Andrew Willows and partner off to Peking

The two athletes won medals during the last day of the World Cup canoe-kayak racing competition in Szeged, Hungary last week. The Quebec pair won the Gold in the K-2 200 m category and the Bronze in the K-2 500 m category.

At the end of these World Cup competitions, several Canadian representatives were able to qualify for the Peking Olympic Games in China to be held in August this year. Willows and Dober are now ready to fly to Peking for the K-2 500 m category competition. The K02 200 m category is normally not considered an Olympic qualification.

To qualify for the Olympics, the participants had to surpass the other Canadian kayak in two out of the three competitions designated by the Federation. The World Cup held in Hungary was the second step in the selection process following the Pan-American championships held in Montreal last May.

During the first course, Willows and Dober timed in at 1:35.83 qualifying them for third place in the podium for the 500 metre-category. Hungarians Zoitan Kammerer and Gabor Kucsera won first place while the Germans won second.

“It was really an important day for us because they were the first finals for the season and we wanted to see what we were capable of doing”, said LaSalle resident Andrew Willows. “We did very well. The competition was fierce and it’s really exciting to see what will happen in the next months.”

During the second finals, the teammates dominated in the 200 metre category, coming in at 33.76 seconds. They reached the finish line before the Lithuanian and the Ukranian duos. “This medal is like the icing on the cake”, Andrew Willows remarked. It was really great to return to the podium. We made it twice to the podium in an hour and a half - that was really a heart-racing moment.”

Just the day before, the Quebec duo won their two preliminary rounds in the K-2 200 m and K-2 500 m categories.

A native of Gananoque (Ontario), Andrew Willows has been living in LaSalle for four years now. In the last few years, he won several medals in competitions held throughout the world.

Once his athletic career comes to an end, he’d like to become a construction entrepreneur. He gives about 10 motivation speeches per year and likes to engage in water sports.