Check out C4C head quarters featured on a riveting story on the CBC about the dangers of Coyotes.

CBC VIDEO

Just as long as we can keep them away from an ACME mail order catalog we are safe for now.

Today was a great day on Lake Banook. Our C-4 had a very strong race and got a tight 4th spot in our heat. Tomorrow we have a crucial semi final. We will look to sharpen up and go out and paddle well. I felt strong today and really stepped on the gas in the second 500m, looking for more of the same tomorrow.

Lets hear it from all the fans tomorrow on Lake Banook!

At dinner tonight we all go post cards that were filled out by kids who were watching the races today. Here is the message I got from my new buddy Cameron. You nailed it buddy, thanks for the encouragement and I will heed your advice.

Check out the News Article on the Nelo Website....looks like my mom is making waves in Europe.

Not very many masters paddlers make it onto the Nelo Site!

http://www.nelo.eu/en/news/article/special_paddler_at_cinfaees/


Way to go mom, can't wait to see you cheering in the stands!

Well here we are....its the day before racing and Lake Banook is ready to rock. The sun is shinning here today and a sweet tail wind is pushing down the course. There were many people out there getting there final prep in before the heats tomorrow. It is very, very exciting. It will be great to get out in the heat tomorrow morning and get going. A big well done to all the people who have worked so hard to get the lake ready. It is amazing, those of you coming in to watch you will see the transformation of the lake. It is really awesome. Its now time to relax this afternoon and charged up for the racing tomorrow. BRING IT ON!

And we are off! Heading out to the airport to fly to Halifax and the World Championships! Its been a great camp this week, we are all pumped. This is going to be a blast.


Fully packed in my sweet retro suitcase, a gift from my good pal Bob Rohmann. Thanks Bob I am rolling in style.

See you in Halifax.

Our last session here in Montreal is under our belts. The boats are loaded, just have to rest now and pack up before we head out east tomorrow.

The Australian kayak guys, Anders Gustafsson and the Argentinian squad have been training at Rideau for the last 3 weeks. It was so great to have all these great Athletes at Rideau training hard. All of the the guys that came to train were absolutely great sports with all the kids at the club and participated in the Rideau Fun Regatta, Four Square at out club dinners and even went out for a try in War Canoe last night. Thanks for coming to train at our club guys!

Here is a pic that most wouldn't expect to see, Jimmy Owens (Aussie Coach) and Olympic Champ Kenny Wallace both in 7th spot in War Canoe! Little cramped in there boys?




Kenny was K-1 1000m champ at the same Junior Worlds in Brazil that C4C raced at, you can follow his racing and daily antics at - KenWallace.com.au

What's up C4C fans and friends? Another great day has passed and we are one day closer to the big dance in NS. This morning we were out in C4 1000 doing some seriously intense broken 4 minute sets to try and simulate the work load that will be required to get down the 1000 in Dartmouth. We had a crew breakfast this morning and drove to the course together. It was good to kind of simulate the pre-race feeling that we will look to have next week, and it is easy to get pumped when you are with the caliber of crew mates that I have. Our first hard piece was strait into a pretty strong headwind, we kept the pace up well and all felt that we charged right through the whole effort well. The second effort we did back down the Basin with a nice square tail wind at our backs. We hammered out 4 x 1 minute very consistently and were all very happy with the boat movement and the tempo we were able to hold. We came off the water feeling confident and happy with the practice, which is always a great feeling.


This afternoon we had the option to go for an easy paddle or take it off. Mark, Gab and I decided to give out shoulders a rest and take a little hike up Mount Royal to get outside and get the blood moving a bit. The clouds cleared this afternoon and we ended up having a brilliant view from the look out on the top of the ancient extinct volcano that sits smack dab in the center of Montreal. Here are some pics of the keen expedition and the hard earned view we got at the top.

Just got back from a great Canoe team dinner here in Montreal. We had a great meal at La Medusa, spirits are high and we all had a relaxed good time. We were very pleased to have Tamas Buday Jr. our dear old teammate, constant supporter and spirit man join us for dinner along with his beautiful fiance Stephanie Bettez. Tamas was a hero of mine growing up watching paddling, I remember watching him race in Atlanta in 1996. As I developed in the sport and Tommy became a teammate my admiration of him did not diminish. He is probably the most talented paddler, in terms of boat skills and awareness, that I have raced with and his confidence and ability to step up for big races throughout his career has been an example that our whole generation of paddlers tries to emulate. More than that, Tommy always was the most enthusiastic person just to be out paddling and enjoying the sport, and it is this enthusiasm and pure love of canoeing that we miss not having him around all the time. So it was great to have him with us for our team dinner and we still count him as a valuable part of our team, it will be great to have him cheering us all on in Dartmouth.

Whats up C4C fans and friends. Training and final preparation for the Worlds is moving along well here in Montreal. This morning we were out in C4 200m working on our starts and trying to nail our first 100m. After that we all headed out in C-1s to get our aerobic system's fired up with a quick 2 x 3-2-1 minutes at a hard pace. It felt good to push it a bit and like most of the work outs the last couple weeks, in every piece of every work out someone is always going for it, so its never easy.

After all that work we are now settling down for a restful afternoon off. We all indulged in the cheeseburger option at the caf for lunch and are ready for a little nap and a movie. The excitement is building towards next week and we are all getting pumped, but for now its our job to rest and charge up the batteries.

A final thanks to Stig and Tyler at Level Six who sent over a hat for me that can actually fit on my large melon. Thanks, and props to Zac Osmond head designer at L6 who came up with the art work for this stylish chapeau.

This morning was a beautiful day on the basin and both the Men's Canoe and Kayak squads were out there on the course charging it. Both of our programs had us doing some hard pacing so our coaches decided to team us up with similarly matched crews speed wise and push each other in the pieces. Gab and Andrew in C-2 went head to head for some 500m pieces with Andrew Willows and the speedy Hugues Fournel, while our C-4 1000 of Tom, Rich, King Ben and myself went toe to toe with the very speed K-2 1000m crew of Richard Dober and Steve Jornes. It was good to try to match travel speed with the K-2 which was a touch faster than us and try to hold on. It was also just fun to get out and train with the kayak guys who we normally wouldn't get to mix it up with. The guys K-4 was also out on the course, no one can hang with them so they were doing 750's on there own. They were looking very sharp and I am pumped to see what that can do in Dartmouth. Mark also recruited a training partner, Pierre-Luc showed up for the session and was out there trying to hang with our C-1 man. It was an overall great team morning and I really like the team vibe that we got working together. Here is our post practice shot of all the boys.



Now play spot the difference.....any one recognize the new person in this pic?





If you guessed that it was the most successful Canadian Paddler of all time then you guessed right! Caroline Brunet was out paddling and hanging out at the basin this morning. As we prepare for these Worlds at home it was nice and inspiring to get a visit from Caro who, in 1997 at the last Worlds in Dartmouth, tore it up for an amazing triple gold sweep of the Women's K-1 events! That is a pretty awesome example to try and live up to.

Finally, a birthday shout out to my boy and good friend of C4C Hugues Fournel. I was very, very happy for Hugues when he gave himself an early birthday present by blasting his way onto the worlds team in 200m K-1 Relay and K-4. Your the man Hugues, Bonne Fete!

We are now fully settled in at our final preparation camp here in beautiful Montreal. We are all getting more and more excited everyday as the big dance on Lake Banook approaches. Trainning is going very well for our C4's and for the team in general. We had a really tough work out this morning with the whole team out in C-1's slugging it out piece for piece. It feels good to really start feeling the speed that we have been building too all season and to just let it hang out there a bit in practice. We all felt pretty spent after, but I think the consensus among the guys is that we are right where we want to be in terms of preparation.

Its time now to recover well and start to sharpen up, which means eating well and getting lots of rest. Luckily the eating well is seriously taken care of here at the New Residence at McGill. Check out the serious feast I dug into today for lunch.




Meal times are also one of the best times of the day for us to chat it up, rip each other and possibly have a second addition of the Candian Canoe Team Penmanship Competition. (Congratulations to Daddy-o).

Here are some of the boys at lunch today.



Keep Checking out C4C for daily updates leading into Worlds!!