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. 

So it has finally happened. The first friend of mine in the group I grew up with has popped the big question. A big congratulations to the great Matthew "Mongo" Peters for first making the plunge, and secondly receiving a "yes". 

In paddling news, things have been going great in Ottawa. The training has been very solid and I feel as though Gabriel are making some strides in the right direction. I have been concentrating a great deal on making some technical adjustments, and trying to move the boat a bit more efficiently. This often boils down to setting a rhythm that is consistent and easy to follow, allowing Gab to best "connect" with the pace. Last week I began to concentrate on the idea of really trying to accelerate through the end of the stroke and take more time through the air, and I seem to have been able to find a more manageable rhythm as a result... so major bonus.

What else, I am still a serious movie/ television buff and have much to report about on this front. This past week had many happenings. The first "Bruno" is a bit too x rated for this forum... "I love you Beth Cooper" was a let down and besides a few chuckles really fell far from the book's level of humour. I also give two big thumbs up to the latest installment of Entourage, as they look to be setting up a lot of exciting plots for the season.

Anyway, that's all for now, keep it real.

Cheers,

Andrew

Excitement in the nation's capital is brimming for yours truly. Today I received word that I was selected to carry the torch in the a Halifax leg of the Vancouver Olympic Torch Relay in November. I am extremely excited about the opportunity.

This week has been a little bit easier of a week with recovery as Gab and I gear up to prepare for hard weeks of training leading up to the world championships. We will be training for the next couple of weeks in Ottawa. The set of trials in Dartmouth was a great test mentally, and now it's time to make same adjustments physically and technically. 

More to come soon.

Cheers and keep it real,

Andrew