Zhang and Ronayne paddle to bronze

It was another beautiful day along the Snye for the Canoe/ Kayak competition as Anna Zhang (Vancouver) and Hana Ronayne (Pemberton) paddled their way to a bronze medal in the C-2 5000m in their inaugural multi-sport games.  Learning from other athletes is the highlight of the Western Canada Summer Games for the duo.

“It is great to learn from other athletes and people with lots of experience racing,” says Ronayne.

Zhang says, “I love racing and this is my first time competing for Team BC”.

The 5000m is an endurance race, requiring paddlers to work in unison to reach the podium. The longer race was intimidating for Ronayne who usually competes in sprint races.  Today, Ronayne had energy to burn.

“(The race) went better than I expected,” admitted Ronayne.  “I was worried I would not be able to keep up with Anna because she is a strong distance paddler and my specialty is 500m.  However, right from the start we found the right stroke rate.”

Zhang agrees the race went well. “We had good steering and we stayed together.  I really liked the turns but they were super sharp!”  

Canoe/ Kayak wrapped up competition on Monday.