Five boats qualify for A finals at Canoe Kayak

On the first day of Canoe Kayak at the Canada Summer Games, Team BC had five boats qualify for the A finals.  Battling strong headwinds on the Red River and dominant performances by older and more experienced athletes from Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia, Team BC athletes worked hard to show their best.
 
6th Women’s C1 500m – Anna Zhang (Vancouver)
5th Men’s C1 500m – Ydris Hunter (Vancouver)
6th Women’s C2 1000m 6th Melody Oh (Maple Ridge), Heather Potkins (Nelson)
5th Men’s C2 1000m Alexander Demishkevich (Kamloops), Quinn Phare (Pemberton)
5th Women’s K1 500m Cassidy MacPherson (Maple Ridge)
5th Men’s K1 500m – Alex Brent (Dewdney)
7th Women’s K2 1000m Katrina Loulet (Burnaby), Elisa Robson-Brown (Vancouver)
4th Men’s K2 1000m Alex Brent (Dewdney), Matt Koehler (Maple Ridge)

Quotes:
LOUTET, Katrina (Burnaby), ROBSON-BROWN, Elisa (Vancouver)
Women’s K2 1000m

On competing against an older, very competitive field
Elisa: “These are important races and we can’t be switching up our race plan up in the last minute. You see others succeeding with their race places, but particularly at this calibre, you stick with your plan. It’s a little intimidating, but have to think about it the right way, my world just got a lot bigger and it feels awesome.  I’m meeting new people, I’m watching them and I really appreciate their stroke.”

Katrina: “You can definitely learn from others, but we stick with your race plan, execute, discuss after and try to improve next time.”

HUNTER, Ydris (Vancouver)
C-1 500m Finals

On making A Finals in a very competitive field:
“I came here just to get a feeling what it’s like to compete against more advanced athletes, and athletes with more experience.  At first it was really intimidating, I get on the line and some of the guys were twice the size of me…but it was a great experience,  I got to see where I was at based on people who have been competing in the sport twice as long as I have.”

On representing BC:
“It’s such an honour. It sounds corny, but when you’re on the line and they say your name followed by who you’re representing, it feels great and it’s hard to explain.”