Softball – Conner Hopper

Special Olympics – Kimana Mar

Speed skating, long track – Ivanie Blondin

Speed skating, short track – Matthew Freitag

Sport climbing – Emilia Callanan

Squash – Iman Shaheen

Swimming – Julie Brousseau

Table tennis – Priyanka Pareek

Taekwondo – Leonarda Andric

Tennis – Shaheer Mikhail

Trampoline – Alexander Don

Ultimate – Roth Mohring

Volleyball, indoor – Lea Pendergast

Volleyball, beach – Quinn Brydges and Mallea McMullin

Water polo – Costa Romanov

Weightlifting – Spencer Moorman

Wrestling – Genevieve Morrison.

Related