“I had a good race today,” said van Koeverden of Oakville, ON. “It was my first race of the year so there’s lots of fine tuning to do. I’m going to sit down with my coach now and talk to him about what to work on for training.” The race course has a bit of special meaning for van Koeverden. Decorated with memories of the 1996 Olympics, it was the site where he first made the podium at the Senior World Championships in 2003 with a second place finish in K1 1.000.
With a strong headwind, van Koeverden stopped the clock on 3'47"6, followed by Steven Jorens with 3'51"9 and Brady Reardon with 3'54"5.
Now, with the rest of the Canadian team, he is heading Europe to paddle at the three World Cups to celebrate in the next three weeks at Poznan, Duisburg and Moscow, as a part of his preparation, as no other paddler can now take his spot for London. “Those races are important for me, as they will give me more indications of what I should work on for the final eight or seven weeks of preparation before London. Really I’m just focused on London,” van Koeverden explained.
He was the only paddler who could get the direct place for london at this first national trial. The women have no olympic berth yet, so in case they get one at the world cups it will be for the best of three races between Émilie Fournel and Kathleen Fraser, first and second in the K1 500 at this first trial.
About the canoeists, the C1 1.000 will be in play during European world cups between the to first paddlers in the trials, Mark Oldershaw and Ben Russell. In 200 metres, the C1 was the closest race of the weekend, where Aaron Rublee beated closely Jason McCoombs, second, and Richard Dalton, third. Being this last one who got the olympic berth last autumn at the Panamerican Games, there was then an off-race between him and McCoombs to determinate who was going with Rublee to the world cup team. In a photo finish final, it was set that McCoombs had won by just 1 thousand of a second, leaving Dalton without his olympic dream. Now, to be the representative at the Games, McCoombs will need to beat Rublee at all the world cups, while this last one would need just one victory.
In the K2, Canada has got the right to bring just one boat to london, so they will need to choose between the 200 and the 1.000. Ryan Cochrane and Hugues Fournel in 200 and Richard Dober Jr and Steven Jorens in 1.000 will be the defenders in Europe and then the coaches will have to decide whch one could have more medal options. The full team going to Europe is as follows:
| 2012 Canada World Cup Team | ||
| Men’s Kayak | Hometown | Club |
| Adam van Koeverden | Oakville, ON | Burloak |
| Brady Reardon | Burlington, ON | Burloak |
| Richard Dober Jr. | Trois-Rivières, QC | Lac-Beauport |
| Steve Jorens | Candiac, QC | Lac-Beauport |
| Chris Mehak | Toronto, ON | Burloak |
| Philippe Duchesneau | Montréal, QC | Pointe-Claire |
| Rhys Hill | Ottawa, ON | Rideau |
| Hugues Fournel | Montréal, QC | Lachine |
| Ryan Cochrane | Windsor, NS | Lachine |
| Connor Taras | Waverley, NS | Banook |
| Austin Denman | Dartmouth, NS | Banook |
| Men’s Canoe | ||
| Mark Oldershaw | Burlington, ON | Burloak |
| Ben Russell | Dartmouth, NS | Banook |
| Aaron Rublee | Kamloops, BC | Burloak |
| Jason McCoombs | Dartmouth, NS | Banook |
| Roland Varga | Richmond Hill, ON | Richmond Hill |
| Paul Bryant | Richmond Hill, ON | Richmond Hill |
| Women’s Kayak | ||
| Émilie Fournel | Montréal, QC | Lachine |
| Kathleen (KC) Fraser | Oakville, ON | Balmy Beach |
| Geneviève Beauchesne-Sévigny | Trois-Rivières, QC | Trois-Rivières |
| Nicole Brown | Waverely, NS | Cheema |
| Lissa Bissonnette | Sherbrooke, QC | Pointe-Claire |
| Michelle Russell | Waverely, NS | Cheema |
| Alexa Irvin | Kentville, NS | Maskwa |
| Women’s Canoe | ||
| Laurence Vincent-Lapointe | Trois-Rivières, QC | Trois-Rivières |
| Mallorie Nicholson | Oakville, ON | Burloak |
The final decision on the team that will go to the Olympics will be published after the second national trials, to be held at Montreal from 22 to 24 June.
At this link you can check the full results of this first trial.
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