This past weekend I took part in the third and final national team trials which were held on the Olympic Basin in Montreal. It was an exciting w

eekend, because the scenario was so that basica

lly "win and you're in" for all of the non-Olympic events at the world championships. 

Gab and I arrived from Ottawa by car on Saturday afternoon in time for the 500 finals, and a night's sleep before we got ready to compete in the 200m sprint on Sunday. 

There was a lot of excitement going into the event, and I was especially excited and hoping/anticipating my younger brother Ben's nomination to his first senior world championships in the C-4 1000m event. His crew along with Tom Hall, Ian Mortimer and Richard Dalton certainly did not disappoint, and the showed a great deal of pace that will hopefully translate into a great performanc

e at the worlds. There were so many other noteworthy performances and exciting races during the Sunday as well.  

Here are some of the notables:

1) An incredible performance by my clubmate J

enna Marks in the ladies canoe events who will now be represented Canada at the worlds in 3 of the 4 events.

2) Amazingly close finishes in double events; Kyle "King Karl" Jeffery and Aaron "Prince Aaron" Rublee nip the C-2 200m away from Chris Edwards and Dana Morgach, and the surging tandem of Dober and Willows narrowly beat out Etienne Morneau and Hugues Fournel.

3) Mark DeJonge puts on a show with his sprint prowess earning his spot on the worlds team.

4) Kia Byers scorches the ladies K-1 200m even

t.

5) The ever talented Tamas Buday Jr. jumps in a couple C-4s and shows off his incredible skill set.

6) The double Mortimer win (rewinding to Saturday) in the C-1 and K-1 500m events.

7) Richard Dalton's incredible speed in the C-1 200m winning by over half a second and looking awfully good doing it. He will be a major medal th

reat in this event at the world championships.

8) Nicole Haywood's toughness through the finish of the ladies C-1 500m event.

9) Another person who had a big weekend was Pierre-Luc LaLiberte, who shined in the C-1 1000m on Friday, advanced to the final in the C-1 200m, and had a productive overall weekend, and of course Jamie Andison who convincingly won the 1000m C-1 and narrowly lost the C-1 500m.

Anyway, I could keep reporting for days on the excitement and great performances of the worlds, but the outcome remains the same, Canada will be fielding an  extremely strong team for this year's world championships, led by veterans like Karen Furneaux, Richard Dalton, and Adam van Koeverden, and the team will be poised to race well in each and every event.  

I will be heading back to our nation's capital to train and prepare before the worlds, but have enjoyed my time here in Dartmouth, and am getting excited about the worlds as I continue to see Lake Banook and its surroundings transform for the event.