News

For Immediate Release – Wednesday, February 6, 2013

WELLAND – The Welland Recreational Canal Corporation (WRCC) and CanoeKayak Canada (CKC) are pleased to announce that the second set of the 2013 Canadian Sprint CanoeKayak Team Trials will be hosted in Welland June 21 – 23, 2013.

The 2013 event will bring an elite field of competition that have a lot on the line. These trials will determine selections for the upcoming 2013 ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships (Canoe Niagara) to be held at the Welland International Flatwater Center (WIFC) August 1-4, 2013 and will be the final selection for the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships Senior World Championships in Duisburg, Germany at the end of August.

These Sprint Team Trials will also determine selections of the Paracanoe team for the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. This growing discipline will make its debut on the program at the 2016 Paralympic Games where Canada’s Christine Gauthier, the reigning four-time World Champion, is showing promise to be a contender.

“We are thrilled to be hosting the Canadian National Sprint Team Trials and to begin easing our way into showcasing the new Welland International Flatwater Centre, a top-notch, fully accessible, international competition venue”, stated Stephen Fischer, Executive Director of the Welland Recreational Canal Corporation. “This is an important competition for these elite Canadian sprint canoe and kayak athletes and an excellent test of our growing international venue, our new equipment and continued upgrades.”
CanoeKayak Canada regularly hosts two-to-three sets of trials each year and this will be the fourth time trials have been held in Welland since 2008. Most recently the 2011 trials generated an economic impact of $2.2 million dollars according to the Welland Sport Tourism Alliance. Continuing to develop its reputation as an international destination for sport tourism, the WIFC provides training and competition opportunities for athletes of all levels from local to high-performance to the benefit of the entire city and region.
The Canadian Sprint CanoeKayak Team Trials is the fourth national level event to be held at the flatwater centre in 2013 along with the National Canoe Polo Championships July 5-7, RCA Canadian Masters Rowing Championships July 14, and the National Rowing Championships July 27-28.

References:

www.canoekayak.ca
www.canoeniagara.ca

Contact information:
Stephen Fischer, Executive Director
Welland Recreational Canal Corp
Phone: 905-735-1700 ext 2311
e-mail:

Ian Miller
Communications and Marketing Officer
CanoeKayak Canada
613.314.1352 (cell)
e-mail: