BY JEFF MAGUIRE
EMC Sports - The Carleton Place Canoe Club (CPCC) has enjoyed outstanding success on and off the water in recent times. After two consecutive winning seasons of competitive paddling the organization will have 11 athletes training in Florida next month as they get a head start on the upcoming campaign.
Head coach Ryan Blair, who has clearly been a catalyst in the club's competitive success, will accompany the CPCC contingent to America's sunshine state in early March. He is optimistic about the long-term success of the club and some competitors in particular.
"We have some excellent young paddlers and some good prospects in the system as well," Blair told the EMC last week as he prepares for the journey south.
"We are aiming to have four or five (paddlers) compete in the Junior Worlds in 2013. That is definitely on the radar."
Blair says that will be a particularly good year to qualify athletes for the international event.
"It is being held in Welland (Ontario). Family and friends will easily be able to travel there and cheer them on."
But there are many more key competitions before that future event and with several elite paddlers training at the club there are prospects for success at different levels in multiple competitions.
Two-time Olympic paddler Andrew Willows remains part of the Canadian team and he does some of his training in Carleton Place. Willows, a Gananoque native who now lives full-time in nearby Appleton, competed in both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics.
Although he is not among the 11 CPCC paddlers Blair is referring to, the head coach says he expects to see Willows at the national team's training centre in Melbourne, Florida next month.
"Andrew and his wife (Valerie) are expecting their first child. So that's clearly a big priority right now. But I wouldn't be surprised to see him (training) in Florida.
"I still think he has his sights set on London (England) in 2012."
The Summer Olympic Games are scheduled for the British capital next year.
"They have added the 200 metres in 2012. That is Andrew's specialty. If he can I'm sure he will be there," Blair observes.
Willows and his long-time paddling partner Richard Dober Jr. of Trois-Rivières, Quebec have enjoyed much success for Canada in recent years. At the 2009 World Canoe and Kayak Championships staged in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia the pair won third place bronze in the K-2 (kayak doubles) 500 metre event. In 2006 they won silver in the same event at the worlds in Szeged, Hungary. However, they have yet to capture an Olympic medal.
Blair too will be in Melbourne for a brief time next month, checking on the progress of CPCC member Jaclyn Gardiner. She too will be training at the national team site. The 19-year-old currently attends Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S. Gardiner is one of the Carleton Place club's top female prospects.
LARGE GROUP
As for the number who will be training in the warm climate next month, Blair says it is the largest contingent to travel from the CPCC to Florida in many years.
"I can't say it is the largest number ever. But it is the biggest group in at least 10 years," he observes.
Based on their age, experience and prospects the young athletes will train in three different locations in the state.
The biggest group (six) will train near Ocala in north-central Florida. The paddlers, who are all ages 16 and 17, will be under the direction of Blair himself who will run the camp for a three-week period.
Some of the athletes will train for two weeks while others will remain for the entire month. They are Luke Potvin, Spencer McOrmond, Monica Black, Austin Sosna, Noah Marion and Brody Rawding.
"It (Ocala camp) is an ideal location. It is on a four kilometre (long) lake and it is well away from anything. It's a summer (camp) setting actually.
"It will be pretty intensive. They'll be training three or four times a day," the CPCC head coach explains.
"They will live in cabins and there will be some fun of course. But these kids have to be dedicated. There is a lot of work involved," Blair adds.
Most of the cost involved is borne by the young people and their families. They are required to spend between $1,500 and $2,000 each to take part in the Ocala camp for example.
Meanwhile two of the Carleton Place club's elite athletes, Nathan Barton and Jacob Sosna (Austin's older brother), are already in Florida.
Barton, who lives in Stittsville, is the son of former CPCC head coach Graham Barton. The senior Barton is now the sprint high performance director for Ottawa-based Canoe and Kayak Canada, the national governing body for the sport.
"They (Barton and Sosna) are in Tampa for eight weeks. Their long-term goals are the Pan America Games in Toronto in 2015 and the 2020 Olympics," Blair outlines.
In Tampa on the west (gulf side) of the state, the paddlers train at the University of Tampa. The course is on the Hillsborough River which flows into Tampa Bay in west-central Florida.
Joining them in Tampa in March will be CPCC members Doug Ellery and Ken Muir, both of whom are in the 19 and over age group, along with Barton and Sosna.
"They will live in a hotel opposite the (university) campus. Again the training is intensive - three or four sessions a day," the coach points out.
During his fourth week in the state Blair will take Black, 17, one of the Ocala group to Tampa where she too will join in the training sessions. There will also be a short trip to see Gardiner at work at the Canadian national team complex in Melbourne. That is on the southeast side of the state.
The coach says the fact 11 members will be involved in early season training in Florida is "a very positive sign for the club.
"This is a costly enough venture so it shows their (paddlers and families) level of dedication," he underlines.
"Of course it is easier when you have a great group of kids like we have."
TRAINING VITAL
Blair points out that for the elite athletes in particular the early season training is essential.
"The national team trials are in early May. So they have to be prepared for that. Obviously they can't get this kind of (on-water) training at home this time of year."
As for the chance of some of the local athletes moving forward in the sport to the point where they qualify for what most see as the pinnacle of the sport, the Summer Olympics, Blair is optimistic.
"The potential is definitely here. We'll just have to see. It takes a lot of dedication and hard work.
"The individual time commitment is significant.
"Look at someone like Andrew (Willows). He put everything on hold to reach the level he has."
Willows who was born in Gananoque, trained at CPCC as a young paddler. He attended Carleton Place High School, while living with an aunt and uncle who reside in Carleton Place. He went on to provincial and national success and ultimately competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics (in Athens and Beijing) for Canada.
Blair says the southeastern U.S. trip is a wonderful opportunity for the young athletes involved.
"They train and race at the club of course. But this gives them the chance to train with the best in Ontario (various clubs are involved in the Florida camps).
"They get better as a group," he stresses.
Blair admits the financial commitment to train in Florida is beyond some families who can't afford to send their children south.
He says the good news is "we do provide the training at home."
Looking at what lies ahead for the CPCC in the upcoming competitive paddling season this spring and summer, the head coach says there are some key events on the horizon in 2011.
"The nationals are in Welland in September. I hope we can build off the success we had last year."
He says that for local canoe/kayak fans there will be plenty of opportunities to witness top-flight competitors in action.
"We will be hosting regattas of course.
"But the Ontario championships are in Ottawa this year - the second weekend in August. "The 15 and over group competes Aug. 13 with the 14 and under group paddling Aug. 14," Blair explains.
Also this year, for the first time in Canadian history, the International Canoe Federation (ICF) will hold a world dragon boat championship in Toronto.
"This is the World Club Crew Championships," Blair says. "We will be entering a team."
There is an annual dragon boat festival held at the CPCC course on the Mississippi River in Carleton Place. Therefore many local people have been exposed to that particular discipline.
The ICF competition will be held July 22-24 in the Ontario capital and the CPCC coach says the club will be actively seeking participants soon.
"We will take brand new people and train them.
"They (paddlers) are high school age mostly. But we will be looking at kids from Grade 8 to 12.
"It's a great opportunity," he underlines.
Blair says that heading into his third season as the club's coach he is very impressed with the quality of athletes in Carleton Place. Above all he's impressed by the pride local people take in sports in general.
"It is immense. People here really support their teams and athletes."
The Carleton Place organization is the oldest flatwater canoe club in Canada with a history dating from 1893.
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