2012 World Va'a Sprint ChampionshipsThe World is coming to Calgary and 11 Kelowna paddlers will be there!
With three paddlers that have been to previous World Championships, this year's contingent is hungry not only for the experience but for success. Kelowna Outrigger Racing Canoe Club's head coach, Leanne Stanley, leads the charge as Canada's top seed in the Open Women's V1 500m event. She placed 4th in 2008 and raced to Bronze in 2010 and has her sights set on Gold in 2012. Leanne is also a part of the Canada 1 Open Women's V6 crew, the defending World Champions. Even a car accident less than a month prior to the opening ceremonies will not hold Leanne back from continuing the pursuit of her dream of adding an individual World Championship to her numerous team awards.
While out training in April, it dawned on Leanne that the 6 women next to her in the OC6 were keeping up during a workout. Without talking to them about it first, she signed them up to be eligible for Team Canada. Luckily, all the ladies were onboard and jumped on the opportunity wholeheartedly. With veteran Sandra Mowat returning to Team Canada after taking 2010 off in the stroke position and Emily Hardy as the steersperson, the crew is rounded out by experienced paddlers Iris Fink and Shannon Bliss along with Dragon Boat escapees, Kerry Willis and Kathy Montgomery. These ladies are Open Canada 4 and Masters Canada 3.
The combination of focus, determination and hard work this group of ladies have made waves in the Canadian Outrigger Racing Association scene this year. These ladies, along with some other club members, followed a pre-season dryland program at Okanagan Peak Performance and continue to train with coach Chris Collins and staff. What most people don't see is that these gals have sacrificed not only personal time but family time to commit to the training and to each other. With the goal of reaching the semi-finals in the Open and Masters categories, the team is in their final couple weeks of preparation on the water with coach Leanne.
On the men's side, they are just as hungry as the women. Jeff Fink is a contender in the Open and Masters Men's category. He is competing in the V1 500m in both age groups as well as a member of Canada 1 V6 crews. Joey Hertz will be competing in two V6 categories as well: Masters Canada 2 and Senior Masters Canada 5. Also in the Senior Masters category is John 'Blu' Marks with Canada 3. Jeff Chandler is competing in the V6 as part of Open Men's Canada 3.
Other members of Kelowna Outrigger have been key to the training of the 11 going to Worlds. They have been filling seats, participating in training camps and assisting with coaching. Big thank you to Carmen, Al, Frances and Jim from all the Team Canada Kelowna paddlers. Also deserving a big thank you are the paddling wives and husbands that put up with the long training hours of their significant others.
