MONTREAL - Canada qualified five more boats for this summer's Olympic Games on Saturday at the Continental qualifier and Pan American canoe and kayak championships.

Canada produced a perfect day earning spots in the men's K-2 (kayak doubles) and K-4 1,000 metres, the C-2 (canoe doubles) and C-1 1,000 and the women's K-4 500. Canadian paddlers needed to win those races to get the spots. Who fills those spots will be officially settled later this spring.

In the men's K-2 1,000, Steve Jorens of Aurora, Ont., and Ryan Cuthbert of Carleton Place, Ont., clocked 3:16.952 for the victory. Canada did not qualify for the Games in the event four years ago.

Rami Zur and Jeff Smoke of the U.S., were second just over two seconds behind and an Argentinean pair was third.

''We were feeling really good heading into the race," said Cuthbert, a member of the 2004 Olympic team. ''The key for us was to have a really good start and that's what we did. Once we got control I knew we would be hard to catch."

In the men's K-4 1,000, Brady Reardon of Burlington, Ont., Angus Mortimer and Rhys Hill, both of Ottawa, and Christopher Pellini of Mississauga, Ont., won a close race in 2:57.657.

Argentina finished about a half second behind and the U.S., was third.

''It was an absolutely great race," said Reardon. ''We were expecting it to be close right to the finish and we stuck to our race plan. Everything was geared towards having a great ending."

In the men's C-1 1,000, Thomas Hall of Pointe-Claire, Que., dominated in 4:00.127 exactly three second ahead of Reidel Ramos of Cuba in second. Jordan Malloch of the U.S., was third.

Andrew Russell of Dartmouth, N.S., and Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny of Trois-Rivieres, Que., also fought a hard battle to win the C-2 1,000 for the Olympic spot. They clocked 3:38.044 with Everardo Cristobal and Camilo Dimas of Mexico second in 3:39.764.

In the women's K-4 500, Emilie Fournel of Lachine, Que., Karen Furneaux of Waverley, N.S., Genevieve Beauchesne-Sevigny of Trois-Rivieres and Kristin Gauthier of Ottawa were the victors in 1:36.965, more than two seconds ahead of the Venezuelans.

''Everyone here has got big smiles on their faces," said Fournel. ''I think we surprised ourselves a bit with that performance. We'd been training together only since March and we were preparing for a big fight. The margin of victory was a bit unexpected."

Entering this weekend's competition, Canada had wrapped up Olympic spots in the men's K-1 and K-2 500 metre events, the men's K-1 1,000 and the men's C-1 500.

LIKE IT?  LET OTHERS KNOW

Thanks for participating!

Be the first to recommend - Sign in now


See what other people are recommending - Popular Stories