SARAH BOUDENS - Canoe/Kayak Slalom

 Worlds Wrap-Up

The slalom season is now over after an exciting World Championships in Tacen, Slovenia.  The Canadian Team arrived three weeks before the competition to train on the course in preparation for the race.  The venue in Slovenia is one we’ve raced on many times before and always makes for some dramatic paddling.  The course begins with a big drop at the top that’s difficult to master and continues on with some of the most inconsistent and surging white water I’ve ever paddled on.  This often results in some surprises on the score board and this year’s Worlds did not disappoint.

We had an incredible amount of rain leading into the race which meant that we were training on a different water level each day which is less than ideal leading into such a big race.  The river rose so much that a day of competition was postponed and the competition format changed in order to fit in the race runs.  Check out the pictures taken by teammate, Jessica Groeneveld.  You can see the awards platform was underwater!

Canada had a range of results with some disappointments and other personal best performances.  Sindy Audet of St. Eustache, Quebec produced an incredible final run to land her in 8^th place overall in the women’s single canoe event.  Jessica Groeneveld of Innisfail, Alberta also produced a great result and a personal best of 19^th place in the semi-final.  Both women were recipients of CAN Fund this past summer.

On the men’s side, Ben Hayward of Edmonton produced an impressive 22^nd result in a field of close to 100 men’s single kayak.  Local favourite and last year’s World Champion, Peter Kauzer of Slovenia incurred a 50 second penalty in the final missing a gate with his head and ruining his medal hopes.  This left the door open for one of his main rivals Daniele Molmenti of Italy to snatch the gold with a very impressive performance. There were many penalties on the board at this year’s Worlds which was reflective of the difficult water in Tacen.

This finishes off the main international competitions for the Canadian Team with the Pan American Championships being postponed from this October until January 2011.  The majority of the team has returned to Canada to their home courses.  Ben Hayward has chosen to go on to Prague for some fall training.  I myself have returned to the UK for a fall series of races and some training on an artificial course in Nottingham, England.

Stay tuned for more from the slalom team in the months ahead…

Sarah

SASHA MEHMEDOVIC - Judo

The new competitive season has begun for the Judo Canada athletes.  Upon the return from the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, athletes are continuing to train hard and gearing up for the upcoming events.  The next major event will be the Rotterdam Grand Prix held in mid October where four of the Canadian Athlete's Now Fund Recipients will be competing (Nicholas Trittion, Sasha Mehmedovic, Kelita Zupancic, Joliane Melancon). Stay tuned for more news on our Judo Canada athletes.

Sasha

BENOIT HUOT - Paralympic Swimming

We are in Singapore getting ready for Commonwealth. This is going to be my 3rd Commonwealth Games and I am really excited. I am going to compete in the 100m Freestyle for the S10 category. It will be interesting to see India and I am looking foward to it. We arrived in Singapore 3 days ago and we are leaving for Delhi on September 30th. Team Canada is doing really well and I am positive that our team will win a lot of medals in a couple days. Go Canada Go

Ben

ROBIN RANDALL - Water Polo

So, a new season is underway for Team Canada Mens' Water Polo Team. Being united with the veterans and meeting the rookies has me excited to break the glasslike surface of the water. So much potential. So much opportunity. So much work to be done!

For those of you who aren't familiar with water polo, despite being a summer sport our season runs year-round. Team Canada usually has a few short weeks off in August and gets back to the grind in September.

This is a big year for us. There are two major competitions next season; Pan-Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China. Pan Am Games doubles as an Olympic Qualifier for us, so we need to finish first there to guarantee a slot in London, England, for the 2012 Olympiad. Only 381 days left until we have a chance to play for that spot!

Did you know? Water polo is the oldest Olympic team sport in the modern Olympiad. The mens' version first premiered at the 2nd modern Olympics in 1900. Womens' water polo was included in 2000.


Robin Randall
Goaltenders'Union President
Dictated but not read

KELSIE HENDRY - Athletics (Pole Vault)

This is an exceptionally long year for athletics, I started competing in January to prepare for Indoor Worlds in Doha, and now I’m still training to get ready for the Commonwealth Games in India. I feel like the Energizer bunny-sweet sunglasses included (seriously I have the same ones the bunny wore in the 80’s).

 No doubt there has been substantial hoopla around the Games in India, so right now it’s important to stay focused on training. Of course my mother calls me daily, worried about one thing or another. I just let her know that that my teammate Angela Whyte will test out the food so I avoid Delhi belly; however, I had to agree to let any snakes sleep in my bed. Hello mother, India is just like Eat, Pray, Love and I’ll send you a pic of me petting an elephant in no time. All kidding aside, the Indian people have worked very hard to make this a successful games, and Canada has done a great job preparing the athletes for the Games….so I do have enough deet for the whole Canadian team and I’ve had a lot of shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots-not the alcoholic kind from the song featuring lil Jon, but of the immunization variety. I am confident that the Games will survive this media frenzy and India will impress on the world stage.

As a lot of athletes do, I train out of my hometown Saskatoon, Sk as well as a warm weather location, Phoenix, Az. Basically I am either freezing or melting…. 40 degrees Celsius in Phoenix today, no big deal. I am practicing getting my sweat on for India. Currently I am training solo, and having tons of fun with Vinny Chase, Turtle, Johnny, E and Ari. Unfortunately these are characters from the HBO series Entourage, so it is a bit sad that I liken them to be my actual friends. I am heading to the Games in a week, so more to come from India. Peace.

Kelsie

SHERYL PRESTON - Rowing

Going Solo

Happy to say selection is finally done for the 2010 year and I earned a berth in Canada’s Lightweight Single at the 2010 World Championships.

Thus far it has been a year of exploring new things.  It began with a move to Ontario in January.  I had to absolutely peel myself away from the west coast, I miss the mountains, the ocean and my family a ton, but have found a great little niche here in London’s Wortley Village. The pivotal changes to this year of training have been the large focus on technique, with the help of my new coach Al Morrow, rowing efficiency, injury prevention, and training smartly – gone are the days of junk miles!

Financial support from the CAN fund, Team Investors Group bursary and 2010 Hudson’s Bay Company’s Athlete Support Program, not to mention our awesome support from Own the Podium have all allowed much more room in my budget (a far cry from last year!!) for exploring new therapies such as Structural Integration and facial release, Yoga and Pilates, for my injury-prone body – undoubtedly helping me find more and more speed on the water.

Just a little over two weeks left of training on London’s Lake Fanshawe until departure for New Zealand on October 12th – what a birthday present!  The World Championships begin on October 31st.

Sheryl

THEA CULLEY – Field Hockey

I’ve never blogged before, so when part of being an athlete rep for the CAN Fund was submitting blogs, I was a little intimidated. As I prepared for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, not only was I wondering when I was going to find time, but also I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about. I had written in my agenda that I would write my first blog on the plane while en route to India. It would be the first opportunity I would have to sit down and think about the life that lately has been blasting past me.

Okay, so first problem overcome—now what to write about?

The Wednesday before we left, I was downtown dropping off a modem and digital cable box to Shaw Cable. (My roommate and teammate, Katie Baker, and I moved September 1st and are no longer in need of the equipment). What I hadn’t realized on my way down was that I was dropping off the equipment at the Shaw Tower, the location of the CAN Fund Athlete House during the Olympics.

As I approached the tower, tingles started to ripple across my skin and an overwhelming sense of nostalgia washed over me. I hadn’t been to that part of downtown since those two crazy weeks in February. For those two weeks, I had felt like I lived at the Shaw Tower. My introduction to the 11th floor was due to the fact that I had volunteered as an athlete host, but the reason I rarely left the 11th floor was because I had quickly discovered that the CAN Fund Athlete House was quite possibly the best place to experience the Olympics, second only to actually competing in the games.

The feelings and memories that came back to me while I was downtown got me thinking again about how amazing those two weeks really were. I am grateful to have become a part of the CAN Fund family during that time. I would like to thank the CAN Fund, Shaw, Sprott, and all the other sponsors who made my experience unique. But most of all, I would like to thank the Canadian Winter Olympic team for being so awesome. It is because of their hard work and ability to rise to the occasion that I, myself, am a CAN Fund recipient.

With that being said, I finish my first blog having learned two lessons: blogging isn’t as scary as I thought it was, and that inspiration can come from anywhere, even when you’re running errands.

Thea Culley

Women’s Field Hockey Team

MARY SPENCER - Boxing

The women's National Boxing Team wrapped up their competitive season with tough draws and hard competition at the World Championships in Bridgetown, Barbados. Boxing Canada sent 7 women to the tournament, they were Jaqueline Park (48kg), Mandy Bujold (51kg), Melissa Guillemette (57kg), Stephanie Walker (60kg), Kandi Wyatt (69kg), Mary Spencer (75kg), and Melinda Watpool (81kg). The team went 4-6 collectively at the tournament and came away with a gold medal by Mary Spencer in the 75kg division. The next scheduled event for the women's team is the National Championships in Quebec City, December 5-11.

Mary