There may have been no better place to be over the course of the past week or so than out on the water – not that you will need to convince the paddlers of the Sudbury Canoe Club much of that most obvious statement.
Still in the process of looking to build a steady stream of athletes capable of competing on a provincial scale (at the very least), the group that was inducted into the Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame earlier this summer were hosting workouts last week in anticipation of their busiest stretch of the year – competitively speaking.
SCC veterans Evan Volpini, Mateo Volpini and Julien Turpin were in Welland at the end of July, joined by Oleksandr “Sasha” Buzanov (newer to the fold), with all taking part in the Western Ontario Division Championships.
With some national qualification standards obtained, the group went right back to work while Turpin made his way to London, site of the 2024 Ontario Summer Games as the 16 year old grade 11 student at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School earned a bronze medal in the K4 500m – the very race he predicted the possibility of a podium finish last week at practice.
“The best bet is the men’s K4,” said Turpin, a well-spoken young man who was born in France, moving to Sudbury not all that long ago. “With the K4, you really have to get the leg drive the same, you have to stroke at the same time, and you have to get to know how the other persons paddle.”
Assembling for a recent training camp leading into the 2024 Games, Turpin was pleased with his development over the course of the past few years, a boost in his skill that leaped out at him this summer.
“I found a video of myself paddling when I started and I don’t know what I was doing on that video,” Turpin laughed. “It was very bad. I was moving like crazy. It looked like I really needed to focus on technique because it was absolutely atrocious.”
The fact that he clearly recognized the technical gaps speak volumes as to the understanding he has garnered for a sport in which he now trains for year-round. “For me, it’s the core,” said Turpin.
“When you push with your legs, you rotate your hips and move your paddle at the same time. In that old video, that wasn’t there. It was completely inefficient.”
That, of course, would be a nightmare when he enters a boat with paddlers representing three other clubs in Ontario, a format that is used by Canoe Kayak Ontario (CKO) Sprint at the Summer Games.
“There is no coxswain (as there is in rowing), so we have to play it by ear for the pace,” explained Turpin. “Normally, it’s seat one or two. Sometimes, we might decide before the race; sometimes it will depend on the race.”
Either way, the hope was to produce an end result that, by all accounts, means that Turpin is returning home with some very memorable bling. “I’ve heard that they have very cool medals (at the Ontario Summer Games),” he said. “And you’ll always be able to say that you have a medal from the Ontario Summer Games.”
Aiden McKinley is still a couple of years away from targetting a berth at OSG – but given his affinity for the sport to date, it’s certainly not out of the question.
“I did the Canoe Kids Camp two years ago and then joined this camp last year, my first of racing,” said the 12 year old grade 8 student at St Benedict Catholic Secondary School. “We paddled around a fair bit and went to a couple of regattas – then I trained in the fall, winter and spring.”
“I like being out on the water.”
With easy access to a lake, McKinley burgeoned on what he termed a “normal” kayak in his youth, as well as a family paddle board – only to encounter the modifications that were required when he joined the SCC. “The sprint kayaks are way “tippier” – but they’re faster,” he said.
“You need to feather.”
“When you are falling to one side, you need to move the paddle and catch yourself. Normal kayaks stay up by themselves. These tip a lot – but you get used to it.”
McKinley and a handful of the younger Sudbury paddlers will follow directly on the heels of Turpin and the OSG contingent, with the U12 – U14 Championships also taking place at the Fanshawe Yacht Club in London. A “C” finalist last year at provincials, the keen soon-to-be teen is limited to the 500m distance based on age regulations alone – which is fine with him.
“The 500m race is pretty much the ideal amount of paddling distance for me right now,” he stated. “At the end, you’re getting tired. You’re paddling all out and then at the end, you’re done.”
Much like Turpin, the second year club-mate is also at that point of wanting to engrain the technique such that it’s somewhat second nature – though his tendency is still to paddle low and “kind of slope” - sometimes.
“You need to rotate and press your legs,” he suggested. “When you press on one side, you rotate your body to get more power to the strokes. It’s back and forth, back and forth.”
Well, except for the start of the race, a segment that typically has its very own cadence – and one that might differ a little from one paddler to the next.
“It’s one, two, three strong strokes that I do – and then 15 quick ones – and then I get into a pace that I can do for the rest of the race,” said McKinley. “That’s the way James (SCC head coach James Mann) taught me.”
The Ontario Championships are set for Ottawa on the weekend of August 10th and 11th, with Charles Zhou, Poppy Horn and Emma Chauvin rounding out the local contingent. Nationals will make their way to the Welland International Flatwater Centre from August 20th to the 24th.
