Mark Oldershaw

Winter Training

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:44:00 +0000

Greetings and salutations,

Well this week has been a good week for training here in Ottawa, despite less than ideal weather. A warm spell with some rain was followed by some of the coldest temperatures of the year, meaning that skiing was either too wet or too cold for me. That meant more time in the pool, including a swim test on Tuesday. Our National Team Coach Tamas Buday came up for a few days and helped us with our time controls. They went fairly well, and although I didn't throw down a personal best, I was happy with the effort. We are also on a new weights cycle, which means lots of sore muscles from some new, very challenging weights. I've also been playing some hockey, inspired by my trip to Edmonton, and by the upcoming Paddlers vs. Physiotherapists Annual Showdown. We lost with one second left in overtime last year, and I don't intend to let it happen again.

Other than that, I've been busy with school, and have been enjoying the winter season. While I obviously enjoy the summer, when I can paddle and race and don't look so sickly, I have been enjoying winter more and more over the last few years. Many of my team mates are counting the days down until Florida Spring Training, but for me, it's all about enjoying where you are, and that's what I'm doing. I'm in no rush to get to Florida, and know how valuable off season training can be.

We've also been working with our webmaster Geoff Clarke, and I'm not going to give anything away, but a new and improved canoe4canada.com will be introduced sometime soon, with lots of cool new stuff, so check back regularly! Also, our schedule is updated so you can see what we'll be up to this year, along with a cool picture from the World Championships. That's all for now, thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water!

School Visit and Oilers Game!

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:19:00 +0000

Hey Everybody!

Last week I had the opportunity to visit Rolling Meadows Public School in my hometown of Burlington. Two grade seven classes have "adopted" me, which means they will be following what I'm up to and learning all about the Olympic spirit and ideals. They are also doing some fundraisers for me which I really appreciate. I get to visit them a couple times a year to talk about different things and share my Olympic experience. Last week was my first one and it was a real pleasure to meet all the kids, who were a great group and patiently listened to me and had great questions as well. I'm looking forward to visiting again soon and I hope they are all getting excited for the Games in Vancouver to start soon! Also, a big thanks to Diana who helped with (more like did almost all of) my powerpoint presentation.

I know I am getting excited for the Winter Olympics to start, there are going to be a lot of amazing moments happening and a lot of Canadian heroes will be born! I'll be glued to the TV cheering on Team Canada the whole time.

On Friday I took a trip out west, not quite as far as Vancouver, but all the way to Edmonton to see an Edmonton Oilers hockey game! Good friend Adam van Koeverden took me with him to the game where he was the guest of honour, courtesy of an Oilers sponsor, Epcor. They bring in Olympic Champions every few months as a promotion, and I was lucky enough to tag along for the ride! Thanks a lot to Adam for always thinking of his friends, and of course Epcor for making it happen. We had a great night at the game, and got to meet and sit with a bunch of young paddlers from the Edmonton area. They were a great bunch of kids and I hope they continue paddling and that maybe I'll see some of them at Nationals this year! We had amazing seats right on the glass, which was pretty incredible! It felt like I was right in the game. It was really a dream come true for me, because I have been an Edmonton Oilers fan my whole life. Looking up and seeing all the Stanley Cup banners, as well as the retired numbers of Gretzky, Kurri, Messier, Coffee and Fuhr, who were all heroes of mine growing up, was something really special for me.

I'm back home now, busy in the middle of a heavy cross training load, as well as some schoolwork that I can't put off much longer! I hope everyone reading this is doing well, thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water(if it's not frozen)!

Swan Lake!

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:55:00 +0000

Check out these awesome pictures taken by Jon Clarke of my encounter with the swan during our C1 race at the Mazda Knockout!

Satisfaction

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:17:00 +0000

Hey everyone.

First of all, a huge thanks to everyone that came out to Dartmouth to watch and cheer at the Worlds. The experience of racing in front of that big of a hometown crowd was unreal, and something I'll never forget. I didn't get to visit with people in the crowd really because I had so many races, but knowing you were all there and hearing you cheer meant a lot.
As for my races, I am pretty happy with how they went over all. Of course, coming 4th, 4th, 5th and 6th is a little bit frustrating, as it would have been nice to get up on the podium in front of the Canadian crowd. My C1 1000 was a pretty good race, but I didn't feel quite as sharp through the middle as I could have. It is still the best I've ever done at the World Championships, so I'm proud of that. I wasn't going to come 1st or 2nd, those guys were on top of their games and too fast that day, but I know that with some work I'll be able to compete with them next year. My 500 was pretty good as well. I think a lot of people thought that after my 1000, I would do better in the 500 and thereby get a medal, but I've been concentrating on the 1000 a lot more this year, so I was happy with my 5th place. The 500 is always a very close, tight field of really fast guys, so to be among them is great. Again, the top two guys were the class of the field, but as I said about the 1000, I know that I can compete with them if I make a few changes. Our C4 was a great race, and I'm super happy with how we executed. That was such an exciting race, hearing the crowd while we were on the start line getting us super pumped and ready to go. There was a false start which got us even more psyched up, and when the gun went off we nailed our start and were right in the race with the best in the world. We were just behind the defending World Champs who got the bronze medal, and considering it was our first international race, I think that's pretty good. There were a few things we could have improved on, but that takes race experience to do, so you will definitely see more from us in the future.
It's now time to enjoy the last few weeks of summer, relaxing and getting ready for Nationals. I might go camping or to some cottages, it'll be nice to actually do some regular summer vacation things for once. That's all for now, thanks again to everyone who came to Worlds, keep your paddle in the water.

Great Day

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:31:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who was cheering today, it was a huge help. I was happy with my races and am really looking forward to tomorrow morning's final. I'll be in lane 9 right beside the crowd so I know it's going to be loud! Our team has qualified 10 out of 15 finals so far, including all 5 canoe events, nice work boys. Gab and Andrew had a great day, showing how tough they are in their 500 semi, and our C4 looks to be getting better and better each race, and will definitely be a threat in the final.
I just watched a beautiful sunset over the Bedford Basin from my hotel room, what a view! Now it's in to bed to rest up for tomorrow. Thanks for reading, and cheering, and remember to keep your paddle in the water!

Beat the Heat!

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:26:00 +0000

Day one is done! It was a great for team Canada, and I was really happy with both my races. The morning was beautiful, a slight headwind and a perfect temperature for racing. I was pumped to get out and race, and even though there was no direct advancement to the final in C1, I wanted to get a good race under my belt to start the weekend off strong. I got a bit behind off the start, but stayed relaxed and just tried to feel good, and ended up slowly pulling ahead and winning my heat. Even that early in the morning I could hear the crowd cheering me on which was a great feeling. In the afternoon the crowd got even bigger and louder. In my 500 I took it easy the first 300, and then I heard the crowd start cheer, and it pumped me up so much that I took off the last 200 and won my heat again. It was an amazing feeling to have the crowd behind me, feeding off them and feeling like they cheered even louder the faster I went. If that is what the heats were like, I can't wait for the semis and finals, it's going to be awesome. Thanks to everyone who cheered, it really makes a huge difference, keep up the great work!
The rest of Team Canada had a great day as well. Adam v looked great winning his heats as always, very nice work. A HUGE shout out to the ladies K4 of Genevieve Orton, Emilie Fournel, Kristi Gauthier and Mylanie Barre, who advance directly to the final! Respect. These girls have worked hard a long time and it's great to see them get the results they deserve. Also on the Women's Kayak front, congrats to Victoria Tuttle and Jill D'Alessio who also advanced to the final in the K2 1000, very impressive ladies. I guess that means my dad is doing a pretty good job, so congrats to him as well. One last(but not least) shout out goes to Mark Hoogenraad and Graeme Lind, who have shown up driving the Official C4C Support Vehicle, professionally decaled with a picture of us and everything. It's good to know they'll be in the crowd leading the Canadian fans cheering us on.
That's all for now I guess, big day tomorrow, I'm looking forward to racing in front of this crowd again! Time for dinner, need to refill the tank, thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

Hello Dartmouth!

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:32:00 +0000

We have finally arrived in beautiful Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The course looks great and the excitement for the World Championships is very high and growing daily. We are set up nicely at the course, with a big tent right on the water. I received a new Vanquish III from Nelo to race in and it looks really sharp and feels great on the water. I've been feeling pretty fast on the water and am excited to start racing. I did a good workout with Mily and Vieve in K2 yesterday and was able to really find a good pace going against their faster boat. I did some sprints beside Gab and Aruss this morning, and felt pretty solid. They were going super fast too and really look like they are putting everything together at the right time, I'm excited to see them race. We got out in C4 last night and if felt really good, just a few pick ups was enough to know that we'll be ready to rock this weekend. Our boats passed through boat control this morning, so they are all ready to race. The rest of the day will be resting and recovering, hopefully some massage and physio and a viewing of the new Entourage. The weather has been foggy and rainy for the most part, although the sun peaked out for a brief visit yesterday for a nice sunset. Some people have been complaining, but personally I love racing in the rain. It's supposed to clear up by the time we start racing, but clear skies often come along with strong winds, so the rainier the better as far as I'm concerned. Below are two pictures from my hotel room window displaying the ever changing NS weather. That's all for now, more to come as we approach race day! Thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water!

Au revoir Montreal!

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 01:10:00 +0000

The week in Montreal has flown by and it's hard to believe we'll be leaving for Halifax tomorrow morning. It's really been a great camp this week and I feel like everything is really coming together as planned. The team is rocking it on the water and everyone is starting to look like they are in top racing form. We had a great practice in C4 this morning, and I went out C1 afterward and felt as good or better than I have all year. Off the water Montreal has kept us very entertained. Gab, Morty and I hiked up Mont Royal for a beautiful view of the city as you can see here--->
The other night we had a visit from the legendary Tamas Buday Jr, along with his soon to be lady wife Stephanie Bettez. We had a great time and it was great to see Tommy Boy as always. We are all looking forward to there wedding in September, it's going to be a lot of fun. Last night I went with Gab and Rich to a Steffi Shock concert, at the Francofolies festival. It was awesome! This guy knows how to rock, and even though I didn't really know the songs, it was easy to get into the show. He also had two wicked horn players that threw down some crazy solos.
So that's what we've been up to, and now I'm ready to get to Dartmouth and start the big show. It's time for a good night sleep and then packing up and heading for the airport tomorrow morning. Thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

MONTREAL!

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:42:00 +0000

Greetings from beautiful Montreal!

We arrived Sunday night and have been having a great time all week training at the Basin and living it up in the big city. Our whole canoe team (minus one AKJ) is staying at the McGill residence, occupying 4 rooms next to each other and eating some great meals in their surprisingly high quality Cafeteria. It's been great staying with the team and doing everything together, and we've been bonding very nicely. My room came with an unidentified strange smell attached to it, with windows that don't open, but we've been airing it out and febrezing it to freshen it up.
So Morty decided he needed to lose his locks for racing, so I decided I would go along as well, for moral support, and to get my own racing cut. I hate getting my haircut, so it took us a while to finally choose a barber and work up the courage to go in, but once we did, we had a great time. The barber was a great guy who put us totally at ease and really knew what he was doing. I may even consider coming back to Montreal for my next trim, which may sound ridiculous, but as I only cut my hair a couple of times a year, it's not that out of the question.
I'm not sure if the hair cut made me faster, but it is more comfortable when I'm paddling, and I am feeling pretty fast on the water. I've been making sure to take enough rest, and keeping my workouts pretty short. There has still been some intensity, trying to find the pace I'll be racing at. I'm really looking forward to start racing, as I think our whole team is. You can feel the excitement growing and see it on people's faces. Everyone on the team looks to be in good form and I'm hoping for some good things to happen next week in Dartmouth. I've attached some video of some C1 training, as well a C4 start where we got a little excited, and then a C4 pickup we did this morning. Also check out or resistor training posted on the homepage! Alright, that's all I have for now, thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the

C4CC4

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:44:00 +0000

Hey there,

Another update from C4C has arrived. I hope everyone enjoyed the podcast, we hope to do another one in the near future at full strength. Things here in Ottawa have been going well. We have one more practice on the Rideau before heading off to Montreal next week. I've had some good practices on the water, both in C1 and C4. In C1 I've been thinking a lot about technique, looking at a lot of old race video and trying to fine tune how I'm paddling. I've been feeling pretty good physically, making sure I don't over train, but stay sharp at the same time. My body is holding up well, with no major complaints at the moment which is a nice feeling. Four days of racing is hard on the body, so it's good to go into it without any major issues.
We got out in C4 yesterday for a very solid practice. We did a 200 with the super speedy women's K4, who have had a great season so far and should be a real threat at Worlds. It was good to test our speed against them (we passed), and a good opportunity to work on our start. We've been experimenting a bit with stroke rate, and have come to the conclusion that it's going to have to be higher than it was at Trials, verging on out of control. It's been feeling very promising so far, as even the really high stroke rates have lots of power and don't even feel that fast to us.

Tomorrow will be some course work, followed by a nice weekend off. Rest at this point in the season is just as important as training, so I'll be making sure to take it easy, maybe catch a movie, and check out the local fair/freak show that's at the park near the Canoe Club. I'll also be frequently checking the Jr Worlds results to see how our team is doing. They had some solid results in the heats today, and I'm hoping for good things tomorrow and wishing them all the best. Check out results by clicking HERE
Also, a shout out to the Canadian Women's Waterpolo Team who won a silver medal at the World Championships today, very impressive and inspiring! Alright, that's all I've got for you today, video of C4C practice should be up sometime tomorrow. I hope everyone has a great weekend, thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

Two to Three

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:09:00 +0000

Greetings,
It's been another good day of training here in Ottawa. The weather got back to it's old tricks, raining on and off, and being quite muggy the whole day. This morning I did some 500's at a fairly high intensity. They went alright, but I still felt a little tired from the day before despite having the afternoon off. The afternoon session was at an easier pace, and I was able to work on some technical stuff and just try to feel good. I am still trying to fine tune some stuff before the worlds. I want to make sure I'm paddling my best, so I've been looking at a lot of video, and plan to do some more technical workouts later this week. Tomorrow morning we'll be doing some 1000's, followed by some work in C4. I've switched from my Vanquish II to my Vanquish III, as seen in the picture above. The red is the II and the green is the III. They are pretty similar, and I've been using them both this year, depending where I am. I'll most likely be using the III at Worlds, as Nelo has sent a special one to Dartmouth for me with higher sides in case of waves. That's all for today, but check back to C4C soon for something new that we put together today and should be up soon. Thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

Speed work

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:28:00 +0000

Good day to all,

It has been a nice one here at last! The sun came out and gave us some nice summer loving for the entire day. Training so far this week has been great at the Rideau Club. The mens canoe team and the womens kayak team are both training here under the same program so I've been able to find good training partners for all my workouts. Yesterday I had two solid sessions with Mlle. Genevieve Beauchesne-Sevigny and Ms. Emily Raymond, or "Gab's Girls" as they are now sometimes being called. We did some good intense pieces and I was really starting to feel some speed on the water. I carried that over to this morning's workout, a hard sprinting workout with everyone on the team out in singles. It was a wicked feeling lining up in such a huge group with so many fast, talented paddlers. I had a really good workout, and felt really fast on some of the pieces. It has helped my confidence, especially for the 500. Earlier in the year I really didn't feel like I had that high speed gear that my competitors did, but it's coming together now. I'm excited to line up in a few weeks and test myself against the best in the world.

After the hard morning session, we had the afternoon off, and used it to go and see the new Harry Potter movie. It was a pretty good movie, worth seeing for sure. I had a nice dinner at Carleton University, where we now have a meal plan which has been working out really nicely. I don't mind making my own food, but it's nice to not have to worry about grocery shopping and cooking right now, and great to share meals with my team mates, as well as the Australians that are staying there. I'm happy that the team atmosphere is getting better. The vibe around the club has been great, and I'm looking forward to keeping it going until Worlds. Tomorrow we'll be on the course doing some 500's, followed by some weights, and then a some longer pieces in the afternoon. C4C should be getting out on Thursday, so that will be a lot of fun. I've uploaded some video of this morning's sprint session to check out. Exciting stuff! That's all for now I guess, thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water!

Happy Birthdays

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 01:09:00 +0000

Hi everybody,

It's been a great weekend for me. Saturday morning Morty, Gab, Cory and I had a really great practice at Burloak. We did a bunch of one minute pieces at 100%, with one minute rest, and we all really charged it the whole way. It was great to get pushed by those guys and I felt like I was paddling well and really giving it everything I had. It was a great end to a good week of training back at home. After practice we had a nice breakfast in Oakville, and packed up the car and headed for Ottawa. A very pleasant drive was highlighted by a great lunch at Arby's. We cruised back in time to head over to good friend and C4C supporter Mylanie Barre's birthday party. It was a fun night and we were happy to celebrate Mel's 25th birthday. I could have sworn that she used to be older than me, but I guess not...
Today I had a very relaxing day of sleeping, reading and rock band, and then went to the McBride's house for a very nice dinner to celebrate another birthday. Ken Wallace (Australian Olympic Champion, fellow 2001 Curitiba Jr Worlder, and friend) turned 26 today. Welcome to the club.
Now I'm getting ready to go to bed, looking forward to getting back to another week of training at the Rideau Club. It will probably be my last week training there before renovations begin for their new club house, so I'll make sure to take in all the sights, and smells... of the the clubhouse.
Alright, that's all for now, come back soon for some C4C video later in the week, and hopefully some new Ask Us Anything answers! Thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

Life at home

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:01:00 +0000

Greetings,

The week here in Burlington has been a lot of fun and the time has really flown by. Getting back on the creek was enjoyable as always, and I got in some really solid sessions with Cory Rublee. Thursday night was war canoe night, and it was good to get out in the big boat with most of our crew there. Afterwards we headed over to the Mississauga Canoe Club to celebrate our good friend Tamas Buday Jr's voyage into the life of matrimony. It was a great party, with tons of paddlers and old friends there. Tommy Boy had a great time, dominating us all in poker. Gab, Morty and Aruss had come down to celebrate as well, so we had the chance to get out on the creek in C4.

The last few days I've been helping out at the Canadian Open as a fundraiser for our Canoe Club. Thursday was pouring rain, so I didn't end up seeing any golf. I did get to drive a golf cart around the course all day through massive puddles though, which was pretty wicked. Friday it cleared up enough to get out on the links, and Gab, Morty and I got to witness some world class golf first hand. We were a little tired from the bachelor party the night before, but luckily there was soft, nicely groomed grass to lie down on all along the course. We a lot of great shots, and a couple that looked more like something that we would have done, including the angry swings afterward. We heard a hole-in-one from the distance, but didn't get to see it. How do you hear a hole-in-one? Well it's one of the only times golf fans actually make any real amounts of noise, so it's pretty easy. After golf we came home for a much needed nap, sleeping away the afternoon and some of the evening. We headed down to Burlington Beach with Tessa and Hali for a swim. It was freezing cold in the lake, so we used it as a sort of ice bath, seeing how long we could stay in for. We had a great time, and it made me remember growing up on the beach (we were swimming right in front of where our house used to be), and of how much I love the lake.

I'll be getting in one more workout at Burloak tomorrow morning before heading back to Ottawa for training camp. I've had a great time at home, but it will be good to be back with the team and really feel the growing excitement of the upcoming World Championships. That's all for now, thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

200 Trials

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Hey everyone,

I'm back in Burlington/Oakville for the week after an exciting weekend of racing in Montreal. The first two days I enjoyed watching some exciting races, and was happy to see two of my roommates, Jamie and Morty, win the C1 1000m and C1 500m respectively. Both C1 races were exciting the whole way, and the 500m especially came down to a 5 boat race right until the last few strokes. The girls K1 was also exciting, with special shout out going to Genevieve Beauchesne Sevigny, who is back on her game after taking some time to become a nurse.

After watching for two days, I was very excited to finally get on the starting line on Sunday for the 200m races, where every race was a qualification for the World Championships. It was a simple selection process, whoever wins gets to race at the Worlds. The only exception was in the singles events, where the top 4 would qualify for the newly added relay event. C1 was first, and in my heat I false started, which made me hesitant on the second start, and in a 200 that can cost you the race. I advanced to the semis, and had a decent race there, winning my semi and advancing to the finals. For the final, I wanted to win, but the main goal was just to come top 4, as it is the relay that I want to race at Worlds, not the individual. Again I false started, but this time I wasn't going to hesitate on the restart, as it was do or die time. The second start wasn't great, but I got going pretty well in the middle. I was a few lanes away from Gab and Rich, who were winning, so I couldn't really tell where I was. Aruss started to make a charge late in the race, so I did everything I could to hold him off, and threw down a pretty mean boat shoot that ended up putting me in second, just ahead of Gab. Rich had a great race to take the win, but I was a little frustrated because I didn't feel as fast as I had earlier in the week. Still, I achieved my goal and made the relay team, along with Rich, Gab and Aruss. It will be a really exciting race at Worlds, and I think we could be a pretty competitive team.

Once C1 was over, it was time to get down to the real business of the day, C4 200m! This is the race that Canoe 4 Canada has wanted to race for 2 years, and finally the day had come for us to try to qualify it. I felt a lot of pressure leading up to the race, it would look pretty silly if we had made a website and everything and then not even gotten the entry. Once we started setting up the boat and getting in the zone though, the nerves started to fade a bit, replaced by excitement. We all put on our separate club jerseys, and were stretching in the boat bay before the race, and I looked around and realized how cool it was that we could all race together like this. Even though we were all from different parts of the country, paddling had brought us together and made us best friends, and now we had the chance to qualify to race at the World Championships together. Once on the water, we felt great, and I knew that as long as we didn't screw things up, we would be able to win. The speed was there, we just had to execute. The start ended up being less than good, I'm not sure what happened, but it kind of just felt like it was slow motion and not quite together. That didn't last long though, and after about ten strokes we got together and started to really move. It was an exhilerating feeling as we quickly moved to the front of the race, with the boat moving really smoothly. We kept charging it the second half of the race, and that's when I heard someone (who turned out to be my brother) scream out C4C! I knew then that we were going to win, and it was hard not to smile. It was a great feeling crossing the line and finally knowing for sure that we would be racing at the Worlds after wanting it for so long. I let out a yell and slapped Aruss on the back in celebration. As usual, Aruss had drained himself during the race, so my slap on the back sent his exhausted body heading for the water, dropping the paddle and almost falling in. The crowd had a good laugh, but I managed to grab him before he went in. Taking a lesson from our team rockstar Tom Hall, Aruss left right from boat control, getting in a cab to catch his afternoon flight. Very rad.

After that it was time to pack up the boats, and the feeling around the course felt more like Nationals than Trials. It was a great day, and the atmosphere was very positive and everyone was really charged up watching the 200s. There were so many close, exciting races, that I won't go into them all here, but if you weren't there, you definitely missed out on a great day of racing. I'm excited to see our team race at the Worlds, where hopefully the home crowd will create and even bigger and more exciting vibe for our team to feed off of.

I'm now back home training at Burloak. It's been great so far, as it always is when I get back on the creek. I've been feeling really good the last few days on the water, and am getting really excited for Worlds. I'm also looking forward to the next few weeks of preparation, focusing on every practice to get myself 100% ready to race. This week I'll be helping out at the Canadian Open Golf Tournament, and attending Tamas Buday Jr's stag party as well, which should be a fun night. I'll head back to Ottawa for training camp next week. I'll be updating a lot more regularly now, to keep everyone up to date on our journey to the Worlds, so check back soon. Thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water!

SUCCESS!

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:19:00 +0000

C 4 C !

Team Canoe 4 Canada has qualified for the C4 200m at the Senior World Championships, starting August 13 in Dartmouth, NS. After a bit of a slow motion start, we kept it together and quickly surged to the front of a very competitive field to win the trials and secure our entry. The journey can now officially begin, follow us for the rest of the summer for our lead up to the Worlds, it's going to be exciting!

Congratulations to everyone else who made the team as well, it was a day full of amazing performances and some very tight races.

Back to business

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:09:00 +0000

Greetings to all,

It's been a week since I last posted, and the time has flown by. Canada Day was a blast! The regatta was fun to watch from my seats under the Level Six tent. I had a great time selling tickets for our raffle, which raised money for the Ottawa River Canoe Club, who recently had a bunch of equipment stolen. I think it went really well and it was nice to see how happy it made the kids. There were some exciting races as well, with Gab and Ian finishing a close 1-2 in the C1 100m, just passing Rideau's young gun Ben Tardioli in the last few strokes. My sister Tessa rocked the girls K1 100m by about a boat, a very impressive display of kayaking if I do say so myself. We finished off the day with a wicked BBQ at our house, full of boating and swimming and tarzan rope adventures.

I took the rest of last week fairly easy on the water, letting my body recover after a lot of hard races. I helped Tamas in the motorboat while they selected the C4 1000m crew that will race at the next set of trials. Everyone that tried out looked really solid and I'm very impressed with the level of our team. Morty got the nod for the "A" crew, so congratulations to him, a very deserved selection to say the least.

This week it's been back to business on the water. Training has been long and hard, and it's been a bit of a shock to the system after so many weeks of peaking for competitions. I felt a bit out of shape at first, but it's coming back quickly, and I think it was more a case of not being used to that kind of work rather than a lack of fitness. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks of hard training to get myself ready for Worlds. That's all for now, I've posted video of the 500m race from trials for those interested. Thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

Happy Canada Day!

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:19:00 +0000

It's the first of July! Canada's Birthday and the first day of the second half of the year! It seems crazy that we're this far into 2009, but I guess a lot of things have happened so far and it's been pretty busy. Gab and I arrived in Ottawa Monday afternoon after some delays at the airport in Halifax. We seemed to bring the weather with us, as they say, because upon arriving we were welcomed with a heavy downpour. Luckily Ian and Jenna had made a great dinner and we were able to just sit inside and enjoy the food and the sound of the rain outside. It was then time for a much needed sleep to help recover from the weekend. I took yesterday to rest as well, as I know I have a lot of hard work coming up in the next month and need to be ready for it. The Canoe Team training camp will start this Thursday here in Ottawa. A big team has been invited, and they will try to decide who is going to race with who in C4 1000 at the next set of Trials, and ultimately at the Worlds in Dartmouth. With so many guys trying to make the boats, I hope it will push everybody to be their best, and make Canada's C4 at worlds that much better. I'm also excited that there will be such a big team around to train C1 with me, as training alone is not my specialty. It should be a fun camp, as our team usually gets along really well even when there is tough selection going on.

Today is the annual Canada Day Regatta, hosted by the Rideau Canoe Club on Mooney's Bay. It is a great regatta that is usually well attended by people from all over the country, and continent. People come decked out in all red and white with maple leafs flying, showing their national pride. The racing is very exciting, most notably the famous Rideau 100, a hundred metre sprint that is known by many as the world championship of this distance. I am the defending champ (no big deal), but am still deciding whether I'm going to race or not. It will be a last minute decision, depending on how I feel later in the day. After the races, the festivities really begin, with BBQs, parties, and of course the annual trip downtown to see the firework display. I'm looking forward to a fun day, and wish everyone out there a happy Canada Day! Thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

C1 500m finish Trials II, Dartmouth

Mark, Rich, Cory, Paul. Photo by Bernie Irvin

Work complete

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:04:00 +0000

Hey hey,

What a weekend! It was a great regatta here in Dartmouth, with nice racing conditions and some very exciting racing. I felt great on the water and came up with really good races in my both my 1000m and 500m. In both races I led from the first stroke and didn't give up the lead once, which was different than my other races of the year. With these wins, I have earned the right to race for Canada at the World Championships later this summer, which are right here in Dartmouth. I can't wait for the opportunity to race at the Worlds in front of a home crowd, and am really excited to be racing 1000m again, which I feel really confident about this year. My hats go off to Tom Hall, Richard Dalton, and all my other competitors who were both extremely tough to beat and stand up guys throughout the selection process. It's this kind of intense competition within Canada that has made us so competitive on the World level.

C2 1000m was a very anticipated race, and it lived up to the hype. Gab and Andrew looked really strong, and halfway through the race it looked like they were going to win convincingly, but Rich and Ben Russell stuck close, and came back on them hard, ending in a boat shoot finish. Morty and Kyle had a great race too, sticking close to the leaders and finishing a strong third. It's great to see these guys back on their game.

C2 500m turned out to be another great race, with Gab and Aruss again taking the W ahead of the same two other crews. They all looked really sharp, and it bodes well for our team at the Worlds later this summer. Congratulations to Gab and Andrew who locked up both C2 entries this weekend in some very hard fought races. They came up big when they needed to and I'm excited to see them rock the house at Worlds.

Congrats go out to everyone else as well, it was an exciting weekend full of great battles. Special mention goes out to all the Juniors racing at their Jr World Trials, they provided some of the most exciting races of the weekend, and I found myself running to the finish line for the Jr C1's despite having to be on the water for my race 5 minutes later.

I'd like to thank Dr Brian Seaman who helped me out with some chiropractic work this weekend, as well as Bernie Irvin, who has become much more than just our massage therapist. He is the most supportive staff member we have, and great to talk to and hang out with during regattas. His massages keep us loose and stretched out and ready to race, and we are really lucky to have him around so much. So hat's off to you Bernie, and thanks again.

Now it's time to take a deep breath, relax, and take in what has happened. I'll take some days off and meet with my coaches to plan out the rest of the summer. It should be a good one! Thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

Back on the Creek

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Hey everybody,

I have been back home in Burlington this week training on the Sixteen Mile Creek. It's been really nice staying at home, and great to see my family, hanging out and having nice dinners together. Training at Burloak has been great too, and while Ottawa is an amazing place to paddle, I get a special feeling when I get back to paddling on the creek where I grew up. It brings back a lot of good memories and so far I have felt really good on the water. There are lots of great training partners here, and it's been nice to get out in smaller groups after the giant battles we had in Ottawa last week. I've been relaxing at home when I'm not down at the club, which has been easy with a comfortable basement and a fridge full of food. I had a nice dinner last night with Vank, his mom and his grandmother in Adam's sweet condo in Toronto. So that's about all I've been up to, eating, training and relaxing. I'll be leaving for Halifax tomorrow morning, and am excited to race this weekend. I've posted some video of training from last week for you to check out. That's all for now, thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

A great training camp

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:56:00 +0000

Hello there ladies and gentlemen,

Last week was a great week of training here in Ottawa, with almost the entire National Canoe Team here for a short camp. The women's kayakers also had their camp here, which means more fast people to train with, and friends to have BBQs with. It also means my dad was here for the week, so I could get some coaching from him, which is always nice with a big race coming up. My sister Tessa, and Delaire also came up for the week, to train here while looking for apartments for next year. It was nice to have them around, even if the bathroom became a lot harder to get into all week.

The camp went really well for me, and I think for everyone on our team. It was really fun getting out in a massive C1 group again, with 14 fast guys lining up against each other. It got really competitive out there, especially around the corners, and I was really able to push myself hard. It isn't often we get that big of a group training that hard together, other than sometimes in Florida. It was a great feeling knowing that we were all working together to train hard even though we all have to race each other next weekend. With all the intense workouts we were doing, I made sure to have equally intense rest and recovery this week. I took some extra practices off, knowing that I needed to recover and that an easy paddle or a crappy practice was not what I needed this week. Sometimes you need to go out there and hammer even you are tired or sore or not feeling it, but this close to a big race, rest is just as important as training. The extra rest also meant I could really push myself closer to race intensity when I was on the water. After racing in Europe, I realized that I needed more practice at those really high intensities, and I think I accomplished that this week, without over doing it and getting tired. My best workout came near the end of the week, on Friday morning. We just did a simple workout, some 3, 2 and 1 minute pieces, but it turned into a really hard, solid session. I pushed it from the start and challenged myself each piece, with the help of some very speedy training partners of course. We finished off the camp with a relay race Saturday morning, much to our coach Tamas' delight. There were two C1's and two C2's on each team, and we went back and forth on the course, first for 500m, and then 300m. It was a back and forth race, but I was able to hunt down Klev in C1 in the anchor leg of the first one, and hold of Gab and Aruss in C2 in the second one to give my team the double victory.

Off the water, like I said I've been resting and recovering well. Our physio Paul has been helping a lot with the recovery part, making sure I don't fall apart after hard workouts. His clinic is just down the road, and the river, from our house. It is called Riverside Physiotherapy, and we also live on the river, so I decided to take advantage of that fact. I was stuck without a car or a ride, so I grabbed my boat and paddled to physio. I brought my bike lock and locked my boat on the side of the river, and walked up to his clinic with my paddle, ready to be treated. It was fun to actually use my boat for transportation, rather than just paddling up and down the river for fitness.

We also had a nice BBQ with our whole team, and took out anyone who wanted to out behind Kyle's motorboat. Almost everyone went out for a ski or wakeskate, and the smiles on peoples faces when they got up for the first time was really awesome to see, and put everyone there in a really good mood. There was a lot of hunched over, clinging on for dear life kind of skiing, but there was also lots of laughter and waving to the shore, as well as numerous thumbs up and fist pumps. After a relaxing afternoon in the water, we cooked up our meat and had a great dinner, with shish kebobs, steaks, ribs, shrimp and more. I don't remember anything other than meat being served, but that's what BBQs are all about right?

Yesterday Gab and I went to the Museum of Civilization to check out the Mythical Beasts exhibit. It was really awesome. I was like a little kid I was so excited to go, as I've been pretty obsessed with dragons and the like since I was young. It wasn't a huge exhibit, and there were no live creatures, but it was nonetheless very awesome, and set my imagination racing into the world of myth and legend. While I was checking out dragons at the museum, there were thousands of people on Mooney's Bay checking out Dragon boating, as the Ottawa festival is on this weekend. It's a huge event, and a lot of fun to race in, but I opted out because of our upcoming Trials, despite some heavy recruitment from Scott Seaby, whose crew has won the last 8 years or something like that. I'm pretty sure they'll be ok without me, and I'll probably head over today to cheer them on.

This week I'll be heading back to Burloak for a few days to see my mom, make sure vank doesn't go crazy sitting at home, and rest up for racing before flying to Halifax on Thursday. I'm excited to race again, and looking forward to seeing the improvements that Dartmouth has made for the World Championships later this summer. Thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

R.O.C.K. Cottage

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:38:00 +0000

Greetings,

I have been back home for a few days now, recovering from a hard few weeks of racing. I've only done a few easy paddles, but I still feel really good on the water. The river has been beautiful, quiet and calm, and I've been paddling right out of our backyard. R.O.C.K. headquarters is set up nicely, with the dock in and Kyle's speedboat in the water. We have been enjoying wakeboarding and waterskiing during our free time, and sitting around the fire at night. It really feels like living at a cottage right now, as I am on the screened in deck writing this, with the smell of citronella candles all around me and the sound of crickets outside. It is very peaceful, which is definitely what I need right now. Next week hard training will resume, but I know I'll be able rest really well between sessions here at our house.

We had a BBQ last night with special guests, the owners of our new clothing sponsor Level 6. These guys are old slalom paddlers, and they are really cool guys to hang out with, and listen to what we need and how they can make us better gear. I am happy that they are involved with our team now and am excited for the clothing they will be making us in the future. The stuff we had on tour was pretty good, and I know with our feedback they will make it even better.

I had a great sushi dinner tonight with Morty. I took my BMX and he took a skateboard because we didn't have a car. It was a great ride though, and as one of our physiotherapists we saw on the way there said, it's like we were in grade 8 again. We started talking about C4 200 over dinner, and were getting pretty excited. I really think we can shock some people at Worlds, and I'm looking forward to putting some practice into the boat and see how fast we can really go.

Alright, it's time to take the garbage out and then off to bed. Thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

Back Home

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:52:00 +0000

Greetings sportsfans!

We have arrived home after a very successful and exciting World Cup tour. The last day of racing went very well for Canada, resulting in 6 medals. Our C4 200 crew added a bronze to that tally with an alright race. We didn't nail the start like we wanted to, so we never quite found the pace we wanted, but there was still a lot of speed in the boat, and I am confident that with the proper training we can be a serious threat at the World Championships. It was nice to get on the podium, and experience the amazing crowd that showed up to watch the races. My C1 didn't go quite as well. I had a great semi, a good hard race that I was in control of the whole way. I was really excited to race the final, and wanted to really attack the race and challenge for a podium spot. During the day the wind really started to blow, which didn't bother me, as I had a good race in the wind in the 1000m. Unfortunately, it also started to blow from the side, which made one side of the course faster than the other. I got the unlucky side of the course, and still was planning to attack the race and go for it despite the conditions. I didn't get a great start, but I recovered alright and tried to go with the leaders. Half way I was within striking distance, but the effort to keep up had taken it's toll, and I didn't have the big finish that I was hoping for. It was frustrating, but I still managed 6th place which I can live with for now. So that gave me a 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th in the C1 Olympic distances for this tour. Right now I feel like I could have grabbed some more medals, but if you told me I was going to get those results when I was in Florida, I would have been pretty happy with them. I really feel like the best is yet to come this year, and that I am not nearly at my potential yet. Most years I've probably been at my best during the World Cups, but this year I feel like I was improving each race, and hope to continue that the rest of the year. I also feel like my 1000 is back where it should be, and am excited to try to qualify it for the World Championships.

It's nice to be home now, although it's been raining non-stop since we got here, and our luggage is still on it's way. It's time to get back to some longer training, and lots more running and weights. Trials #2 is only 3 weeks away though, so I'll still be doing some hard work on the water to stay sharp for those. Alright, that's all for now, thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

Go harder than the wind

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:34:00 +0000

Greetings!

Day 2 of the World Cup is complete! It was a very hard day of racing, with tough conditions to deal with, but I'm very satisfied with the way I raced and the way things went. My semi this morning was ok, I went out at a good pace for 500m, and then eased off a bit when I knew I was going to make the final. Usually I don't like to mess around like that, but it was a strong lefts head wind, and I was racing two strong lefts, so I figured I would save my best for the final. It almost turned out to be a big mistake, as I drew lane 9 in the final, which had been a terrible lane all morning because the wind was stronger on that side of the course. Luckily by the time the finals rolled around, it was more or less a straight head wind. It was straight, but more notably it was very STRONG. As you may have noticed if you checked results, doing a 4:30 doesn't usually place you to well at a World Cup, but today was different. I knew going in that it was going to be a long one, and a very big physical and mental challenge. I tried to prepare myself mentally, and I knew that I had to focus on myself and staying strong throughout the race. Any mental or physical lapse could put you back and out of the race completely. To be honest, the wind was making me pretty nervous for quite a while. I'm not sure why, as at National Team Trials earlier this year I felt great in the wind, and was confident in my abilities. It's harder when you are racing at this level I guess. A bit before going out to race, as I was trying to think about how I had to paddle and how my race plan might need to be modified to take into account the wind, I thought about a radio show we listen to on sattelite radio, called the Jason Ellis show. One of the many things he likes to go on about is how people need to "harden the %*$# up", excuse my language. So I looked at the wind, and told myself, ya, this is going to be hard, so I guess the only solution is to "harden the %*$# up". That put me in the right frame of mind for the race, and I went out feeling a lot more confident than I had been. I felt good in my warm up, and was excited by the challenge that the race was going to give me. After a very bad first stroke, I almost panicked, but then thought to myself, this is going to be a LONG race, I think I'll have time to recover, and I very quickly did. I had a good start and was up with the leaders for the first little bit. I was focusing on myself, trying to move the boat smoothly, not sit up too much in the wind, and keep up a pace that would keep me in touch but not kill me. It felt like an eternity getting to the 500, but I knew I was still in good shape if I had a strong finish. With 250 to go I really picked it up, focusing on the guy in front of me and doing everything I could to catch him. As you can see in the picture, I almost did, but not quite. I'm on the bottom of the picture, coming in 4th. I was happy with my result, although 4th can be a bit annoying, as the difference between 3rd and 4th in terms of recognition and praise is a big one. Nevertheless, I think I paddled a good race, and was happy with how I handled the wind. I also know that I can be faster, and that I can definitely beat those guys.
Canada had a good day at the regatta course, with our girls K4 grabbing another silver medal with a very impressive performance. Adam van Koeverden was a close 4th, and is looking like he's going to be ready to rock tomorrow. Gab and Aruss had a bit of a dissapointment in C2, but I am confident they will bounce back tomorrow. I've had many dissapointing 1000's in my life that have led to some great 500 results, that's for sure. We are also racing C4 200 tomorrow, with Mark Klevinas subbing in for Morty, which should be good practice for later this summer. It isn't a deep field, but the crews that are racing are all very fast so it should be a good test. I'm really excited to race 500 tomorrow as well, it should be a fun one.
Congratulations go out to Morty who threw it down at Ontario Team Trials, winning the 1000m over the strongest field we have seen at OTTs in years. It's good to see him winning races, especially on his home course, and bodes well for a succesful summer for C4C.
Ok, well that's all from me for now, it's time to get to bed. Another big day of racing tomorrow, then back home early monday morning. Thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.

Sz-sz-sz-Szeged!

noreply@blogger.com (C4C) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:44:00 +0000

What's up what's up?

We have arrived in Szeged, Hungary for the final stop on our World Cup tour. Training in Duisburg was great, but it's time to race and I'm excited to be here at one of the premier racing sites in the world. As soon as you get here you realize how seriously the Hungarians take paddling. The site is perfectly maintained, with sponsors signs lining the course. Huge boat bays are full of paddlers from all over the world, and there is a grandstand beside the course that will actually be full of fans come the weekend. It makes you feel something like a professional athlete which is a nice change. The mood of the team is great, it seems like everyone is ready to race and spirits are high. I bought a mini hand ball that we have been tossing around, making up different games, or playing the always popular HOT. We have internet right in our boat bay, so we should be updating regularly. It's time for lunch, so until next time, thanks for reading and keep your paddle in the water.