Three 15 year olds with the Burnaby Kayak and Canoe Club showed all year long that age is no impediment to success.
The trio’s hard work has now earned a major kudo.
Burnaby twins Samantha and Katrina Loutet and Ivan Strashenko were among 40 people selected to Canoe Kayak BC’s provincial team for canoe and kayak sprint paddlers.
At 15, Samantha and Katrina have each made separate inroads into the sports’ competitive tributaries over the past year. A provincial team Level 5 athlete last year, Samantha competed at the Western Canada Summer Games and has made a smooth transition to Level 3, meeting time standards for women’s canoe.She also competed at Sprint nationals in Nova Scotia this past summer, and last month was presented with the u15 Female Canoe Athlete of the Year Award.
Katrina’s success has come in the kayak, having participated in this year’s B.C. Summer Games in Abbotsford, and also at the Sprint nationals. She was chosen in Level 5.
Strashenko, meanwhile, was selected in Level 5 kayak. He joined Katrina at the B.C. Summer Games this past summer.
Athletes were chosen based on results from the past season, including national team selection, B.C. performance standard, or nominated by the coach’s technical committee.
Added to the club’s success – which has grown since the hiring of head coach Wes Hammer in 2014, who was chosen the 2016 Development Coach of the Year – was the naming of 14-year-olds Mika Asano in kayak, and Georgia Langdon in canoe for the B.C. Development Team, a new element to the provincial talent assessment program. It came on the heels of them receiving multiple sprint development awards a month ago. The pair were selected in both u14 and u15 canoe, while Quinn Thomson made off with the boys’ u13 and u14 honours.
The provincial program acknowledges and supports athletes with potential to make junior, u23 and senior development and national teams. They have also demonstrated a commitment to reaching these goals.
The Burnaby club enjoyed a successful year with a second consecutive Pacific Cup victory in September.
Along with Samantha
Loutet’s award at last month’s Canoe Kayak B.C. event, other Burnaby members received recognition.
In kayak, Asano was named a top novice and u14 recipient, as were Katrina Loutet (u15), Ingrid Rangel Ortega (u11), Lucas Fong (u11) and Strashenko (u15).
