Ottawa kayaker Angus Mortimer wins first World Cup medal - June 6th, 2010

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DUISBURG, Germany – Angus Mortimer of Ottawa won the bronze medal in the men’s K-1 (kayak singles) 500-metre and finished ahead of three-time Olympic medallist Adam van Koeverden of Oakville, Ont., on Sunday to conclude the third and final stop on the World Cup paddling circuit.

Canada also added a pair of medals in the relay races which wrapped up the competition.

In the men’s K-1 500, Kenneth Wallace of Australia won the race in one minute and 36.337 seconds.  Anders Guftafsson of Sweden was second in 1:36.397 and Mortimer took the bronze in 1:37.043 with a great surge at the finish.  Van Koeverden, two lanes over from Mortimer, followed in fourth in 1:37.639.

‘’It was pretty sweet,’’ said Mortimer.  ‘’I learned some valuable lessons from my 1,000 final yesterday (Saturday) and I was better prepared for the final this time.  These last two World Cups I’ve moved into the top group of K-1 paddlers which is an awesome feeling.  It’s been my goal for awhile.  It was significant to be ahead of Adam but I wish we could have both been on the podium.’’

Two Canadian boats were also in the K-2 500 final.  Brady Reardon of Burlington, Ont., and Rhys Hill of Ottawa were fifth and Connor Taras of Waverley, N.S., and Hughes Fournel of Dorval, Que., were seventh.  Mark Oldershaw of Burlington took eighth spot in the C-1 500.

For the women, Jill D’Alessio of Middle Sackville, N.S., and Kathleen Fraser of Mississauga, Ont., were eighth in the K-2 500.

Relay medals

In the women’s 4X200 kayak relay, Kia Byers of Regina, Genevieve Orton of Lake Echo, N.S., Émilie Fournel of Montreal and Marie-Pier Langlois of Quebec City won the silver medal.  In the men’s 4x200 kayak relay,  Andrew Willows of Gananoque, Ont., Ryan Cochrane of Windsor, N.S., Richard Dober Jr., of Trois-Rivières, Que., and Taras were third.

The relays are official events at the world championships.

“It’s always nice to finish the competition on a high note,” said Fournel, a member of the Canadian relay team that won bronze at last year’s worlds.  “It was great to comeback and finish ahead of the Chinese crew that had beaten us in an earlier heat.”

The men’s relay were also pleased with their medal.

‘’It’s a pretty spectacular event and the crowd loved it,’’ said Dober Jr.  ‘’And it’s fun as well with the team aspect and having your friends on the podium with you.  We’re pretty happy about the medal.’’

In the 500 B finals, Una Lounder of Dartmouth, N.S., and Mylanie Barré of Lac-Beauport, Que., were third in the women’s K-2 for 12^th overall, Gauthier was sixth in the K-1 and Cory Rublee of Kamloops, B.C., eighth in the C-1.

‘’It went extremely well for us at the last two World Cups and we showed we are competitive in a lot events,’’ said Graham Barton, CanoeKayak Canada’s sprint high performance director.  ‘’Now it’s time to do the final preparations at home and get ready for the worlds.’’

Canada ends the competition with seven medals: one gold, three silver and three bronze.

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