SportsOakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2010 By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Burloak Canoe Club is once again the top paddling club in the country. Burloak easily won the club championship at the recent CanoeKayak Canada Sprint National competition in Regina, compiling 757 points to finish 150 points ahead of runners-up Banook Canoe Club and Cheema Canoe Club of Nova Scotia. The club championship is the third in four years for Burloak. I had a pretty good idea we would win, but not by that much, said Burloak Olympian Mark Oldershaw, who won gold in the canoeing senior mens singles 500-metre and 1,000m events. Im away a lot of the year with the national team so I dont always get a perfect idea (how strong the club is), but I was super impressed when I got there. Leading the way for Burloak this year were the club's sen- ior men (264 points, 152 more than second-place Pointe Claire Canoe Club of Quebec), senior women (152 points, 35 more than second-place Wascana Canoe Club of Saskatchewan) and junior men (109 points, edging out Banook by four points). Burloak's juvenile women added 96 points, finishing three points behind Cheema in their division. Were always strong at the senior level with myself and Adam van Koeverden and Brady Reardon and our other Olympians. This year, we maintained that, but the younger athletes stepped up and dominated, Oldershaw said. It just goes to show our club has established a good system. Its not just one generation that has made us good. Its a system of programs and coaches. Three-time Olympic medalist van Koeverden joined Oldershaw as a two-event champion at nationals. Van Koeverden claimed gold in the kayaking senior men's 500- metre and 1,000m events. Mallorie Nicholson added a victory in canoeing senior women's 1,000m and former Olympic champion Larry Cain won the masters men's canoeing 1,000m. Burloak's depth also shone through in team competition, winning 19 gold medals in those events. CanoeKayak Canada Sprint National results, page 31 30 Burloak dominates at CanoeKayak Canada nationals NATIONAL CHAMPS: The Burloak Canoe Club easily won the club championship at the recent CanoeKayak Canada Sprint National competition in Regina. In top photo, Burloak members show off their hard- ware haul. Left, one of Burloaks womens 15-member canoe teams powers through the water.