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Editor: Norm Nelson Phone: 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: nnelson@haltonsearch.com W K D N K S D A Y . S h l'T K M H E H 1 7 . 2 <K):i · 1)1 SPORTS Silver at World's! By Jon Kuiperij OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF dam van Koeverden admits he had a much more mod est goal in mind as he lined up to race in Saturday's K1,000 world championship final. "M y job was to finish in the top eight (o f nine kayakers in the final)," he said. "I w asn't thinking medals on the line, I was just thinking what I had to do to (finish top eight)." The Oakville native accomplished that and much more, fin ishing second and reaching the podium in only his second world championship competition as a senior. The top-8 finish guaranteed Canada a position at next year's Olympic Sum m er Games in Athens, while the silver medal was a major state ment that van Koeverden deserves to go. "I don't remember much about the race except it hurt a lot," said van Koeverden, who finished just behind New Zealand's Ben Fouhy and ahead o f training partner and defending world champ Nathan Baggaley o f Australia. "It was really fast -- 1 didn't look over once." The 21-year-old van Koeverden's strategy was simple enough. "Mine was to get out front and go as fast as I could the whole way," he said. "It's not `go like hell' because I could go a lot faster, but you leam the pace (you need to go) from years and years of training." A long-time member o f the Burloak Canoe Club, van Koeverden had approximately 50 Canadian supporters on hand at the event in Gainesville, GA, the 1996 Olympic site. T he m em ories he has from crossing the line will last a lifetim e. "1 was ecstatic, I put my hands up and my friends and fami ly were going absolutely insane." he said. "I've never seen people so supportive and so amazing... 10 o f my buddies were all painted red. it was crazy." A little bit lost in the glow o f the silver medal, was that van Koeverden. on Sunday, also accomplished another top-eight finish -- finishing sixth in the 500m final -- thereby qualify ing another Canadian boat for next year's Olympic Games. The world championships capped a breakout season for van Koeverden. who captured two silvers and a bronzcnit senior ACTION PHOTO: Joe van Koeverden« Special to the B e a v e r INSET PHOTO: Peter McCusker- O a kviU e B e a v e r W O R L D ' S S E C O N D B E S T ! A d am van K o ev erd en show s ofT his silver m edal (inset photo) w hich he won in the 1,000m race a t th e W o rld 's (action photo). A It was b a ck in 1995 th a t A d a m van K o e ve rd en , th e n in G rade 7, re sp o n d e d to a n a rticle in th e O a kville B e a v e r f o r elite a th le te s to j o in th e B u rlo a k C a n o e C lub. L a st S a tu rd a y, h e w on a silv e r m e d a l a t th e w orld c h a m p io n s h ip s. · LANG/MATHESON, D4 ... World Cup com petitions earlier this year. Before this campaign, he traveled to Australia, Florida and Norway for lengthy training sessions with sev eral different national teams. Not surprising ly, he intends to have a similar training program in preparation for the Olympic year. World champi onship perform ance does not nec essarily dictate who will represent Canada at Olympic games: rather, the national team will send whoever is the fastest kayaker at the time. "If a Canadian takes my spot away by beating me in K -1.000. they're probably one o f the best in the world. And if (they're) not. I'm paddling really (crappy)," van Koeverden said. "I'm prepared to be the best every year and I want to be the best every year. If someone can beat me they're going to the world champi onships and if they race that well, they're going to win a medal." If van Koeverden ever worries about the pressures and high expectations of world-calibre rac ing, he doesn't have to look far for a listening ear. His current landlord in Burlington is none other than Oakville native Larry Cain, one of Canada's greatest paddlers (although in canoe, not kayak), who is an Olympic gold and silver medalist and a member of both the Canadian and Oakville sports hall of fames. "It's great hav ing someone who has done it around." The C B C will broadcast World's Saturday. Check T.V. listings! C r- vv S fc , 'n a & a MEMBER CLUB ·4U Oakville Skating Club LEARN TO SKATE CLASSES BEGIN OCTOBER 14TH / Parent S - Tot / Intro to Preschool CanSkate / Preschool CanSkate / CanSkate / Intro to Can PowerSkate S CanPowerSkate J Pre-Junior / Adult Learn to Skate/Fitness Registration by wail or in person at the Oakville Skating Club office located in the KIVEK. OAKS ARENA Mon.-Fri., 9aw-3pw, Tues.-Thurs. 9aw-5pw Discover the -- L l l r e f o r th e Coming Cold! 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