Checking in with Paralympians: Rowers snag Paralympic spot
Competition calendar filling up for Para athletes
Competition calendar filling up for Para athletes
(photo courtesy of Rowing Canada)
Canada’s Paralympians are staying busy, training, sharing their stories and opinions on social media, and more. We will check in regularly with what the nation’s Para athletes have been up to and share some of the top highlights here.
Here’s a quick look at some recent updates:
Canada’s PR3 mixed coxed four qualified a boat for Canada in Tokyo after a win in the finals at the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Gavirate, Italy on the weekend. Bayleigh Hooper, Andrew Todd, Victoria Nolan, Kyle Fredrickson and coxswain Laura Court gained the spot for Canada beating out Brazil. The Canadian Paralympic Committee will officially announce Canada’s rowing team heading to Tokyo later this summer.
Gold in Gavirate! They have done it! Tokyo let’s GO!
PR3 Mix4+
Laura court (Cox), Bayleigh Hooper, Andrew Todd, Victoria Nolan and Kyle Fredrickson have booked their tickets to Tokyo #FPQR pic.twitter.com/0siLNXCcrF— Rowing Canada Aviron (@rowingcanada) June 5, 2021
Sport is about triumph but also about heartbreak, and Jeremy Hall and his new partner Jessye Brockway missed a Paralympic spot by one place at the final rowing qualifier, placing third in PR2 Mix 2x pairs. Still, the performance augurs well for the future.
It was not the outcome we hoped for but we leave with our heads held high— we set a standard for ourselves and plowed through it
We pulled it all together when it mattered most and left everything we had out there. Proud of this accomplishment #FPQR https://t.co/aycM3f15ZV
— Jeremy Hall (@jchallzy) June 5, 2021
After a recent feature on judoka Priscilla Gagné, the official Tokyo 2020 website has featured multiple Paralympic champion swimmer Aurélie Rivard and her preparations for the Games.
♀ @AurelieRivard was putting the final touches on to her #Tokyo2020 preparations when everything took a turn.
In a year that has brought uncertainties, the @CDNParalympics swimmer has learnt to never take swimming for granted.@Paralympics https://t.co/VJRwdYKTYS
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) June 1, 2021
The Canadian team for the World Para Ice Hockey Championships set for June 19-26 in Ostrava, Czech Republic was announced late last month. Players went to social media to share their excitement including Liam Hickey, Rob Armstrong, and Tyrone Henry.
Honoured to be named to this World Championship team. Excited to get things going in Ostrava after such a challenging year of training!
Thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way. #NLproud #Canada #WorldChampionships https://t.co/L6B0ljLX2T
— Liam Hickey (@lhickey23) May 31, 2021
Also set to return to action is Canada’s most successful sport at the last Paralympic Games – Para cycling. The world championships in road Para cycling gets underway Wednesday in Cascais, Portugal and 11 Canadian athletes are set to compete including Lowell Taylor, who will ride with his pilot Ed Veal, and Carla Shibley and her pilot Meghan Brown.
After ~20 hours of carefully disassembling, wrapping & packing TWO tandems (each worth more than our car ), Lowell is off to Portugal! He & @RealDealVeal will rep #TeamCanada at the Para Road World Championships! Races on June 10&12 & yes I will keep you posted! @CyclingCanada pic.twitter.com/jOKs43VeHf
— Julie and Lowell (@JulieLowellCAN) June 2, 2021
Canadian Para swimmer Katarina Roxon recently participated in the #swimforhope organized by swimming clubs in Newfoundland and Labrador to raise money for cancer research. Roxon completed 105 kilometres. The cause is close to Roxon’s heart. Her mother is a cancer survivor.
Thank you to everyone who sponsored me for this years #SwimForHope! Our amazing province of swimmers raised $49, 621.84 to help so many families going through this horrible disease!♥️ https://t.co/bi4CDpx9E6
— Katarina Roxon (@Katarina_Roxon) June 2, 2021
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