Cheerleading For Canada Day

Happy Canada Day.

I'm off on vacation and I'm going to try to stay away from the computer. I'll miss the upcoming IOC votes, too.

For today, just some feel-good news about Canadian athletes. I don't do very much of this here; I will mention that the CBC, CanSport.com, and the COC do a good job of posting highlights throughout the year.

Canoe/Kayak — Flatwater

Double Olympic medallist Adam van Koeverden has been beating the opposition into submission on the World Cup circuit, winning both the 500m and 1000m races at both of the regattas he attended. We haven't seen this kind of dominance in men's kayak in a long time. The rest of the team is doing exceptionally well also. Check this out; and on the canoe side, the Buday brothers beat the Olympic gold and silver medallists in winning the C-2 1000m in Duisburg.

Cycling

On the road, Genevieve Jeanson won a World Cup race at home, defeating the 2004 World Cup champion. On the mountain, 2004 silver medallist Marie-Hélène Prémont also won a World Cup race, beating the invincible Olympic champion Gunn-Rite Dahle in the process. Then she did it again.

Athletics

Perdita Felicien had a devastating Olympics, but has picked up right where she left off before Athens, winning again and again on the international circuit. Felicien has the fastest time in the world this year for the hurdles. There have been other notable performances by pole vaulter Dana Ellis, and by 800m runners Diane Cummins and Gary Reed.

Aquatics

The Canadian swim team has been making some progress after taking a public beating in Athens, qualifying a decent number of swimmers for the upcoming world championships in Montréal. Last week, Brent Hayden took home a couple of medals from the U.S. Grand Prix, beating superstar Michael Phelps in the 100m free.

In diving, Canadians continue to do well; Alexandre Despatis' gold medal highlighted some good Canadian results at the Grand Prix Super Final.

Athletes With a Disability

There's nothing new about Canada doing well in wheelchair racing. This year, Diane Roy has emerged as a multi-distance force to be reckoned with: 800m, 5000m, or 10,000m, it doesn't seem to matter to her.

Other

Congratulations to Susan Nattrass, who won a trapshooting bronze medal at the world championships. Nattrass is a six-time world champion from 1974-1981.

And congratulations also to our women's epee team, who earned Canada's first ever team medal in a fencing World Cup.