The following is done with information from Olympic.ca
PARIS, FRANCE: A first Olympics for Sloan MacKenzie, and she’s etched her name and partner Katie Vincent’s name as having an Olympic Best Time.
In 1:54.16, the Canadian duo put themselves into Friday’s semifinals winning heat 2 going away over Spain on the waters to kick off their Paris 2024 Olympics.
Katie Vincent, looking to upgrade on her bronze in the women’s C-2 500m at the Tokyo Olympic Games with the now-retired Laurence Vincent Lapointe, got a good start with Windsor Junction’s MacKenzie on Tuesday morning.
With a crowd of friends cheering them on from inside their own homes –and some young future stars at summer camp at Cheema–the two raced to the win.
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With her new partner, Sloan Mackenzie, the pair raced to first in their heat with a new Olympic Best time of 1 minute 54.16 seconds.
“It was incredible,” said Vincent in an interview with Olympic.ca. “I know my family is in the stands and so is Sloan’s. Having that support behind us helps a lot.
“Tokyo was a little quieter, maybe a little lonelier. Having everybody here, I think we are feeling that a little in the water.”
The win automatically qualified them for the semifinal round which will take place on Friday.
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Racing in the second heat in a field that included rival Spain, Canada turned it on at the end.
Throughout the first half of the race, Spain led by about a half-length until the powerhouse Canadians turned on the jets with 100 metres to go and got to the finish in that Olympic Best time.
“That last 150 (metres), when you have that crowd, and the pride of being Canadian, helps out on the water,” added Vincent.
“The first one for me is always a little bit of a warm-up. The lactic builds, and I get a little queasy at the end, but Sloan gets queasy at the start, so we balance each other out,” Vincent of their opening race of the Games.
“She is nervous before, and I am a little sick after, but it is just the nerves. It’s the Olympics.”
The semifinal goes Friday Aug. 9 at 5:40 a.m. Atlantic with the final set for 7:40 a.m. on Friday.
The top four from each semi-final advance to the final.
- With information from Olympic.ca article on the two advancing to the semi-finals.
