Paddle like a girl. finally.
photo: John thompson
PHOTO: LESLIE M
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WOMEN ROCK CANOE SLALOM AT WORLDS
NEW and USED BOATS and GEAR
CAROLYN PETERSON knows better than anyone how long women have been
excluded from canoe slalom competitions. When she started competing in LOCATED IN PEMBROKE, ON
1996 there was no recognized class for women in America or internationally
25 minutes from the Ottawa River put-in
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and Peterson was forced to paddle with the guys if she wanted to compete.
Undeterred, she trained hard and—with male partner, Mark Poindexter—qual-
ified to represent her country at the 2000 Slalom World Cup. There was just
one problem: the rules called for “two men in a canoe.”
Peterson wasn’t allowed to compete. Poindexter realized he needed to
paddle with a man to have a chance at representing America, and Peterson
retired in her prime.
Last summer in La Seu D’Urgell, Spain, Peterson got a long-awaited sec-
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ond chance. For the first time ever, female slalom C1 paddlers were invited to
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compete alongside men in the World Championships. Peterson, 46, earned
herself one of three places on the U.S. women’s team, took a month leave from
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her work as a nurse and travelled to Europe to train for the Worlds.
Twenty-two women from 14 nations jockeyed for position during training, all
equally eager to make their mark in the exhibition event.
Peterson’s qualifying round started with perfect lines, but halfway down she
capsized in a hole. She recovered and finished 13th.
“It was an honour to be good enough to compete for my country,” says Pe-
terson, “but I’m getting too old to compete at the Olympics—even if [women’s
C1] is in the 2012 games, which isn’t confirmed yet.”
For other younger athletes, women’s inclusion has come at just the right
time. Wisconsin’s 15-year-old Hailey Thompson has made the senior U.S. team
the last two years and took gold at the U.S. National Championships in 2009. A
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14th place finish at the World Championships was disappointing, but Thomp-
son has plenty of time left to make her mark in international competitions.
Getting to the podium, however, will require some catching up. Until recent
stirrings at the International Canoe Federation (ICF) hinted that women might
Y HARRISY HARRIS
have an opportunity to compete at a world level, all of the female C1 slalom
contenders in the U.S. and Canada could comfortably ride to the river in a
four-door sedan. Now, the ladies would probably need a full-size van.
Meanwhile, in countries like Australia, women have been competing nation-
ally for decades. Top athletes are given financial support and the team is able
to train all summer for the World Championships. It’s hardly surprising, then,
JAZZ » N E W F R E E S T Y L E V E S T
that Aussie women won the top three spots at the 2009 Worlds.
An innovative rocker design contours to the
At 24, gold medalist Leanne Guinea hopes to still be top of the podium
torso as you bend and reach, allowing for
when women compete alongside men in an official scored event at this year’s
uninhibited range of motion and comfort.
World Championships in Slovenia—and perhaps even the Olympics.
Sculpted, low-profi le foam in a streamlined
“It is fantastic that the ICF decided to add women’s canoe to the Slalom
construction makes for a slick performance vest.
World Championships program in 2009, showing their support toward making
It’s so comfortable you’ll forget you’re wearing it.
canoe slalom a gender equitable sport,” says Guinea. “The quality and quantity
of competition is going to improve at a rapid rate now.” —Justine Curgenven
Hailey thompson, Carolyn Peterson and canoe slalom will be featured in a new canoeing DVD, This is Canoe-
ing, available March 10 from Cackle tV Productions.
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