Canoe Kayak Canada – Cameron Smedley opens up World Cup slalom season with impressive fourth place result in heat
 
IVREA, ITALY (June 3, 2016) – Cameron Smedley opened the first ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Ivrea, Italy with a fourth place overall result in the preliminary heat of the Men’s C1. His impressive result today shows his potential to contend among a competitive international field. Tomorrow he will race the semi-final in the morning and a top-ten result will put him through to the afternoon final. Smedley’s top World Cup result to date has been a ninth place finish in a final in 2012.
                                                                  
Smedley (Dunrobin, ON) is the Canadian front-runner to qualify for the Olympic Team in his event. Four Canadian athletes are competing at World Cup 1. For those in Olympic contention in Men’s C1 and Men’s K1, this is just a warm-up. Only the results of World Cups 2 and 3 will affect the point tally for Canada’s Olympic Team selections.

 

Cameron Smedley (file photo: Balint Vekassy)

Groeneveld through to semi-finals in Women’s K1
 
Jessica Groeneveld (Innisfail, AB) had a 25^th place result in the heats of Women’s K1 to earn a spot in tomorrow’s semi-final. Groeneveld made several World Cup semi-finals last season and will attempt to make tomorrow’s final with a top-ten result.
 
Haley Daniels (Calgary, AB) was 26^th in the heats for Women’s C1. A top-twenty result was needed to advance to the semi-finals. Ben Hayward ranked 52^nd in Men’s K1 and did not advance. Hayward is one of three Men’s K1 athletes still in contention for the Olympic spot along with Michael Tayler (Ottawa, ON) and John Hastings (Aurora, ON).
 
Tomorrow’s finals will be webcast on CBC’s digital platforms including the CBC Sports app and cbcsports.ca. CBC Sports is the Official Broadcast Partner of Canoe Kayak Canada.
 
CBC webcast times – watch online at cbcsports.ca or via the CBC Sports app.

• Saturday at 8 a.m. EST
• Sunday at 7 a.m. EST

 
Results
 
Summary of Results

Athlete	Event	Result
Cameron Smedley (Dunrobin, ON	Men’s C1	4st in heat Advanced to semi-final
Jessica Groeneveld (Innisfail, AB)	Women’s K1	25th in heat Advanced to semi-final
Ben Hayward (Edmonton, AB)	Men’s K1	52nd in heat Did not advance
Haley Daniels (Calgary, AB)	Women’s C1	26th in heat Did not advance

About Canoe Kayak Canada
Canoe Kayak Canada is the national governing body for competitive paddling in Canada. Canoe Kayak Canada has been one of Canada’s top performing summer sports having won an impressive count of 24 Olympic medals. Canoe Kayak Canada is a member-based organization which includes an intricate network of clubs as well as provincial, territorial and divisional paddling associations. Elite National Team athletes proudly represent Canada at various competitions around the globe – most notably the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Pan American Games, ICF World Cups as well as Junior, Under 23 and Senior World Championships. Follow Canoe Kayak Canada on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

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For more information:

Ian Miller
Communications and Marketing Officer, Canoe Kayak Canada
613.314.1352
imiller@canoekayak.ca