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| 2010 World Championships, Poznan- Poland |
August 2010
Richard and Andrew will be competing at the 2010 World Championships in Poland, starting august 18th. Send your encouragement notes directly via the Contact section!
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| Redken For Men Special Package |
August 2010
Redken For Men has released a special package last spring for Father's Day. We would like to thank all our supporter who purchased these packages. Over 12,000 we sold in Canada! Thank you!
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| Carleton Place paddler Willows wins a bronze medal at world championships |
Source: Almonte/Carleton Place EMC
Carleton Place paddler Willows wins a bronze medal at world championships
Posted Aug 20, 2009
By Jeff Maguire
EMC Sports - Andrew Willows says winning a world championship medal in front of family and friends, in his own country, is as good as it gets!
The Carleton Place-based kayaker and his long-time paddling partner Richard Dober of Trois-Rivières, Quebec claimed third place bronze in the men's K-2 event Sunday at the World Canoe and Kayak Championships in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
"It is always cool to reach the podium. But to do it in front of family, friends and an all-Canadian crowd - well, that is really special," Willows told the EMC Monday in a telephone interview from Cape Breton Island, N.S.
It is the second world championship medal for the pair who won silver in the K-2, 500 metres (m) at the 2006 worlds in Szeged, Hungary.
Winning at home, especially with his wife and parents among the spectators, was an emotional experience for the Gananoque native who honed his skills at the Carleton Place Canoe Club (CPCC) while attending high school in the town.
"My wife (Valerie) was there, so were my parents, my grandmas, my aunt and uncle and a cousin from Carleton Place," the obviously elated Willows explains.
"Valerie managed to get a VIP card and she was able to be at the podium (medal ceremony).
"It was pretty emotional," he admits.
"It's been a big year for us - the move to Carleton Place (the couple built a home at nearby Appleton last fall) and some really great (paddling) results. I'm very happy!"
Carleton Place native Victoria Tuttle and her partner Jillian D'Alessio of Middle Sackville, N.S. also qualified for the final in the women's K-2. They finished ninth in the final of that event.
Willows says he and Dober had to execute a nearly perfect race to achieve a top three finish in the 200m sprint.
"We have a lot of natural speed in this event. We really got off the line well and executed every stroke nearly perfectly," he admits.
The pair finished in a sparkling time of 32.653 seconds, behind gold medalists Vadzim Makhneu and Raman Piatrushenka of Belarus (32.229 sec) and the second place pair of Saul Craviotto and Carlos Perez of Spain (32.231 sec).
However, Willows laughs when he considers how he and close friend Dober did in the 500m, which has been their specialty on the international circuit. They failed to win their qualifying heat and therefore didn't make it to the final.
"When we crossed the (finish) line, I looked at Richard and said 'I think that may have been our best (500m) race ever,'" Willows recalls with a chuckle.
In a sport where success is measured in hundredths of seconds, he says that is just something paddlers have to accept.
FIFTH IN RELAY
Willows also participated in the individual (K-1) relay. He shared a very respectable fifth place finish with three other Canadian competitors.
"It's kind of a crazy event really. But I had fun!"
The local paddler, who does some of his training at CPCC, continues to be amazed by German kayaker Ronald Rauhe who outclassed the field in both the men's K-1, 500m and 1000m. Both races have been dominated in recent times by Canadian Adam van Koeverden of Oakville, Ont. Van Koeverden is a three-time Olympic medalist. Although he competed in Dartmouth (he was fifth in K-1 500m Sunday) van Koeverden is currently recovering from a fractured ankle sustained seven weeks ago which put his training schedule on the shelf for a time.
"He (Rauhe) is the Tiger Woods of men's paddling," Willows says of the former K-2 paddler who was previously a nemesis for him and Dober.
"He loses his (K-2) partner (Tim Wieskötter) who is ill and can't compete this season. Then he goes out and wins both K-1 world finals.
"Amazing," Willows marvels.
The only other Canadians to reach the medal podium in Dartmouth were the women's K-1 relay team of Kia Byers of Regina, Emilie Fournel of Dorval, Que., Genevieve Orton of Lake Echo, N.S. and Karen Furneaux of Waverley, N.S. The foursome was third in Sunday's event behind teams from Germany and Hungary.
Graham Barton, a former CPCC head coach who is now the sprint high performance director for Canoe and Kayak Canada, the national governing body for the sport based in Ottawa, is very pleased with the performance of this country's athletes at the world event.
"Overall I was extremely pleased with the team results. We finished third overall on the nation ranking list.
"This is the highest rank we have ever achieved at a world championship," Barton told the EMC Monday.
As for Willows, at age 29 his international paddling dream is alive and well. And one of his goals is a third Summer Olympic appearance in London, England in 2012.
Last week his objective received a major shot in the arm when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced a number of additions and subtractions from the Summer Olympic line-up, including major changes to sprint flatwater canoeing.
Gone will be the four men's 500m races which will be replaced by three 200m men's events, including the K-2 200m which Willows and Dober currently excel in. There will also be a women's 200m event added to the line-up in London. Men will continue to race at 1000m and women at 500m however.
"The changes have been rumoured for some time now," Willows told the EMC. "Obviously we're pleased because it (200m) is a good race for us."
On the other hand he says he and Dober will miss racing the 500m at the Olympics, if they are fortunate enough to qualify for the London games. He says the aspects of "speed and endurance" relative to the 500m make it "an unpredictable event."
Willows and his wife are spending a few days touring in Cape Breton before returning home this weekend. It will be a short stay as he is due to leave next Tuesday to begin preparations for the Canadian Canoe and Kayak Championships which start in Sherbrooke, Que. on Sept. 2.
"But I will be up at the club (CPCC) Monday to let the kids (young paddlers) see the medal," says Willows who is obviously a major role model for fledgling competitors at the local facility.
OLYMPIC GOAL
Still, the two-time Olympian readily admits the prestige of winning Olympic gold is "pretty hard to beat." Therefore he is taking dead aim at a spot in the 2012 London games, even though he'll be 32 years old at the time which is considered old for a high performance kayaker.
"That's what I am looking at right now," he acknowledges.
Overall last weekend's bronze in Nova Scotia marks the 22nd international medal for Willows and Dober who have been paddling together competitively since 2005.
Willows laughs when reminded of how many "home towns" he has, depending on which media report you read or hear.
He is alternately "Andrews Willows of Gananoque - Ottawa, or more recently, Carleton Place."
"I haven't lived in Gananoque since 1996. And I'm not sure where 'Ottawa' came from," he chuckles.
"But Carleton Place is home for us now."
"Us" is Willows and his wife Valerie Beaulieu! The young couple has built a house in the pretty village of Appleton in Mississippi Mills, just outside Carleton Place.
Valerie, a Quebec-born athletic therapist, works in the Carleton Place clinic run by Ottawa Senators' head athletic therapist Gerry Townend and his wife Marni. Townend is a Carleton Place native.
Although Willows does much of his training at Ottawa's Rideau Canoe Club, which is also home club for Carleton Place native Tuttle (she was the subject of a recent feature in the EMC), he spends every weekend paddling on the picturesque Mississippi River course at the CPCC.
Willows and Tuttle are among eight paddlers who represent or train at the Rideau club who were named to this year's Canadian senior world championship squad.
"I really enjoy training in Carleton Place. And if I can be something of a mentor to the kids there (CPCC) then that is good too," Willows says.
He admits it was tough to get back into the training routine following Beijing.
"We were building the house and I got away from it (training) for awhile."
Earlier this year he resumed his strict regimen and it has gone very well.
"Maybe it is my age and experience - but I came back very quickly."
So well that he and Dober have had a strong competitive season. They are among the "veterans" on the 40-member Canadian squad (23 men and 17 women) who competed in Dartmouth.
The CPCC, which was founded in 1893, is Canada's oldest flatwater canoe club. The Mississippi River course is considered to be one of the best natural canoe venues in the country.
For complete information on Andrew Willows and Richard Dober, visit their website: www.k2speed.ca.
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| World cups 2009 |
Hello Everyone!
We are currently in Europe for the 2009 World Cup season.
We invite you to follow our performances.
Also, note that this year, the world championships will be held in Canada.
More precisely, in Halifax in august. This is a unique opportunity to meet and witness performance from the world best athletes of our sport! |
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| Émission à RDS Dimanche le 19 octobre. |
| Dimanche il y aura une émission consacrée au canot-kayak, Maxime Boilard et moi parlerons technique et d'autres sujets touchant notre sport. Si vous le pouvez, ne manquez pas cela, à MIDI à RDS. |
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