It was a wet Tuesday afternoon in North Bay, but that did not stop more than a dozen young athletes from the North Bay Canoe Club from congregating near the shores of Trout Lake for training.
The young athletes were gearing up for the Ontario team selection trials which take place this weekend in Welland, Ontario.
Mihail Oghina is in his fourth season as head coach of the North Bay Canoe Club.
"This event is one of the first big tests for us," said Oghina.
"It is an important event and an important part of the Ontario team selection. I am excited to see our gang racing there."
Oscar Graves is the oldest member of the team. The grade 11 student at Chippewa Secondary School has been kayaking competitively for three years now, going into his fourth season this summer.
He got interested in the sport through his family roots.
"My dad was an ex-Canadian National team rower so it is just something I kind of fell into, but being here, I fell in love with it.," he said.
"You find other sports where it is very competitive, parents are very chirpy and mean but paddling is very supportive. I will hear other club's yelling for us and there is always a nice banquet at the end of the year which is great for the athletes and the parents."
Graves is dedicated to the sport.
"I am here 8 to 10 times a week with morning practices every day, afternoon practice 5 out of the 7 days a week," he said.
He hopes the hard work translates into success on the water in his sprint kayak. He had the fastest U18 200 M kayak time in Ontario during trials earlier this spring in Welland.
"I am really hoping for some big things," he said.
Graves realizes the young North Bay Canoe Club paddlers are watching.
"Being the only U18 here definitely puts a little more pressure on me," he admits.
"Being older and being more competitive than some of the younger athletes can make me the focus of their view so looking at me in the water and thinking, 'what is Oscar doing, is he paddling hard?' And if I am slacking do they start slacking?"
Caleb Allingham is only in his second season of canoeing with the club. The 14-year-old St. Joseph-Scollard Hall student feels age is just a number in this sport.
"You just have to practice hard and I am rising up the ranks slowly even though I have not been doing this for a long time," admitted Allingham.
"You just have to show determination, strength in a sport like this and it helps me get through life because it reflects off life."
But Allingham is determined to get better this summer.
"I am 6'1" so I have the height advantage for reach to get that paddle in the water," he said.
"This year is time to take things seriously and try to take seconds off my time while getting better form, more focus and better technique."
Oghina learned the sport growing up in the Republic of Moldova.
Prior to moving to North Bay to coach, Mihail was training athletes in Mexico and at the Rideau Canoe Club in Ottawa.
Oghina says it is a dream as a North Bay Canoe Club head coach to see athletes develop into national or international competitors.
"We have a good young group coming up and hopefully one day one of them can reach that level," he said.
Currently, the club has 40 sprint athletes from U10 to Masters age categories.
Oghina is hoping success in the water will boost interest in the historical club.
"We are coming up and we won't give up and we will do our best to show our hard work and dedication," he said.
Allingham believes Oghina is the right coach to lead them moving forward.
"He looks at us and sees the best in us," said Allingham about coach Mihail.
"He tries to shape us into the best version of what we can be on the water."
