Canoe Kayak Canada – Canadian Whitewater Slalom Athletes Complete National Team Trials with Exciting finals

SALABERRY-DE-VALLEYFIELD, QUÉBEC (May 14, 2018) – Canadian Canoe Kayak Whitewater Slalom athletes completed the National Slalom Team Trials of a new season of racing this weekend on the Saint-Charles River in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Québec. During two days of intense competitions, canoe and kayak slalom athletes of all ages tried to secure a spot on the 2018 Canadian team.

“Our junior and senior athletes looked impressive on the race course this week-end,” said James Cartwright, Slalom High Performance manager at Canoe Kayak Canada. “The athletes and coaches were well prepared for the races and I was pleased to see Ben Hayward back on the race course after missing last season from shoulder surgery.”

Saturday, Florence Maheu (Québec) won the Women’s K1 in both the first and second round with a time of 108.06 and 103.67 seconds, respectively. Michael Tayler (Ontario) won the Men’s K1 first run with a time of 92.08 seconds while Ben Hayward (Alberta) won the second run with a tim of 93.78 seconds.

Canoer Liam Smedley (Ontario) won the Men’s C1 first round with a time of 99.67 seconds while his older brother, Cameron Smedley (Ontario) won the second run with a faster time of 94.94 seconds. In the Women’s C1 event, U23 athlete Lois Betteridge (Ontario) won the first run with a time of 118.83 seconds and Haley Daniels (Alberta) came first in the second run with a time of 111.73 seconds.

On Sunday, Maheu took first place again in the Women’s K1 final run of the weekend with a time of 98.25 seconds, as well as Tayler in the men’s race with a time of 90.31 seconds.

Betteridge won the Women’s C1 final run with a time of 122.08 while Cameron Smedley repeated a win in the Men’s C1 first run with a time of 95.04 seconds and Spencer Pomeroy (Ontario) won the final run with a time of 96.87 seconds.

On the last day of trials, athletes were also competing in the Extreme Slalom event. Ben Hayward (Alberta) came first with the fastest time of the day (77.64 seconds), followed by Maël Rivard (Ontario) with a time of 80.18 seconds and Trevor Boyd (Alberta) with a close time of 80.40 seconds.

Canoe Kayak Canada will be announcing the selected teams that will be representing Canada at the 2018 ICF World Cups and also at the 2018 World Championships later this week.

You can find the full results on the Canoe Kayak Canada website as well as the list of upcoming events for our Slalom athletes.

About Canoe Kayak Canada
Canoe Kayak Canada is the national governing body for competitive paddling in Canada, one of Canada’s top performing summer sports with a total of 24 Olympic medals, and a leader in the Paralympic movement. Canoe Kayak Canada is a member-based organization that 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 :
Joannie Verret
Communications Coordinator
jverret@canoekayak.ca
418) 271-3785