The portrait of the canoe-kayak sprint team that will represent Canada at the Paris Olympic Games began to take shape on Friday, on the first day of the national Olympic selections which are being contested at the Olympic basin on Île Notre-Dame, to Montreal
The favorites in the K-4500 m, Pierre-Luc Poulin, Laurent Lavigne, Nicholas Matveev and Simon McTavish, easily won the first heat in a time of 1 min 22.148 sec in this two of three with a boat lead against the crew of Vincent Jourdenais, Alexander Hoferek, Brian Malfesi, Jacob Steele (1 min 25.401 s).
The crew that usually represents Canada in the World Cup now has one foot in the door to Paris. Remember that Canada already has its place assured in this event, but that the members of its crew remain to be confirmed this weekend.
The two Quebecers who were members of the winning crew were satisfied after their race while containing their joy. Another victory on Saturday should logically guarantee them their place on the Canadian team which will be officially named by the Canadian Olympic Committee next Monday.
Calm and perfectionist as usual, Poulin described the race as “good”, without being perfect.
“There are still little things to work on and we still have five weeks to get there. »
The Lac-Beauport athlete was left a little hungry after the World Cup in Szeged (Hungary), in mid-May, after he and his teammates finished ninth in the A final. “We had left more ground to the European teams in the first 150 metres. That’s what we worked on in training.”
Friday, near the boathouses, there was talk of formality for the K-4 which leads the Olympic qualification. The main stakeholders, however, did not say the word, even if we guessed that they felt confident of being able to close the books on Saturday.
Poulin, Lavigne, Matveev and McTavish were all dressed the same way in the boat: sunglasses and caps screwed backwards on their heads, which made them give off an even more cohesive and synchronized image. A choice that was not left to chance as Lavigne explained.
“We text each other the day before to find out how we’re going to dress. It gives us a feeling of unity,” says the one who is aiming for a first Olympic participation, unlike his three teammates who were all K-4 at the Tokyo Games.
In C-1, 1000m, Alix Plomteux still had hope of qualifying for the Olympic team. Trailing 1-0 against Connor Fitzpatrick who beat him by 2.2 seconds at the first national trials in April in California, he had to fall back on this event after he and Craig Spence missed their ticket in the C-2500m at the Continental Olympic Qualifications. Friday, Fitzpatrick secured his place in the Parisian capital thanks to his time of 4 min 00.592 s to beat the Quebecer (4 min 2.587 s).
“For sure it was plan B (the C-1, 1000m) and it was a bit of a last minute preparation. I still had a great time training at Lac Beauport with my teammates and my coach. The preparation went well, I wouldn’t have changed anything and I’m very proud of what I did. It didn’t give the results I hoped for, but I’m still very happy with my preparation. »
With this Olympic cycle now over for him, the 23-year-old was excited to kick-start his kinesiology studies. Leaving the family home to move to an apartment and going to see concerts at the Quebec Summer Festival are also part of his short-term plans before returning to work in preparation for the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
“That’s competitive sport and sometimes you have to accept second places. […] Of course it’s not easy. The Olympic Games are not everything and I am much more than that and I have other plans. »