We had a very successful trip to Lake Lanier for Nationals at the first week of August, with the club earning roughly 18 medals in all. Gus Peterson, a Masters athlete and Ventura club member from the 70s and 80s, came to race with us traveling from San Jose by himself and was our high point winner with 4 gold medals, 2 silvers, and a bronze to his credit. Not bad for a guy that hasn’t been to a race in 30+ years! We hope Gus will join us in Seattle next summer and we hope it will be an example for other Ventura alumni to join in, too.
Our beginner athletes had their first Nationals and one earned a bronze medal in the K4 with athletes from Washington Canoe Club, San Diego Canoe and Kayak Team, and Seattle Canoe Club. The U14 / Bantam men’s kayak had about 30 competitors at the regatta and our athlete was clearly one of the more successful ones. He had a couple of other close races with two 4th places and a 6th place in the 1000m K1 race. More importantly, he learned a great deal and had a positive race experience. We’re very proud of the club’s hard work and improvement and we will be focused on getting athletes on the Olympic Hopes Regatta team next year.
All three coaches raced and performed well, each completing the 5k distance races too despite temperatures at or near 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We shared space (and boats) with the Washington Canoe Club who were extremely welcoming and helpful, as always. THANK YOU WCC! We hope to provide WCC with similar creature comforts and hospitality when the races are on the west coast next August.
WCC also offered us a double canoe (C2) that is in good condition and of a modern design for only $1000. This was an exceptionally good price! We jumped on this opportunity and the boat was trailered to the Seattle area with the rest of the West Coast club boats and then down to San Diego where we were able to pick it up. We’re now fixing it up and will hope to get beginners into it as an introduction to sprint canoe, too.
