Paddle bearer across the ages
Van Koeverden is face of sport
For four-time Canadian Olympic kayak medallist Adam van Koeverden, the pressure and expectations of the 2016 Rio Games are definitely a year and a continent away.
Van Koeverden steered away from Olympic-oriented questions Friday at the Canadian Sprint CanoeKayak Championships at Mooney’s Bay, and was more excited to talk about the “summercamp” feel of the current national event.
In keeping with the mood, van Koeverden was perfectly at home joining 14 others from his Burloak Canoe Club — including an 11-yearold girl — in the mixed 200-metre war canoe race.
As van Koeverden, of Oakville, Ont., helped lug the canoe from the shore to the Rideau River, he couldn’t help but look around at the age range on display.
“Racing at the nationals has always been a priority and racing with the kids at this regatta was a great opportunity,” says van Koeverden, who has been Canada’s kayaking poster boy for more than a decade.
“My (physiotherapist’s) son was in the boat and I remember when he was born. I looked over at the start line and there was a kid in my position, third on the left in one of the other boats, and he was wearing a life belt, and it was signed by Mark Oldershaw and myself.
“The diversity in our crew is ridiculous. I’m 33, and Oldershaw and myself have raced at Olympic trials and raced for Canada. (The championships) really brings the communities together.”
The fun of the war canoe aside, there is some serious water work still to come. Van Koeverden is racing in six other team events this week.
He has served as Canada’s kayaking poster boy for the past decade due primarily to his prowess in individual races. At the 2004 Olympics, he won gold in the K1 500 and bronze in the K1 1,000, serving as flag-bearer in the closing ceremonies. At the 2008 Games in Beijing, where he was the country’s flag bearer to open the competition, he took home silver in the K1 500. Four years later in London, he won silver in the K1 1,000.
Since the Pan Am Games in July, when he won a bronze in the K1 1,000 and told reporters that “my body is starting to feel older than 33,” he says the attention has been firmly on team events.
“I’m concentrating on the K4 this week, to try to qualify the big boat for Canada.”
When it comes to the Olympics, van Koeverden is in position to become one of a select few athletes who have competed in four Games. He insists, however, that he’s not weighed down by thoughts of things such as his place in history.
“I’m doing one thing at a time and I’m not really focused on the Olympics right now,” he says. “Right now, I’m focused on the nationals.”
That focus includes a recognition that he has become an ambassador for all ages in the sport in Canada.