Canoe Kayak Team Trials Part 2 - Focus on the Women

Part 2 of the Team Trials will focus on the women (you can read part 1 here).

KAYAK

Two-time Olympian Émilie Fournel was the only woman representing Canada in kayak at the 2012 Olympics so the eyes would especially be on her at the team trials.

The heats for the women K-1 200m were held on Friday afternoon.

Heat 1 winner not surprisingly was Émilie Fournel.



Results:
1. Emilie Fournel (Lane 5)
2. Alexa Irvin (Lane 4)
3. Lissa Bissonnette (Lane 6)

Heat 2 was won by Michelle Russell.

Results:
Michelle Russell (Lane 5)
Andréanne Langlois (Lane 6 )
Liz Girgulis (Lane 7)

2008 Olympian Geneviève Beauchesne-Sévigny won heat 3.

Results:
1.  Geneviève Beauchesne-Sévigny (Lane 5)
2.  Hannah Vaughan (Lane 6)
3.  Jessica Leduc (Lane 4)

The final heat was won by KC Fraser.

Results:
1.  Kathleen (KC) Fraser (Lane 6)
2.  Una Lounder (Lane 5)
3.  Tamlyn Bohm (Lane 7)

Unlike the men where the heat winners went directly to the finals, the top 6 women from each heat raced in the semi finals. This would give us a chance to see the top women an extra time on Saturday morning.

Results: Women K-1 
Semi 1
1.  Émilie Fournel (Lane 5)
2.  Hannah Vaughan (Lane 6)
3.  Andréanne Langlois (Lane 4)

Semi 2
1.  Michelle Russell (Lane 5)
2.  Una Lounder (Lane 4)
3.  Jillian D'Alessio (Lane 7)

Semi 3
1.  KC Fraser (Lane 5)
2.  Alanna Bray-Lougheed (Lane 7)
3.  Geneviève Beauchesne-Sévigny (Lane 4)



Canada's top women sprinters raced in the final and Michelle Russell crossed the finish line first.

Results: Women K-1 200m final
1.  Michelle Russell (Lane 4)
2.  Émilie Fournel (Lane 5)
3.  Hannah Vaughan (Lane 3)
4.  Geneviève (Lane 9)
5.  KC Fraser (Lane 6)
6.  Andréanne Langlois (Lane 8)
7.  Una Lounder (Lane 7)
8.  Alanna Bray-Lougheed (Lane 2)
9.  Jillian D'Alessio (Lane 1)

On Sunday, Émilie Fournel took the top spot winning the K-1 500m race. The winners of the four semi-finals ended up 1-2-3-4. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of the third semi won by Una Lounder.

Results K-1 500m (final):
1.  Émilie Fournel
2.  Michelle Russell
3.  Una Lounder
4.  KC Fraser
5.  Jillian D'Alessio
6.  Alanna Bray-Lougheed
7.  Tamlyn Bohm
8.  Hannah Vaughan
9.  Geneviève Beauchesne-Sévigny

I missed the women's K-2 but here are the final results.

Results: Women K-2  A Final
1.  Lissa Bissonnette, Alexa Irvin
2.  Alanna Bray-Lougheed, Sammy Hall
3.  Andréanne Langlois, Jessica Leduc

CANOE

Laurence Vincent-Lapointe is C-1 world champion, so not surprisingly, easily won her heat to go straight to the final.

Results: Women C-1 Heat 1
Lane 5 Laurence Vincent-Lapointe
Lane 9 Sarah-Jane Caumartin
Lane 6 Jenna Marks

Heat 2
Lane 7 Taylor Potts
Lane 5 Hannah Macintosh
Lane 6 Katie Vincent

A friend of mine is friends with Taylor Potts, so I was happy to see her race and get great photos of her. She won her heat joining Laurence in the final.

In the final, Laurence Vincent-Lapointe was too strong for the rest of the field winning comfortably.

Women C-1 200m final
1.  Laurence Vincent-Lapointe (Lane 5)
2.  Taylor Potts (Lane 4)
3.  Jenna Marks (Lane 7)

In the C-2 500m final, Taylor Potts and Maria Halavrezos secured their spot on the U23 World Championships team by beating Laurence Vincent-Lapointe and Sarah-Jane Caumartin by 0.950 seconds. They will compete in Welland August 1-4.

The women who will represent Canada at the World Championships are:

Women's Kayak
Émilie Fournel
Michelle Russell
Una Lounder
KC Fraser
Hannah Vaughan
Geneviève Beauchesne-Sévigny

Women's Canoe
Laurence Vincent-Lapointe
(the C-2 position will be added after the Lake Placid race-off July 6-7)

The World Championships will be held in Duisburg, Germany August 27-September 1.

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat includes the following events held in Canada:

• Road Cycling Canadian Championships in QC
• International Track & Field in Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria
• Canadian Badminton Championships in Ottawa
• Canada Cup Swimming in Montreal
• Wrestling Canada Cup in Guelph
• ITU Triathlon World Cup in Edmonton
• Softball Junior Women's World Championships in Brampton
• Spruce Meadows Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Calgary

Sports events being televised include track & field, canoe/kayak slalom, U19 men's basketball, volleyball, beach volleyball world championships and rugby.

If you are participating in or know of an event that could be featured in The Heartbeat, please contact me: suzanne[at]sportcafe[dot]ca or via Twitter @olympichearts.

Canadian Road Cycling Championships
Junior, Masters and Para
June 26-30
Lac Mégantic, QC
Event website

Edmonton International Track & Field
June 29
Edmonton, AB
More info
Competitors include Olympians Jessica Zelinka, Crystal Emmanuel, Jenna Martin, Melissa Bishop, Sultana Frizell, Heather Steacy, Jared Connaughton, Tremaine Harris, Geoff Harris, Alex Genest, Dylan Armstrong, Justin Rodhe and Curtis Moss.

Canadian Badminton International Challenge 
June 25-29
Ottawa
More info
Draws
Competitors include Olympians Michelle Li, Alex Bruce, Toby Ng and Grace Gao

Canada Cup Swimming
June 28-30
Montreal, QC
More info

Wrestling Canada Cup
June 29
Guelph, ON
More info

Vancouver International Track & Field
July 1
Burnaby, BC
More info

Victoria International Track & Field
July 5
Victoria, BC
More info

Softball Junior Women's World Championships
July 1-7
Brampton, ON
More info

Spruce Meadows Queen Elizabeth II Cup
July 6
Calgary, AB
More info
televised on CBC 4pm EST

Olympic Sports On Television

Canoe Slalom World Cup
Saturday June 29 11am EST Sportsnet ONE
Sunday June 30 11am EST Sportnset ONE (7:30pm and 9:00pm EST SN Pacific and West)

U19 World Basketball Championships
Canada vs Spain Thursday June 27 8pm EST The Score
Canada vs Croatia Friday June 28 7am EST The Score
Canada vs Korea Saturday June 29 9:15am The Score (8pm The Score)
More info and roster

Volleyball World League
Canada vs Finland
Friday June 28 11:30am EST & 7pm Sportsnet ONE (2pm EST Sportsnet)
Saturday June 29 11:30am EST Sportsnet (4pm Sportsnet ONE)

Rugby Sevens World Cup
June 28-30
Russia
More info and viewing schedule
link to livestream
Also video on demand on tsn.ca
Men's schedule
Women's schedule
Television:
Tuesday July 2 8pm TSN

Livestreams

Beach Volleyball World Championships
July 1-6
Stare Jablonki, Poland
More info
Competitors include Sarah Pavan/Heather Bansley, Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas and Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk

Diamond League Track and Field
June 30
Birmingham, UK
More info
Competitors include Nicole Sifuentes in 1500m

Diamond League Track & Field
July 4
Lausanne, SWI
More info
Competitors include Olympic medallist Derek Drouin, Olympians Dylan Armstrong and Sheila Reid as well as a 4x100m women's relay team.

Other Events (no live feed yet)

Diving Grand Prix
June 28-30
Balzano, Italy
More info

Rowing Holland Beker Regatta
Amsterdam, Netherlands
June 29-30
Rowing Canada announcement and competitors list

Canoe Kayak Team Trials - Part 1

The National team trials were held at the beautiful and serene-looking Welland International Flatwater Centre this past weekend.

Don't believe for a moment that it stayed serene. This picture perfect moment was short-lived when the paddlers took to the water to give their all while their friends and family cheered them on. The wind gusts on Saturday made conditions extremely challenging. Saturday and Sunday were quite windy so the water did not stay this calm. Also breaking the serenity was the construction of the venue which is ongoing as they prepare to host the U23 and Junior World Championships at the beginning of August. The left side of the venue was closed to spectators this past weekend.

The event was a great opportunity to see Olympians (and Olympic medallists) in action as well as upcoming juniors and future Olympians.

Watching canoe/kayak in person is quite different to watching it on television where the paddlers are followed throughout the race, especially the 1000m races. I positioned myself in the last 200m so the view of the start of the longer races was not visible. During 200m races, I had a great view of the start and finish.

In order for racing to not look like this all day...



it helps to have binoculars or a zoom lens. Here is Olympic bronze medallist Mark Oldershaw who would win the C1-1000m event.

Olympian Jason McCoombs was the class of the field in the C1-200m with Mark Oldershaw finishing 2nd. You can see the difference in the conditions on Day 2.

Olympic multi-medallist and flag bearer Adam van Koeverden partnered with 2008 Olympian Brady Reardon to win the K2-1000m event.

One of the big excitements of the day was watching the K2-200m men battle for the single spot to represent Canada at the World Championships. Olympic K2 paddlers Ryan Cochrane and Hugues Fournel have been trying different combinations of partners this past spring. For these trials, Hugues partnered with Etienne Morneau while Ryan partnered with 2008 Olympian Richard Dober Jr. The pairs needed to win two races on the weekend with one race held each day. A tie-breaker would be held Sunday if needed.



No matter what the combination, they were going to be close races. The intensity of the moment increased with the only false start I witnessed on the weekend.

Here's the video for Race 1.
Lane 5 Ryan Cochrane, Richard Dober Jr
Lane 6 Hugues Fournel, Étienne Morneau
The first race was won by Cochrane and Dober Jr by 0.094 seconds.

It was super close at the half way point of the second final on Saturday with the pairs switching lanes. Morneau and Fournel are in lane 5 this time.

but in the end, Ryan and Richard won again to secure the World Championship spot.

Sunday morning, the K1-200m final was extremely close at the half way point in the race.

With most of the races won in the middle lanes and with SportCafé co-founder Etienne Morneau in lane 4, I was focused on these lanes. It looked like he had won it, but Shaun Fair in lane 8 (black t-shirt in red kayak at the top of the photo) came through with the win, 0.006 seconds ahead of Etienne.

It wasn't the only close race of the day. The K1-1000m saw Jarret Kanke in lane 9 win by 0.002 seconds over 2008 Olympian Angus Mortimer.

Here is Kanke in lane 3 during his heat.

I unfortunately didn't stay for the final that was being held after lunch.  I decided to return to Toronto for my daughter's consolation final soccer game. I missed a great kayak final but saw a great soccer one!

I can't end my first post without a photo of SportCafé co-founder Antoine Meunier who competed in the C1-200m. He unfortunately did not qualify for the A final, but comfortably won the B final by 2.5 seconds.

Stay tuned for future posts about the women and junior competitions.

Click here to view the team selection for the World Championships.

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat includes the following events held in Canada:

• Road Cycling Canadian Championships in QC
• Canoe Kayak Team Trials in Welland
• Canadian Track & Field Championships in Moncton
• Triathlon World Cup and Canadian Championships in Edmonton
• Men's Water Polo Canada vs Serbia in Calgary
• Vancouver Half Marathon
• International Track & Field in Edmonton
• Canadian Badminton Championships in Ottawa
• Canada Cup Swimming in Montreal

Sports events being televised include Canadian Track & Field Championships, canoe/kayak slalom, U19 men's basketball, Team Canada volleyball and beach volleyball.

The Heartbeat

This week's edition of The Heartbeat includes the following events held in Canada:

• Team Canada Volleyball in Mississauga
• Men's Rugby Canada in Toronto
• Road Cycling in QC
• Canoe Kayak Team Trials in Welland
• Canadian Track & Field Championships in Moncton

Sports events being televised include show jumping, volleyball, rugby, soccer and canoe/kayak.

Heartbeat Highlights - Toronto Track & Field Games

The Toronto Track and Field Games were held last night. 

The section I was sitting in was perfect for seeing the start of the 400m and 800m races.

Here's Sarah Wells acknowledging the crowd before her 400m hurdles.

Women's 400m Hurdles

Here's a good example of the problem with front row seats that I mentioned in my preview post. The stairs (and people standing in the stairs) block the view.

I didn't mind though. I had chosen that seat to see the finish line and post race activities. I did get caught out with this race though. I knew the runners were coming, I was focused on the "important" middle lanes where Sarah Wells was trying to hold off her competitor and missed the winner in lane 7.

Noelle Montcalm ran a personal best B Standard time of 55.96 to beat 2012 Olympian Sarah Wells and three international Olympians. Wells ran one second slower than her personal best of 55.71 This will be an interesting race to see at Nationals to see who qualifies for the World Championships. (Race video)

Men's 800m

Another race to keep an eye out an nationals is the 800m. For the second time in 3 days, Anthony Romaniw finished ahead of Olympian Geoff Harris. (Race video) This photo is at the 400m mark.

Women's 400m
Olympian Jenna Martin finished a disappointing 4th in the 400m running two seconds slower than her personal best like she did in Halifax on Sunday. (Race Video) It was reported that she has been dealing with a (left) hip flexor strain. Hopefully she's on the mend and will be in top form for nationals and worlds. Canadian Alicia Brown was on the podium in 3rd.

Women's 800m
Olympian Melissa Bishop did not disappoint in the 800m race posting a B Standard (and meet record) time of 2:00.84 finishing first, reversing Sunday's race results in Halifax where she finished second. (Race Video)

Here's the start that includes 3 Olympians: Melissa, Nicole Sifuentes (1500m Olympian) and Sheila Reid (5000m Olympian who had recently posted a personal best in 1500m).

I love how it looks like Melissa is holding the water bottle that is sitting on the field, casually finishing her race.

Women's 1500m
Kate Van Buskirk was the class of the field reaching a personal best B Standard (and meet record) time of 4:08.34. (Race video). She was thrilled after her victory in front of her home crowd.

It is worth noting the second place finisher, Jaimie Phelan who is the 2013 OFSAA Champion in the 800m and 1500m. Thanks to Barb, who I was sitting beside last night for telling me about this young Waterloo runner. She broke a 31-year old Canadian record at OFSAA and will be one to watch in the future.

Men's Blind 200m
2012 Paralympians Brandon King with guide Andrew Heffernan won the 200m race in 25.23. (Race Video).

Men's 400m

There were no Canadian men on the podium in the 400m won by Manteo Mitchell. Phillip Osei was the top Canadian finishing fourth.

When it was time for the Men's 1500m, sprints and hurdles, I moved to the top row in order to have a better view of the whole race. With it getting darker (and having taken photos last year), I decided to enjoy the races.

Men's 1500m

Olympian Nate Brannen was beaten by two Canadians - Adam Palamar who finished second and 2012 NCAA Champion steeplechaser Matt Hughes who finished third. (Race Video)

Women's 100m
Shai Davis won in a time of 11.52. Olympian Crystal Emmanuel was 3rd in 11.63. Click (Race video)

Men's 100m
Olympian Justyn Warner was the only Canadian on the podium finishing 2nd in 10.32.  (Race video)

Men's 110m Hurdles
Like he did last year, Olympic decathlete Damian Warner won the 110m Hurdles in 13.87. Click here for the race video.

Women's 100m Hurdles
The women's hurdles race was won by Olympic heptathlete and hurdler Jessica Zelinka in a B Standard time of 13.06. Click here for the race video.

Although I didn't have plans to take photos of the sprints, I couldn't resist trying to get a half-descent shot of Jessica whom I had never seen race before.

We did get a close-up of her while she was being interviewed after her race.

photo credit: Phil Sewell

Pro-am races combined 3 amateurs running the first three legs with "pros" anchoring the relays.

I was thrilled to hear he would run in the pro-am relays. I purposely chose my seat in the front row of Section B to see the athletes at the finish line hoping to get a great shot of him. It's not up to my standards, but it still makes me smile.

A little better:

The unfortunate thing (but perhaps done on purpose) is that the announcers did not give any indication of who was running in the pro-am races. Anyone arriving not following the event (or athletes) on Twitter would not have known that our Olympic flagbearer had just run. The website didn't say who the "pros" were. Even though I am on Twitter, there were some athletes that I missed in the "announcements".

Other pros included Olympians Rosie MacLennan, Brian Stemmle, Annamay Pierse, Shelley-Ann Brown and Nicole Forrester, along with Paralympians Josh Cassidy and Joel Dembe.

This photo of Ben Johnson in the pro-am shows the challenge of seeing in lower row seats. Although they weren't blocking the finish line for me, the view for spectators to my left was blocked.

Men's High Jump

A small blemish in the meet. The jumpers were lined up for their introductions but the announcers introduced the high school relays who were starting at the same time. The high jump competition started without an announcement and spectators around me (and I'm sure around the stadium) didn't realize they had started. In my opinion, a bronze medallist (and 2008/2012 Olympian Mike Mason) should be given more attention. [There is a chance that the announcements happened but they were not audible in our section).

Olympic bronze medallist Derek Drouin won the high jump competition clearing 2.33m beating the previous meet record of 2.20. He took one try at 2.37m in an attempt to break the Canadian record of 2.36 he set a few weeks back but failed at the 2.37 height. Click here to see him set the meet record.

I love this photo because it doesn't look like he's going to clear, but he does.

Women's High Jump

Michelle Kisella was second with a jump of 1.83 and Rachel Machin 3rd with 1.80m

Women's Pole Vault

Heather Hamilton won the event with a vault of 4.35m

The hammer and shot put were held on a field just south of the stadium.

Women's Hammer:
Olympian Sultana Frizell was the only Canadian on the podium in third with a throw of 69.29m

Men's Shot Put:

Olympian Justin Rodhe finished second in the shot put with a throw of 19.17m

In the end, I loved Canadian Olympians competing in their home country and for some in their home city. From my section past the finish line, highlights included seeing athletes finding their loves ones in the crowd.

How best to end an evening but meeting an Olympic inspiration (6 personal best events and personal best total in the decathlon). I had a great shot (considering the evening lighting) of him at last year's meet, so this year I focused on the race and cheered him on. How gracious of Damian Warner to take a moment for a photo with me (and my SportCafé t-shirt).

photo credit: Phil Sewell