JDT 2006: Final Words

Coach Dita Pahl, Alison Gifford (Ont), Thomas Boisvert-Weber (Que), Kathleen Tayler (Ont), Ian Williams (Ont), Michael Tayler (Ont), Francois St. Aubin Migneault (Que), Thea Froelich (Ont).

The Junior Development Tour 2006 is now over for the Ontario and Quebec paddlers who competed in the first three U. S. Cups, Junior Olympics, and the North American Championships. The tour was an overall success with representation from Canada, the U.S., China - and of course Australia. Our paddlers did very well throughout the tour and each race brought together a high level of competition on challenging but manageable courses.

I'd like to thank everyone for their support in making this tour happen. Marion and Toby did a great job of organizing the west coast races. Greg Hunter and the team from Alberta put together a really enjoyable series of events on the Kan. Our support team made up of Jacques, Claire, Christine and Glen helped the kids to have a very positive experience and also contributed to each race as officials and judges.

I would also like to thank coach Dita Pahl for an outstanding job of coaching our kids for the three week tour. We were very fortunate to have someone as knowledgeable and committed as Dita and all the paddlers benefitted from her expertise.

Thanks also to all the parents who supported the tour and followed our progress on the blog. Your support was much appreciated.

And finally to the paddlers - Thomas, Michael, Thea, Alison, J.P., Kathleen, Ian, and Francois - a paddle salute to you all for pursuing your goals and pushing your limits as racers. You have all made progess and should be proud of your accomplishments.

The Junior Development Tour is establishing itself as an important event on our paddling schedule. Plans are already underway for next year and it may include additional countries being represented. Locations and venues for JDT 2007 are being discussed and Canadian sites will hopefully be considered.

I hope you have enjoyed the blog. In spite of occasional technological problems, we were able to keep it updated as much as possible. Please remember to support public libraries as we relied on them in each location.

That would be it for JDT 2006.

Signing off from Ottawa.

Jim Tayler

Additional Photos

Some additional photos from Kananaskis including the Chinese team, an action shot of National Team coach Kurt Broenlich showing his peddling prowess, Coach Dita Pahl and her team, and the boys' newest hero, Liu Fei, seen giving Michael and Ian a lift.

Awards Ceremony

Photos from the U.S. Cup #3 awards ceremony. The organizers provided some well-deserved recognition for race volunteers.

U.S. Cup #3 Photos

Photos from U.S. Cup # 3. Results are available are at www.wsaa.ca.

Kananaskis Photos

Boater Cross action on the Kananaskis.

July 31st Update

We’ve had some difficulty getting connected to the internet but this update comes to you courtesy of the Canmore Public Library.

On Saturday, the Super Slalom Sprint was held on the Kananaskis River. The race consisted of 3-4 runs for each paddler on a shortened 13 gate course with 3 upstreams. The best run for each paddler counted towards the final standings. The event was a lot of fun and something perhaps to consider in the future.

With many of the Alberta volunteers away at the Alberta Summer Games in Red Deer, our team of Glen Gifford, Jacques Migneault, Claire St-Aubin, Christine Tayler, and yours truly helped to make this event a success. With close to 70 boats entered the event was much larger than originally expected but was enjoyed by the paddlers and spectators. Claire did a magnificent job of maintaining the most complicated scoreboard ever seen while Christine and I served as section judges and timers. Glen and Jacques looked after the finish and communicating times to Claire via walkie-talkie. Race organizer Greg Hunter was very appreciative of the support received from our team.

Team Ontario and L’Equipe du Quebec had a solid day with some impressive results. The day was a great warm-up forTuesday’s slalom race..

On Sunday evening we attended a pot-luck supper at the campground with the teams from Colorado and China. The Chinese delegation remains a very important part of the tour and it was a great chance to enjoy their company and socialize in spite of their limited English skills. We took lots of pictures and hope to post some of them.

Results from the Super Sprint Race are as follows (there was a mix-up on A.G.’s time but placement is correct):

Junior KI -16
1. Francois St-Aubin (61.5)
2. J.P. Blanchette (63.5)
4. Thomas Weber-Boisvert (66.7)
5. Ian Williams (71.7)

Junior KIW
2. Kathleen Tayler (72.3)

Junior KIW-16
4. Thea Froelich (80.0)
5. Alison Gifford

KI Cadet
1. Michael Tayler (65.7)

Paul Manning Hunter recorded the fastest time of the day at 57.2 with U.S. National team member Rick Powell a close second at 57.4.

US. Cup #3

Sunday was a great day for Team Ontario and L’Equipe du Quebec at the U. S. Cup Race #3 held on the Kananaskis River. The Junior 16 boys did exceptionally well with J.P. Blanchette taking first place, paddling partner Francois Saint-Aubin Migneault finishing second, and Ian Williams, with a very strong second run, placing third. Thomas Weber-Boisvert finished 7th. In the KIJW, Kathleen Tayler finished third just behind Jessica Groenveld with Chinese paddler Wang Wen taking first. Thea Froelich finished 4th in the JW 16 and Alison Gifford was 7th. Michael Tayler had two very fast runs and won the KI Cadet. His combined time was very competitive with the top Junior 16’s. Coach Dita Pahl won the Open Women class. Paul Manning Hunter won the Junior men’s with Ben Hayward finishing second. Full results should be on the Whitewater Slalom Association of Alberta website.

The race was very well organized and again supported by Ontario and Quebec volunteers Christine, Glen, Jacques, and Claire serving as judges. Everyone enjoyed a pizza dinner prior to awards, and then many of the assembled began preparations for departure. The large Colorado and Chinese contingent were leaving for Yellowstone National Park. Our kids spent a lot of time with this group and became good friends over the course of the tour.

As we fly home later this afternoon, this final report from the field is brought to you from the Calgary Public Library. Additional news and photos will be posted once we return from Calgary.