The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

D 4 - The Oakville Beaver, W e d n e sd a y July 31, 2002 Vankoeverden preparing for World's in Spain By Norm Nelson BEAVER SPO R T S EDITOR Adam Vankoeverden, ju st two years out of junior competition, will join Canada's national kayak team in M ontreal this week, to start preparing for the world championships which are being held this year in Seville, Spain, Aug. 29-Sept. 1. "I don't think I'll be back until, like, September," said the 20-year-old Loyola grad, now in his third year at M cM aster University, taking kinesiology. "I 'll be gone for a whole month which is a bummer. I like Oakville. I like hanging around the club and stuff." On the other hand, he concedes, "I also like travelling, going to Spain and stuff like that too." Vankoeverden is the only member of the Burloak Canoe Club who has earned a berth in this year's world championships. For Vankoeverden, who grew up paddling on Sixteen Mile Creek, the world champi onships are getting to be an annual event. Quite remarkably, he has qualified for the World's in his first two years o f senior eligibility. Last year, he got his feet wet, making the Bfinal where he finished seventh in the nine-boat field. Not a bad start to his senior career. His best race may very well have been in the semifinals, however, where he was, unfortunately, in a very strong field, and finished fourth, just out of the running. The top three from his heat went on to finish third, fourth and fifth in the finals. "My time in my semi was probably fast enough to get me to the final in any other semi. But because the guy (the third-place wild card winner) was in my semi I couldn't make it through." The previous year, in 2000, there were no World's, being an Olympic year. Vankoeverden, although still only 18 and in the final year of junior eligibility, was a bit unlucky not to make the Olympics. Basically, the rapidly improving Vankoeverden was not quite fast enough to win at Canada's Olympic team trials, held in the spring. But by sum m er's end, he was, arguably, Canada's fastest kayaker over 1,000m. "Unfortunately you had to be the fastest at the beginning of the summer," noted Vankoeverden with a chuckle. The previous year, in 1999, there was a ju n ior W orld's and Vankoeverden won the bronze over 1,000m. While Vankoeverden has been the fastest kayaker in Canada over 1000m since the sum mer o f 2000, he made a breakthrough at the most recent national team trials, held in Montreal over the July 20/21 weekend, win ning the 500 metres for the first time. He had been second over 500 metres at this year's first set of team trials in the spring (while winning the 1,000 metres). Last year, at the two team trials he had fin ished third and fourth, respectively, over 500m (while winning the 1,000 metres both times). "I did what I wanted to do," said Vankoeverden, of his long anticipated 500m tri umph. "I wanted to win the 500m race at the first set (the spring time trials) and I placed second." The 1000m, at this point, he conceded is his strongest distance, although both are his priority. "The 500m is a new race for me in that I've never raced it at the senior world champi onships before. "But I've raced it at junior World's and I've raced it at nationals -- I've raced high level 500s before. But this will be my first world championship 500. It will be good." "I've been refocusing towards 500m. Because one kind of lends itself to the other. They both give back to each other. "To be able to race both is kind of like the experience in K -1 at its finest. Doing one is doing, like, just half the sport. "Dominating both in your country is a goal for everybody. Nobody trains just for 500m or 1000m. And if they do it's because they're either phenomenal at one or really bad at the other. I think I'm pretty good at both." He explained that the two events were won by the same competitor at the 2000 Olympics. The 2004 Olympics are definitely on his mind, he said. "My long term goal is the Olympics as every amateur athlete is. We all think in terms of four years. We always think in quadrennials so I'm thinking towards 2004 ... "Going to the Olympics is something w e're all committed to and something we want to put on our resumes." With one senior W orld's already under his belt, Vankoeverden is hoping for a break through, this year. "I'd like to make the final -- top nine. T hat's always a goal." It's important for him self and the Canadian team to show progress, he said, because the 2004 Athens Olympics are coming into view. Next year, a top finish at the W orld's will be required to secure Canada extra berths into the Olympic Games. The job didn't get done in 1999, and it reduced the size of the Canadian team, and may very well have cost Vankoeverden a chance to represent Canada in Atlanta. Like former Olympic gold medalist Larry Cain and former 1996 Olympian Gavin Maxwell, Vankoeverden has used Sixteen Mile Creek to become among the best in the world. His training regimen, he said, is the "same Peter McCusker 'O akville Beaver A dam Vankoeverden, seen training on Sixteen M ile C reek last year, is o ff to M ontreal this w eek to join the national training cam p in preparation for the upcom ing world cham pionships. as it has always has been. "Two on-the-water sessions a day. They're anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours. We're doing weights, three or four times a week and running a bit. "It has been busy. It's not as busy as it is in the spring when w e're really trying to ju st wear ourselves out. "Right now w e're just tuning up for races and stuff. "But it's still on the water for three hours a day and weights three or four times a w eek." 0TMH charity golf tournament set for August 21 This year's 23rd annual Oakville Beaver charity golf tournament in support of Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) will be held this year on Wednesday, August 21 at Wyldewood Golf Course, which, as usual, has chipped in its fine links. The driving force behind this tournament is CONNECTIONS, an association of three well established local Oakville firms who are specialists in asset growth and risk management. The three firms are Vince Tomenson Dickerson Insurance Brokers; Assante; and Cumming & Cumming Wealth Management. They're located at 1540 Cornwall Road. To golf or help sponsor the tourney, call Don Vince at 8459793. Q.E.W. S. Service Rd. W. M IN I OAKVILLE Th ird Line A N Bronte Road W yecroft Road 2400 South Service Rd. W,, Oakville, L6L 5M9 · web: www.minioakville.com 905- 469-6220 An Authorized MINI Retailer e-mail: sales@minioakville.com *T a x , tra nspo rt and preparation extra. D ealer may sell fo r less. The model shown is a 2002 M IN I Cooper S w ith optional fog ligh ts and chrome bum per inserts. The w h ite contrast roof and m irror caps are optional and available a t no charge. © 2002 M IN I Canada, a division of B M W Canada Inc. "M IN I" and the M IN I logo are tradem arks o f B M W AG used under licence by B M W Canada Inc. V