HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: New training strategy brings early success for canoeist Sophia Jensen

By Martin Cleary

A new season plus a new approach equalled a variety of results and rewards that put an all-day smile on the face of sprint canoeist Sophia Jensen.

After her revamped training strategy debut produced great success at the first Canadian canoe-kayak sprint trials last month in Chula Vista, California, the Cascades Canoe Club paddler took the newest version of her athletic self to the opening World Cup and confirmed she’s on the right course heading to the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympic Games.

Deciding to withdraw from the Canoe Kayak Canada national women’s program late last year to train with the Quebec provincial team, Jensen set a world record in the women’s 500 metres, won Canada’s only medal at the World Cup in Szeged, Hungary, and narrowly missed a second medal.

Jensen, who placed sixth in the C1 200 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics, earned the World Cup silver medal in the women’s C1 500 metres as one of two sprinters to break the world record.

China’s Mengya Sun powered to an unprecedented time of one minute, 59 seconds to break Canadian Katie Vincent’s world mark of 2:00.61. Jensen was a tight second at 1:59.75.

In her other sprint discipline, Jensen won her 200-metre heat in 44.99 seconds, was second in her semifinal at 44.79 seconds, and was fourth in the final in an even faster time of 44.48 seconds.

Vincent, the 2026 Paris Olympic C1 200-metre gold medallist from Mississauga, was fifth in 44.87 seconds.

The World Cup circuit continues this weekend in Brandenburg, Germany, and will stop at the Montreal Olympic Basin July 9-12.

Jensen’s season-opening efforts on the international stage establishes her as Canada’s top female sprinter for upcoming world championship and Olympic competitions. Each country is only allowed one entrant for each race at major championships.

Stepping away from the national team program for 2026 was a necessary move, Jensen told Louis-Michel Lelievre of Sportcom. The 2025 sprint canoe season was “the most mentally challenging” of her career, wrote Lelievre.

Jensen decided to retreat from the national team program, which is based in Nova Scotia, and join the Quebec program for a change of pace both mentally and financially.

Five months before the 2024 Olympics, Jensen was one of five high-performance athletes to receive $20,000 for five years to cover training costs as part of the Canadian Olympic Foundation’s Bursary Program for Quebec Olympic Athletes. The $500,000 bursary was made by an anonymous donor.

“I took a step back to allow myself to return to basics and remind myself why I love this sport so much,” she told Sportcom in April. “I absolutely needed a change of environment and I wanted to do things my way going forward.

“I’m excited for what’s to come. I can’t wait to see what I’ll be able to achieve by putting myself first.

“It has all been positive so far. I feel good, physically, but also mentally. Team Quebec has always been behind me to support and encourage me and that’s really all I need to have confidence in myself as an athlete: someone who believes in me.”

At the national team trials, Jensen won the C1 200 metres and was second in the C1 500 metres to Vincent, who was the 2023 world champion. Jensen didn’t have any expectations and didn’t feel any stress. She simply wanted to bring everything she learned in training from her new program to the start line.

By training with the Quebec team, Jensen was reacquainted with the joy of her daily workouts, which she had lost over time in the pursuit of specific goals.

“This year, I want to rediscover my love for canoeing,” Jensen added. “Over the past few seasons, I haven’t enjoyed competitions as much. I wasn’t always motivated enough and I was often tired.

“I don’t want it to be like that this year. I want to be excited every time I’m on the starting line. As for the results, whatever will be, will be. I’ll do my best every time.”

Jensen is already fully charged about having a rare World Cup regatta in Montreal.

“I’m so, so excited. It’s going to be so incredible, I’m sure of it. Competitions in Montreal are often chaotic on many levels, but that makes it all the more special. This is the moment I’m most looking forward to this season,” she added.

Three other Ottawa and area paddlers also raced at the Szeged World Cup – Rideau Canoe Club’s Zoe Wojtyk and Carleton Place Canoe Club’s Evie McDonald, both in women’s canoe; and Rideau’s Callie Loch, women’s kayak.

There were no paracanoe races in Szeged, but Brianna Hennessy of the Ottawa River Canoe Club and Gabriel Ferron-Bouius of Rideau will start their World Cup seasons in Brandenburg.

Wojtyk and Vincent were fifth in the women’s C2 500-metre in 1:54.35, after placing second in the semifinals in 1:57.73 and third in their heat at 1:58.99. McDonald and Sloan MacKenzie of Halifax also competed in the women’s C2 500 metres, finishing ninth in their semifinal at 2:06.30, following a seventh in the heats at 2:06.48.

Loch was part of a pair of kayak crew boats, placing sixth in her K4 500-metre heat and eighth in the semifinal. She also was seventh in a K2 500-metre heat with Michelle Russell of Dartmouth, N.S.

LAILA KHAN WINS PAN AM TKD SILVER, LEONARDA ANDRIC BRONZE

Phoenix Taekwondo athletes won a pair of medals and combined for a 5-3 overall record at the 2026 Pan American Taekwondo Championships.

Laila Khan was a silver medallist in the women’s 53-kilogram division as she took down opponents from Mexico, Brazil and USA en route to the final, where she fell to Nadia Ferrerira of Mexico. Last November, Khan reached the World Championships quarterfinal round at age 18.

Leonarda Andric received an opening-round bye and then downed an Ecuadorean opponent to reach the semi-final round before she bowed out against a Brazilian challenger to miss out on an all-Canadian final and settle for the bronze medal.

Alexandra Charron won a match and lost one, topping a Brazilian rival and then falling to a Dominican Republic athlete.

Phoenix TKD’s George Koh was a coach for Team Canada at the May 7-8 event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

ROCKLAND SCORES FIRST CENTENNIAL CUP JUNIOR A HOCKEY WIN

Rockland Nationals improved their odds of qualifying for the Centennial Cup junior A hockey championship playoffs Monday by defeating Thunder Bay North Stars 8-2 to upgrade their record to one win, one overtime loss and one loss.

Gabriel Le Houillier sparked the Nationals with three goals, while Mavrick Brunet had a four-point game and defender Mathys Laurent contributed five assists.

In its first two games, the Central Canada Hockey League champions fell 3-2 in overtime to the Canmore Eagles and 4-2 to host Summerside (P.E.I.) Western Capitals.

Le Houillier scored both Rockland goals against the Eagles. Brunet and John Micallef shared the Nationals’ scoring in the Summerside game.

Away from the ice, Le Houillier was named the top forward in the Canadian Junior Hockey League and is a finalist for the most valuable player award.

Le Houillier was the top scorer in the nine Canadian leagues with 59 goals and 61 assists for 120 points in 52 games. He led or was tied for the lead in the CJHL with 13 power-play goals, 15 game-winning goals and four empty-net goals.

The Rockland assistant captain from Lorraine, PQ, also was the CCHL MVP, the league’s top scorer and won the Art Neilsen Scholarship/Ability Award.

The Nationals’ Mathys Laurent was a finalist for the top defenceman award, while Rockland’s Justin Pereira is one of five finalists for coach of the year.

OTTAWA BASKETBALL TEAMS BRING HOME 11 ONTARIO CUP MEDALS

An all-Ottawa gold-medal game was a highlight of the final weekend for the Ontario Cup girls’ basketball championships, which covered four age groups.

National Capital teams completed their girls’ U15, U16, U17 and U19 Ontario Cup seasons by combining for 11 medals – two gold, five silver and four bronze.

In a tight girls’ U16 division 2 final, Nepean edged Gloucester-Cumberland 29-28. Both teams qualified for the championship game with 3-0 round-robin records.

Ottawa Shooting Stars ran past PDM Basketball 46-33 in the girls’ U19 division 3 gold-medal game. St. Thomas Shock prevented Gloucester-Cumberland from winning the Division 1 gold with a 57-47 victory in their U19 final.

Ottawa South settled for silver in the girls’ U17 division 2 final, after a 49-45 loss to the Trailblazers. In the girls’ U16 division 4 final, West Ottawa Hornets were silver medallists, after a 36-32 loss to Kingston Impact. Brookline Elite Queens defeated Ottawa Shooting Stars in the girls’ U15 division 1 championship game 38-24.

Bronze medals were won by West Ottawa Hornets, defeating Kingston Impact 35-34, girls’ U19 division 1; Nepean, defeating EY Eagles 46-33, girls’ U19, division 3; West Ottawa Hornets, defeating North Bay Spartans 62-43, girls’ U17, division 1; and Naismith, defeating YSSK 63-41, girls U16, division 5.

RAVENS QB ELIJAH BARNES IMPRESSIVE IN EAST-WEST FOOTBALL GAME

Carleton University Ravens quarterback Elijah Barnes accounted for 221 all-purpose yards as his East team was edged 28-27 in the U Sports East-West football game before 892 fans at the University of Waterloo.

Barnes completed 14 of 19 passes for 192 yards and rushed for 29 yards on three carries. His longest run of 27 yards ended with a touchdown for the East.

University of Ottawa Gee-Gees running back Soulemayne Camara also scored a touchdown for the East and finished with 17 yards on the ground from four carries.

Gee-Gees linebacker Justin Belander was the top defensive player for the East with two solo tackles, four assisted tackles and one tackle for a loss. Defensive back Jake Henderson of Ottawa made two solo tackles, one assisted tackle and one tackle for a loss.

University of British Columbia Thunderbirds defensive lineman Clark Leonard of Ottawa had one solo tackle for the West.

The East-West game featured 106 Canadian university players, who are in their third or fourth year and eligible for the 2027 CFL Draft.

END NOTES

· Ottawa golfer Isaiah Ibit of Kent State University was named to the Mid-American Conference men’s first all-star team for the second consecutive year. He had an average score of 72.12 over 25 rounds from nine tournaments. His best result was a third-place showing at the Canadian Collegiate tournament at Oviinbyrd Golf Club, when he finished at 12-under-par from rounds of 64-70-70.

· Racing for Lidle-Trek, Derek Gee-West of Osgoode, ON, is off to a slow start in the three-week Giro d’Italia, after finishing 54th, 52nd and 99th respectively in the first three stages. He is 47th in the General Classification.