WAVERLEY: Fall River’s Michelle Russell is one of four Nova Scotia canoe/kayak athletes named to Team Canada for the World Championships, scheduled for the summer in Hungary.
Russell, who competes out of Cheema; Mark de Jonge; Alex Scott; and Dartmouth product Connor Fitzpatrick are on the list of 20 athletes who will don the Maple Leaf for the Aug. 21-25 event in Szeged, Hungary.
The worlds are an integral competition for the athletes as preparations ramp up for the 2020 Olympics in Japan are underway. The worlds serve as an Olympic qualification event as Canadian paddlers look to secure boats for Tokyo.
Once the boats are secured, Canadians will compete to crew them at trials scheduled for next spring.
In a release, Canoe Kayak Canada said it selected its roster after recent World Cup competitions in Poland and Germany.
“The Canadian team we selected following the World Cups showed several opportunities to reach finals, be on the podium and qualify for the Olympics later this summer,” Canoe Kayak Canada’s chief technical officer Graham Barton said in a release.
