As any Sudbury Canoe Club paddler or Sudbury Rowing Club rower who has spent any serious time on Ramsey Lake well knows, the waves that can be whipped up at the aquatic jewel of the city can be formidable – to say the least.
The topographic layout of the area can often create a very natural cross-wind that is sure to challenge even the most seasoned of boatmen.
Yet, to a person, members of the SCC sprint kayak crew are welcoming the next wave ... of incoming paddling talent, that is.
Of the 14 youngsters who will be proudly emblazoned with the club singlet and logo at the Western Ontario Divisional Championships in Welland this weekend, eleven are making their first ever appearance at the event.
“It really is about just making sure they have a really good time, getting them to enjoy the sport and spectate people who are really good at the sport,” noted new head coach James Mann, guiding the SCC crew for the first time this summer.
A native of Ajax and long-time member of Pickering Rouge, Mann arrived in Sudbury for the first time ever on the day of the April 1st blizzard. Just a few short months later, his views of the nickel city have been greatly enhanced, thanks in large part to the venue that came to fruition not all that long ago.
“The facilities here are amazing,” said the 23 year old man who still competes at times at the same regattas his athletes are attending. “You would be surprised at what other canoe clubs do not have. Most clubs do not have facilities as nice as this.”
As for the afore-mentioned lake itself, it’s mostly a thumbs-up assessment.
“The water here is great – when it’s calm,” said Mann with a smile. “Long distance paddles are phenomenal. On such a big lake, it can get windy, but that’s something you get used to and learn to paddle in.”
Having served as an assistant coach for a stint at his home club, Mann is getting acclimatized to being the man in charge, all while dealing with a small boatload of racers who can span the spectrum, to a certain extent.
“I like coaching the different levels,” he said. “High level athletes are fun, but so are little kids. Just sharing how much you love the sport with them is fun. I just want to coach kids that want to be in the sport. As long as they want to be here, it’s great. It doesn’t matter what level they are.”
Will Speropoulos has wanted to be here for a few years now. It was simply a matter of finding the necessary time to devote to the sport as the 18 year old senior at St Benedict Catholic Secondary School psyches himself for his first appearance at WODs.
“I attended the “Regatta Ready” camp four years ago and ever since then, I’ve wanted to do sprint kayak,” said Speropoulos. “I just started racing last fall, but I’ve been training with Mateo (Volpini).”
Having raced this summer in Collingwood, the relative newcomer to the sport secured a few key takeaways to carry into action this coming weekend. “I was learning how the guys race, the speed,” he said. “It definitely showed me that I have to try and get better at my technique – and try not to tip.”
In that sense, there are clearly worst folks to spend your summer around than James Mann and Mateo Volpini, the latter the most experienced of the SCC racers who will take to the Welland canal on Saturday and Sunday.
“This is another one of those building years for me because the age groups are in two year brackets,” explained the 17 year old who will still be eligible to compete in the U18 division in 2024.
“It’s still possible for me to qualify for nationals, but because there are still a bunch of guys who are older and who will take some spots, it might not be worth it to go for one or two races,” said Volpini, adding that the 2023 Canadian Championships are being hosted in Nova Scotia in late August.
Spending far more time in the weight-room and such than he does on the water, Volpini has been around long enough to understand the summer routine. “The way that the season is structured, we do a lot of distance at the beginning in order to build cardio back up,” he said. “In the winter, there’s a lot of strength training.”
Summer, however, is time for fine-tuning, though the steps of progress are noticeably smaller than they were in his younger days. “Once you get to this age, you see a lot more minor improvements,” said Volpini. “You can’t change technique too much at this age. If you tear it down to build it back up, it will be too late.”
His race times now fully engrained in his sub-conscious, Volpini is excited to take a shot at a few personal best efforts in the very favourable setting that is the Welland canal. “It’s more consistent than an area like Ramsey Lake would be, just because cross winds are minimized.”
“If you do get a tail win, times could be blazing.”
Nineteen year-old Abbey Krawczuk will tackle a slightly different challenge this weekend.
Although the Chemical Engineering Technology student at Cambrian College has practiced regularly with the Sudbury Canoe Club for much of the past six to seven years or so, she actually competes out of North Bay – meaning she is heading off to the Eastern Ontario Divisionals in Ottawa (though few understand the logic in having Sudbury and North Bay in opposite brackets).
Sticking with the North Bay crew in part because of a greater collection of female talent (which then allows for more crew boats to be entered in races), Krawczuk continues to participate in a sport for pleasure, in spite of the fact that she kind of stumbled on to it to begin with.
“I started when I was twelve or thirteen,” she recalled. “I came to an Open House here (at the Northern Water Sports Centre) for rowing, but I met Gergely (SCC coach Gergely Lanci) and started kayaking. Everybody in rowing was older and taller. In kayaking, I didn’t need to be that tall – and there were more people my age.”
And more people is kind of the theme of this weekend for the Sudbury Canoe Club as the above-mentioned athletes will be joined by the following folks as well: Aiden McKinley, August Zhao, Austin Morin, Chantal Kukulka, Chesley Godwin, Julien Turpin, Liam Denomme, Luke Thomas, Nicole Kukulka, Oleksandr Buzanov and Poppy Horn.
