Thousands of people lined Lake Banook in Dartmouth, N.S., during the first day of competition at ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships on Wednesday.
Tamar Hart came from New Zealand to cheer on her son in the K-3 para-canoe 200 metre race.
“It’s great for us. It’s the first time we’ve been allowed to leave New Zealand, so we couldn’t get here fast enough and the place is awesome, it’s a fantastic venue,” Hart says.
The loudest cheers, however, were for Team Canada.
“Obviously we’re pretty focused on our race and the pushes we have to do, but definitely we can hear a buzz and we know it’s for us so it’s very encouraging,” says K-4 team member Pierre Poulin.
“For a first race, we’re happy with how it went and we’re just going to be even more excited for our semi on Friday,” says fellow paddler Laurent Lavinge.
Conditions were close to perfect for racing with calm water and almost no wind. Even the heat and high humidity wasn’t much of a factor for the home team.
“We’ve been training all summer in Montreal, the Olympic base there, so it’s pretty hot. I’d say we’re used to it at this point being this late in the summer,” says Team Canada’s Simon Mctavish.
It’s a different story for the spectators, who lined the course to watch the top paddlers in the world. Trees and hats provided some welcomed shade.
What else is welcome, is what the event is leaving behind.
“Having the world’s come here means that we get improvements to our course which is important for future paddlers that come here. Nova Scotia is a big breeding ground for national and world level paddlers, we do a really good job here,” says Sharon Cake, a senior paddler at Cheema Canoe Club in Waverly, N.S.
The heats will continue Thursday at 9 a.m. with the K-1 women’s 200 metre.
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