SLALOM PADDLER BETTERIDGE MAKES SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM
Even before she could stand and walk, six-month-old Lois Betteridge was experiencing the great outdoors in what would become her introduction to the sport of her future.
She doesn’t remember being nestled in the middle of a 17-foot tripper canoe with her family and sharing space with all the camping supplies. But those family canoe excursions, once or twice a year, were the seeds that led her into canoeing. When Betteridge was 11 years old, the waters turned turbulent, when she had her first whitewater canoe slalom experience.
Paddling hard and quickly while trying to steer a boat through overhead gates was a rush all to itself and that led to summer camps with the Ottawa River Runners at the Pumphouse. Competitions and good results quickly followed and one of her rewards was recognition as a development program athlete with Canoe Kayak Canada.
By 2014, she won the Canadian junior women’s C1 (canoe singles) slalom title, which she defended the next year. During the past three years, Betteridge demonstrated she was a paddler on the rise, winning three gold, three silver and two bronze medals in junior, U23 and senior races at the Canadian championships.
And as her 2017 slalom season unfolds this month, she continues to move forward, after being named to her first Canadian senior team. She’ll be the only Canadian slalom paddler competing in both singles races for C1 and K1 (kayak).
The recent national team trials in Kananaskis, Alta., where she placed second in C1 and third in K1, were a taxing, but satisfying competition.
“The trials were OK,” she admitted without a lot of enthusiasm. “I didn’t have an amazing feeling on the water. The trials are always stressful, but I accomplished my goals of making the senior team in canoe and kayak.
“I went in feeling better than when I left. I didn’t paddle quite up to my ability. There’s a huge mental aspect to it and I was sick the week before and still recovering.”
Betteridge also can share her happiness with five other Ottawa River Runners’ athletes, who were selected to the national senior team: Michael Tayler and Keenan Simpson, men’s K1; and Spencer Pomeroy, Cameron Smedley and Liam Smedley (alternate), men’s C1.
Canoe Kayak Canada has offered Betteridge a full slate of major international races this summer — five World Cups and the world senior championships. But at 19, she has decided to take baby steps instead of giant strides in her development.
Betteridge will race the first World Cup in Prague on June 16-18 before heading for a training camp to practice on the course for the world U23 championships July 18-23 in Bratislava, Slovakia. In August, she’ll compete at the Canadian championships on her home Pumphouse course. The future Algonquin College architectural technician student will finish her season in Pau, France, at the world senior championships.
“I’m focusing on the U23 worlds for a better chance of achieving a better result in my age class,” she said. “The senior level is a higher level.
“I’m trying to remain calm and comfortable at the start and build getting past mistakes; mistakes don’t mean the race is over.”
After repeating as junior C1 champion and winning bronze medals in senior C1 and junior K1 at the Canadian championships as well as racing her first two World Cups in 2015, Betteridge opted to pass the 2016 senior national team trials at Rutherford Creek in Pemberton, B.C. Instead, she concentrated on the trials for the world U23 championships in Kananaskis.
Betteridge had some concerns about the Rutherford Creek course, which affected her confidence.
“It wasn’t worth my while to be stressed. I wouldn’t have fun. I felt (trying to make the) senior team wasn’t worth a week of feeling awful,” she explained.
Instead, she waited for the national U23 team trials, where she was first in C1 and second in K1, and raced in two World Cup races with Canoe Kayak Canada’s Next Generation group.
Wherever the river pushes and pulls her this season, she knows she is meant to be a C1 and K1 slalom paddler.
“When you’re in a slalom boat, it’s about precision. You have to be on line. When you do a race, it’s you alone. The water is more powerful than you. You let the water take you where to go and don’t fight it. It’s an amazing feeling when you get it right,” she said.
“I can’t imagine life without it. It’s a great community of people. It keeps me happy. I like training and racing. I feel strong.”
With women’s slalom and flatwater canoe racing becoming part of the Summer Olympic Games program in 2020, Betteridge has a solid shot of making her own mark with her powerful hands and arms.
She’s familiar with greatness in her family as her grandmother, who also is named Lois Betteridge, is an award-winning, premier silversmith craftsperson and a member of the Order of Canada.
“She is a totally amazing woman. She is inspiring, one of the first (women in her field). I look at her as a role model,” a proud Betteridge said of her grandmother, who turns 90 in 2018 and is still an active craftsperson.
When you do a race, it’s you alone. The water is more powerful than you. You let the water take you where to go and don’t fight it.