Florence Maheu, Cameron Smedley and Michael Tayler The three first slalom Canadian athletes selected for the next Olympic games, talk about their training, lifestyles, and paddling journeys. Interview conducted by Anthony Colin. Do you have any favorite quotes or songs to motivate you? Florence – Any songs that I like at the moment. I will add to my playlist for when I warm up or when I analyze the course. My favorite quote before I race: just paddle like you’re training. I try to put aside the race and just focus on paddling like it was any other training session […] Read More

On March 22, 2020 The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC), backed by their Athletes’ Commissions, National Sports Organizations and the Government of Canada, made the difficult decision to not send Canadian teams to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Olympian Hugh Fisher penned this letter to the Canadian Canoe Kayak National Team.

By: Liam Birch While Canoe Kayak Canada (formerly the Canadian Canoe Association) can boast 119 years of excellence and dedication to the sport of sprint canoeing in Canada, not all aspects of the Association’s history can claim the same duration. Here is a deeper look into when certain traditions and items were introduced to the National Championships regatta. THE CHAMPION The very first championships in 1900, hosted by the Bohemian Amateur Aquatic Association on the St. Lawrence River in Brockville, Ontario, only ever intended to determine the best competitor in each event, not the best club in the country. As […] Read More

By: Andrea Waters (Corbin) Orenda Canoe Club was founded in 1977. I began paddling in 1980 at the age of eight at this small grass-roots club in Lake Echo, Nova Scotia. Who knew that 4 years later I would be winning my first medal at Nationals and Orenda would be making their mark on the national stage? Orenda Canoe Club would finish in the top five at Nationals only a few years later (1985/86), and won the Nationals Championship Burgee in 1987, 1988, and 1989. These years marked my memories of childhood and forever ensured paddling would be a part […] Read More

In 1972 Cobourg was once again represented at the Olympics. W.R. (Bill) Griffith competed at Munich, Germany in the XXth Olympiad, One-Person Canoe (C1) Whitewater Slalom. Bill’s love for the sport began when he was paddling with his Dad and Scout troop in Algonquin Park. Bill Griffith tells his own story: I remember an elderly paddler in Algonquin Park saying that if I ever tried whitewater paddling I would be hooked. A few years later, in 1969, I transferred from the University of Waterloo to the University of Washington in Seattle, Wa., to study Aero and Astro Engineering. Once there […] Read More

An Interview with James Cartwright, Anders Gustafsson and Ian Mortimer At the Annual Summit in Ottawa, this past December CKC Technical Leaders shared their concept of Team Red. The slide deck from that presentation is available here. Below is a Paddles Up Q & A about Team Red with Senior Manager Slalom High Performance and Coach Development, James Cartwright, Sprint National Team Head Coach, Anders Gustafsson, and Director of Development, Ian Mortimer, discussing Team Red. What is Team Red? Ian Mortimer: Team Red is the concept that we have adopted at a National level to focus our own thinking and approach […] Read More