The summer has ended, and so has the competitive season at the North Bay Canoe Club.
Although COVID dampened many spirits, it allowed the competitive spirit to grow. Organizers says those programs continued in both 2020 and 2021 with COVID restrictions.
In 2021, we were able to use our Quest for Gold provincial funding to hire Head Coach, Mihail Oghina, a high-performance sprint canoeist who comes from the Republic of Moldova and has competed in several European championships, World Cups and multiple international regattas. Mihail has a master’s degree in physical education and 6 years of high-performance coaching experience including four years of experience at the High -Performance Centre in Mexico and two years at the Rideau Canoe Club in Ottawa.
Under Mihail’s guidance, 18 NBCC athletes qualified for the Ontario Championships and 5 athletes qualified for the National Championships this year, our best results in several years. Our competitive sprint group grew from three athletes in 2020 to 17 athletes in 2021. Our high-performance group, which includes sprint athletes who are 15 years and older, gained Abbey Krawczuk from Sudbury. We also welcomed Nancy Olmsted back to compete at the Masters’ level.
In July, Rideau Canoe Club hosted the Eastern Ontario Division championships and National Championship qualifiers for the U16 and older age categories. Gwyneth Durocher, Abbey Krawczuk and Avery Durocher all qualified to compete in sprint kayaks at Nationals while Jack Murray qualified to compete in the sprint canoe.
On August 7, North Bay hosted the Eastern Ontario Division championships and Ontario Championship qualifiers for U12 and U14 athletes. This was the first taste of competition for many of our younger paddlers, and they did not disappoint.
The club enjoyed several top-3 finishes including Wes Clouthier – 1st in U12 boys K1, K2, C2 and C4, Will Raymer – 1st in U12 boys K2, C2 and C4, Nathaniel Suppa and William Gomoll – 1st in U12 boys C4, Haley Sebesta and Lily McLelland, Luka Franks and Emme Gomoll – 3rd in U12 girls C4. Other strong performances were put in by Jacob Dehaas-Lebel, Cammie Masse, Addison Knight, Eddie Masse, Connor Mashford, Meliana Eastman, Thomas Gomoll, Carson Vierich, Ian Williams, Grayson Franks, Oscar Graves, Ellie McClelland and Mya Carruthers.
August 14–15 saw our athletes competing in Welland, Ontario for the Provincial championships. Notable results on Day 1 were a second-place finish in U18 women’s K2 by Gwyneth and Avery Durocher and fifth place finishes by Nancy Olmsted in Masters’ women’s K1, Jack Murray with Aidan Haines of Carleton Place in U16 men’s C2, and the crew of Abbey Krawczuk, Gwyneth Durocher, Avery Durocher and Nancy Olmsted in Open Women’s K4.
Day 2 saw our U12 and U14 athletes compete. First place finishes included Wes Clouthier and Will Raymer in the U12 boys K2 competitive final, Haley Sebesta in the U12 girls C1 development final, Will Raymer in the U12 boys K1 development final, and the crew of Wes Clouthier, Will Raymer, Eddie Masse and Nathaniel Suppa in the U12 boys K4 development final. We had a number of second place finishes as well, including Lily McClelland in the U12 girls K1 development final, Addison Knight and Cammie Masse in the U14 girls’ C2 development final, Haley Sebesta in the U12 girls’ K1 development final, Wes Clouthier in the U12 boys’ C1 competitive final and Wes Clouthier with Will Raymer in the U12 boys’ C2 competitive final, and finally, Mya Carruthers, Ellie McLelland, Addison Knight and Cammie Masse in the U14 girls’ K4 development final.
For the first time in several years, we had enough athletes to form a war canoe. With Mihail Oghina as the coxswain, our athletes earned 5th place in the competitive final.
Our athletes represented North Bay at Nationals with strong performances in each of their heats. Gwyneth Durocher posted her best time of the season in the U18 women’s K1 200m. Abbey Krawczuk and Jack Murray each posted personal best times in their events. Despite having an injury, Avery Durocher persevered through the competition and finished all races in good standing.
The Canoe Club is optimistic that with Mihail as a full-time coach, and the addition of year-round training for our athletes, we will continue to see our athletes represent North Bay with continued success at the provincial and national levels.
Find a full list of NBCC programs at www.northbaycanoeclub.ca. What better memories can be made, than your child spending their summer on Trout Lake, making friends, and finding success?
