By Martin Cleary
And just like that, the International Canoe Federation sprint World Cup season is over.
While other sports like downhill skiing, speed skating and fencing will have a season-long series of World Cup competitions, the ICF wraps up its best-on-best meets in back-to-back weekends in Europe.
The Canadian team, which performed well in Poznan, Poland last weekend and in Szeged, Hungary the weekend before, has returned home to prepare for a crucial pre-worlds meet that will have all the intensity of a World Cup.
Canoe Kayak Canada will stage its national team trials No. 2 June 27-29 at the Olympic Basin in Montreal to determine the athletes for the ICF canoe sprint world championships Aug. 20-24 in Milan, Italy.
Based on this season’s two World Cup regattas, Canada could show well in women’s canoe and women’s para events.
Canada placed fifth in the medal standings at Poznan with a total of seven based on three gold, one silver and three bronze. Ottawa paddlers played a major role in five medal performances (one gold, one silver and three bronze).
Paralympic silver-medallist Brianna Hennessy of the Ottawa River Canoe Club, national team rookie Zoe Wojtyk of the Rideau Canoe Club and Olympian Sophia Jensen of the Cascades Canoe Club posted double-medal efforts on the Poznan course.
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Hennessy, who won a silver at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, raced to victory in the VL2 200-metre final in one minute, 1.58 seconds. She finished 2.11 seconds ahead of Brazil’s Debora Raiza Ribeiro Benevides.
In the KL1 200-metre final, Hennessy was third in 57.18 seconds and trailed winner Maryna Mazhula of Ukraine, 54.29 seconds, and Katherine Wollermann of Chile, 54.59 seconds.
Wojtyk and three-time Olympic medallist Katie Vincent placed second in the women’s C2 500-metre final and were less than a second from the gold, which was won by Hungary’s Agnes Anna Kiss and Bianka Nagy in 1:51.87. Wojtyk and Vincent stopped in 1:52.60.
A crew boat also produced Wojtyk’s other medal, when she joined Jensen, Jacy Grant and Sloan Mackenzie to earn the women’s C4 500-metre bronze in 1:57.69. There were only four teams in the final and the Canadian boat was 7.87 seconds behind the winning Hungarian boat.
Jensen’s other medal was a bronze in the women’s C1 200-metre final in 47.77 seconds. It was a double-medal effort for Canada as Vincent was the gold medallist in 47.48 seconds. The bronze medal eluded Jensen and Mackenzie by 0.73 seconds in the C2 500-metre final as they finished fourth in 1:54.10.
Gabriel Ferron-Bouius of Rideau had two top-three results in preliminary races to reach the men’s KL3 200-metre final and was seventh in 43.73 seconds.
Rideau’s Callie Loch reached the women’s K1 200-metre B final and finished 19th overall in 43.40 seconds. Toshka Besharah was 31st in the K2 500-metre final with Chloe Bryer in 1:49.29.
At the World Cup in Szeged, Canada was seventh on the medal table with one gold and one silver.
Jensen claimed the bronze medal along with Wojtyk, Grant and Mackenzie in the women’s C4 500 metres in 2:01.15. Her busy schedule also saw Jensen place fourth in the C2 500 metres with Mackenzie in 1:59.15, seventh in the C2 200 metres with Mackenzie and ninth in the C1 200 metres in 51.77 seconds.
Wojtyk and Grant were eighth in the women’s C2 500 metres in 2:01.4 and eighth in their C2 200-metre semifinal in 45.72 seconds.
Besharah reached the K1 200-metre final and was seventh in 45.35 seconds and was part of the women’s K4 500-metre boat, which was ninth in the B final in 1:42.45.
Loch also was part of the women’s K4 500-metre crew and joined Bryer to place eighth in their opening heat of the K2 500 metres in 1:53.02.
GEE ENTERS GIRO D’ITALIA’S FINAL WEEK IN FOURTH PLACE
Slow and steady often wins the race and Derek Gee of Osgoode, ON, is following that philosophy as the Giro d’Italia has entered its third and final week.
Gee, who produced some amazing results in his first Giro in 2023 (four second-place finishes as well as a pair of seconds in the points and mountains classifications), is on the verge of producing some fireworks over the last five stages.
Following a non-racing day Monday, Gee and his Israel Premier Tech team worked hard over 203 kilometres to allow the Canadian to place fifth in the Stage 16 race, which was his best individual showing for this year’s Giro.
His seven top-15 placements has allowed him to climb into fourth place in the General Classification (overall time standings). Gee’s main goal was to finish in the top three overall. He has a chance with five stages remaining.
Isaac Del Toro of UAE Team Emirates is the GC leader with a total time of 61 hours, 31 minutes, 56 seconds. Simon Yates of Team Visma/Lease a Bike and Richard Carapaz of EF Education-EasyPost are shadowing Del Toro, trailing by 26 seconds and 31 seconds respectively.
Gee is fourth with a larger deficit of 91 seconds.
“I’m really happy,” an exhausted Gee said, after the gruelling Tuesday stage with five significant mountain climbs covering more than 5,000 metres of elevation. “This was the first really big test, so I’m glad the legs came through.
“I couldn’t follow Carapaz’s acceleration, so I just tried to ride my own pace to the top of the climb. I’m really happy with where I ended up, but there’s still a long way to go.”
Gee’s gutsy ride saw him drop the majority of the GC riders, which included Del Toro.
On the opening weekend of the Giro, Gee was 47th, 20th and 29th in the first three stages, 34th in the GC and trailed the leader by one minute, 34 seconds.
By the end of the first full week, he posted his first top 15 result (classification points are awarded to the top 15), a 12th in Stage 7. He slowly climbed to 20th in the GC, but his time deficit was 3:59.
Gee upped his game with his teammates in the second full week, which saw him place 14th, ninth, 30th, eighth, seventh and 12th in Stages 10-15. His efforts took him up the GC table – 12th to 10th to sixth and fifth by Sunday’s Stage 15. Heading into Monday’s rest day, Gee was 2:54 off the lead.
Tuesday’s fifth-place result in Stage 16 saw him take a big stride into fourth overall and reduce his time margin to 1:31.
“Everyone has been saying for months the final week of the Giro would be decisive,” Israel Premier Tech sports director Sam Bewley said. “It was important to be patient and bide our time.
“We had some bad luck in the early part of the race, but ultimately it’s Derek’s legs that have put him in this position. There are still big mountain stages to come, so hopefully, things continue in this direction.”
CARLETON WOMEN AIMING TO RETAIN 3X3 AMERICAS BASKETBALL TITLE
Canada will be represented by four players and one coach from the Carleton University Ravens women’s basketball team at the FISU Americas 3×3 tournament in Brasilia, Brazil, this weekend.
The Ravens won the 2024 Americas tournament in Argentina and advanced to the FISU World Cup in China, winning the silver medal.
Kyana-Jade Poulin, Jacqueline Urban and Dorcas Buisa have returned for a second straight Americas 3×3 and will be joined by teammate Tatyanna Burke. Dani Sinclair is the head coach of the team.
The Americas tournament will have 14 teams from 11 countries.
CANADA REACHES WORLD PARA HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
Canada scored three goals in three minutes and 48 seconds in the third period and turned back China 4-2 in its final round-robin game at the world para hockey championships in Buffalo.
By winning its pool, the undefeated Canadian squad will advance to the semifinals and play Czechia on Friday, while the United States will take on China.
Forward Anton Jacobs-Webb of Gatineau assisted on the fourth goal.
Earlier in round-robin play, Jacobs-Webb scored one goal in each of Canada’s first two wins, an 11-0 shutout over Germany and a 12-0 decision over South Korea.
Defenceman Tyrone Henry of Ottawa has earned two assists in Canada’s first three games.
KATE MILLER CLAIMS NATIONAL 10 M DIVING TITLE, YOUNG NEPEAN-OTTAWA TEAMMATE 4TH
Ottawa Olympian Kate Miller won the women’s 10-metre platform in her lone event at Diving Canada’s Summer Nationals in Saskatoon.
The Nepean-Ottawa Diving Club product leapt to the top of the standings in the final with a total score of 349.50 points to win by 6.6, which was a considerable improvement over her 285.55 third-place score in the preliminary round.
“I feel good, even though I was very frustrated after the qualifiers, since I didn’t dive well,” Miller said via Diving Canada. “But after my warm-up [for the finals], I felt much better, and I was eager to get back on track, so that’s what I did.”
The 19-year-old had been unsatisfied with her eighth- and 10th-place showings at World Cup competitions in April, which prompted her to revisit her training program and work on specific aspects of her dives.
“I’m really glad to be here, so that I can show how much I’ve improved,” she added.
A second Nepean-Ottawa athlete also dove alongside Miller in the 10 m final. Ella Lindsay, 16, placed fourth in the event with her score of 293.10. She also reached the final of the women’s 3 m springboard event with her 250.05-point seventh-place performance in the preliminary round en route to an eighth-place finish in the final, and was 10th in the 1 m event.
EXTRA POINTS
· Capital Wave players Lujayn Abdelfattah, Yasmine Sowka and Alexandra Wilson helped Canada win the women’s U17 water polo silver medal at the Pan Am aquatics championships in Medellin, Colombia. Canada posted a record of 5-2 and lost to the United States 18-7 in the final.
· Merivale High School teacher-coach won the women’s half marathon at Ottawa Race Weekend, covering the 21.1 km course in 1:19:36 to win by 16 seconds. Cobden’s Tristan Woodfine was the second Canadian and seventh overall in the marathon, finishing in 2:13:21. Athletes’ hometowns were not listed in race results.
· The University of Ottawa Gees men’s hockey team, which won its first University Cup national championship at The Arena at TD Place, was named the men’s team of the year at the OUA Honour Awards banquet. The women’s team of the year award went to the University of Western Mustangs track-and-field team. The Mustangs’ roster included Lauren Alexander, Audrey Goddard and Cora McQuinn, all of Ottawa, and Jenna Gervais of Ashton, ON. The best fan support group winner was The Flock from Carleton University.
· Gloucester’s Gabriela Dabrowski has withdrawn from the French Open tennis championship in Paris with an apparent injury. She and partner Erin Routliffe couldn’t play in the semifinals of a WTA 500 series tournament last week in Strasbourg.
· The Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club will have three athletes on Team Canada for the FISU Summer World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany – Doyin Ogunremi, 200 metres; Jessica Gyamfi, shot put and discus; and David Moulongou, 400-metre hurdles. The Games are July 16-27.
· Past Paralympian Tony Walby recently received the Ambassador’s Award from Japan’s ambassador to Canada Kanji Yamanouchi in recognition of his contributions to judo and the friendship between Japan and Canada. The Takahashi Dojo athlete/instructor competes at the World Judo Kata Championships as the lone judoka with a visual impairment “and continues to inspire athletes and judoka not only across Canada but also internationally,” Yamanouchi wrote in a social media post. “His journey reflects not only athletic excellence, but also the enduring values that connect our two countries.”