It was a long and challenging three days for me in Montreal this past weekend as we raced our 3rd set of national team trials.

On Friday I raced in the C-1 1000m, it was a challenge to get out and race C-1 after training so much C-4 the last two weeks, and it was my first big C-1 race of the year. The heat was a bit rough in the morning and I had to use the semifinal to get back on track an feel strong and connected with the water. Heading into the final I was pretty pumped and felt strong in the growing tailwind. It was a good race, with the ever speedy Cory Ruble next to me I felt like I was in a perfect position 3/4 of a boat off his pace with 250 left. I picked it up coming home and felt like I was going to make the decisive move, but my legs and connection faltered and I could not make the move that I wanted to. Jamie and Pierre-Luc made great moves in the middle of the course and Jamie pulled out a strong win. Very Impressive. I ended up sneaking ahead of Cory at the line for 3rd. It was a good result, but I was not happy about my last 200m.

Saturday was 500m C-1 day, I felt stronger than the previous morning right away in when I got on the water, and was pumped for the shorter races. In the heat Jamie was flying once again and he took off and went strait through to the final. In the semi I really tried to focus on the middle 300m and hit my pace well. I felt strong going into the final and was really pumped up to get a good race in before the big C-4 races I had on Sunday. I was next to speedy Cory again and I went out hard with him off the line to try and stay near the front. I again tried to pace the middle 300m well and focus on my own boat. With 100m left I knew that it was really close with all of the contenders lined up to my right. I was determined to finish well after the disappointing end to my 1000m the day before, so I really tried to stay connected as I tied up and move the boat well. I drove the the last 5 strokes, shot the boat at the line and just nipped out Jamie for the win.
I was happy about the race and it gave me a good lift going into the sudden-death qualifying races for Worlds on Sunday. I was also happy to win the 500m just mintues after my brother won the K-1 500m, a rare double that we both enjoyed.

Sunday morning was a early start for me, our C-4 1000m race was at 8:40 and I wanted to be fully warmed up and activated for this crucial qualifying test. The implications of the race were simple. Win and your in. The winner would represent Canada at Worlds in Nova Scotia. I was pretty nervous going to the course, but once I was on the water in C-1 warming up I started feeling strong and just focused on what I had to do to paddle my best. We then warmed up in C-4 on the course and got a feel for the swirrling winds that were blowing the around the course. We recognized that steering would be a huge part of the race and I set my mind to make the boat run as smooth and strait as I could with Rich in the back two spots. Going out for the race I was pumped and ready to go. Linning up in C-4 always reminds me of linning up in War Canoe with the big boats on either side, and I like to feed of that assosiation and the excited energy I always have in war canoe battles. We didn't have our best start but, we hit our tranisition well and went right into a good, high travel speed. We were able to take a good lead on the crews on either side of us and held the pace, and a good strait line the whole way down. It was a clear and decisive win and we were pumped after about how we had handled the challenging conditions. I was very happy to clinch a Worlds team spot. It has been 4 years since I last was at Worlds, and I am very proud to be back at the highest level of our sport representing Canada. Our crew is fit, and conifdent that we can make a challenge on Lake Banook for the podium!

With the pressure off as far as securing a spot on the Worlds Team, I headed out and raced the 200m C-1 heats and semi's, I was pretty drainned from all of the racing I had done to that point of the weekend and was not as sharp as I wanted to be. I just missed out on the final in the semi coming 4th, but I knew I was not ontop of my C-1 sprinting game and was glad to be able to watch my teamates race it out in C-1 and C-2 and get ready for our big C4C race at the end of the day.

I was tired at the end of the day on Sunday, but it was easy to get pumped up when all of the C4C boys were together and getting on our game faces for the big 200m. I was really focused on just paddling well and excecuting like I knew we could. As soon as we got in the boat, I go ta surge of confidence and felt strong and ready. We had a poor start, and were a bit sloppy through the first 50m, but no of us panicked and we reconnected in a matter of a few strokes and surged through the last 100m. It was a great feelign crossing the line.

I will be racing C-4 1000 m and C-4 200m in front of a home crowd at Worlds on Lake Banook!

It was an exciting weekend, and I am now at home resting and getting recharged for the weeks ahead.