World canoe championship gets underway in Dartmouth’s Lake Banook

The best paddlers from 60 countries have arrived in Halifax.

The International Canoe Masters is the first of two global events hitting the waters of Lake Banook, in Dartmouth, N.S.

Nancy Olmstead paddled in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics for Canada and has also won over 50 Canadian national championship medals during her canoeing career.

For her, this event featuring athletes aged 35 to 70, is an opportunity to continue to compete at the masters level. It’s also a way to reconnect with people she raced with, and against, over the years.

“It’s like a reunion and it’s great. I think this masters championships, we’re so fortunate it came to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. They do a wonderful job,” said Olmstead. “Then to see all my fellow teammates from 20 years ago, we always say, we haven’t changed a bit. You can’t take the fight and you can’t take the competitiveness out of the masters.”

Dartmouth resident Shaun Fair has also medalled on the world stage. He says Banook is a top-notch facility that has developed a stellar reputation.

“Banook is amazing. It’s kind of an anomaly, having three racing clubs on one lake is unheard of globally,” he said.

“I have to say the facilities are great. I have been in a few only, the one back home and the one in Toronto,” adds Argentinian paddler Kevin Sendyk.

This event is setting the stage for the ICF Junior and Under 23 Canoe Sprint World Championships running from July 1 to July 5. That event will give fans a glimpse at the next round of international Olympic athletes.

“Some of them you will see on the start line in LA 2028 absolutely. We have world champions at the senior level who are competing at the under 23s next week,” says Mark James, the executive director of Canoe ’26.

“If you listen to the commentary, every now and then you’ll hear this saying ‘It’s the hot bed of canoeing’ and it’s really special. We have 11 clubs in HRM, all within about an hour and a half drive.”

Seven hundred and fifty athletes from 60 countries will be competing over the next two weekends. In addition, tens of thousands of fans are expected to attend these championships which are free to the public.

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