The Yorkton Canoe Kayak Club (YCKC) made their mark at the Divisional Regatta in Regina a couple weekends ago.
The club, which sent three of its members to the event including Yorkton's Jessica Burgess, brought home gold and silver medals.
"Our competitive athletes have been doing very well this season," said head coach Jessica Riley. "The girls set some goals after the last competition and worked really hard to achieve those goals at this Regatta. It was nice to see their smiles when they came off the water knowing it was a good race!"
The weekend included K1 (one person kayak), K2 (tandem), and K4 (four-person) events with distances of 200m, 500m, and 2000m.
Burgess, 13, received silver medals in her 2000m and 200m sprint races. She advanced to the finals in the K1 500m race in the under-15 category as well as took home a gold medal with her teammates in the K4 200m race.
"In addition to the personal successes in the K1 events, YCKC teamed up with a paddler from Saskatoon for their K4 race and they really clicked," said Riley. "They had a great start and ended with a great time, as well as a gold medal. This Regatta was a qualifier for the Canadian Canoe/Kayak Championships, so in addition to bringing in athletes from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, the athletes that were racing brought up their game and had some very close races - they were fun to watch!
"Nationals will be hosted in Regina next year so it was great for the girls to feel the excitement from the other paddlers and for Burgess to see what she could be racing for next year!"
Last weekend, meanwhile, the athletes competed in the Yorkton Developmental Regatta; it was hosted by the Yorkton Canoe Kayak Club.
New paddlers were welcomed for the Developmental Regatta! The competition's focus was to introduce new paddlers to the world of sprint competition.
Another great way to check out YCKC is on their Toonie Sundays. Paddling is on Sundays from 2-4 p.m. (weather pending) and the cost is $2/paddler. YCKC provides all of the equipment.
YCKC also had a bottle drive on Sunday, August 11 to raise funds for new equipment.
For more information on YCKC's events, programming, and costs, visit their website www.yorktoncanoekayakclub.com, e-mail Jessica Riley at [email protected] or follow YCKC on Twitter.
