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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, August 30, 2013 | 78 HOME IMPROVEMENTS 905-845-3824 ext. 278 ahowe@oakvillebeaver.com AIR CONDITIONING/APPLIANCES Danny's Appliance Service 905-827-9559 ARBORIST Superior Tree Solutions 905-849-6395 BLINDS Emcoss Blinds 416-888-3444 www.emcossblinds.ca CHIMNEYS A.M. Masonry 416-893-7354 Chimneys Brick & Concrete 905-335-8943 CONTRACTOR ATD Contracting Services 905-510-7724 www.atdcontractors.com COUNTERTOPS Surface Spectrum Inc. 905-412-0101 www.surfacespectrum.com DECKS Alpine Deck 905-828-1320 www.alpinedeck.com Artistic Deck & Fence 905-844-4456 Sunshine Deck and Fence 905-875-3325 Woodworking & More 289-259-5944 DESIGNER Taylor Design Services 416-316-3248 EAVESTROUGHS/ROOFING Roof Pro + 1-888-677-7757 ELECTRICAL D. Sayers Electric Inc. 905-257-3728 Furena Electric Ltd. 905-274-2363 Warren Electrical 905-580-9408 FLOORING/RENO Success Inc. 416-271-8853 Wood N' Floor 905-338-1881 www.woodnfloor.ca FURNITURE CONSIGNMENT It's A Steal 905-469-7474 GARAGE DOORS B&M Garage Doors 905-569-9133 www.bmgaragedoor.com GROUT Grout Expectations 905-257-0055 www.groutexpectations.ca HANDYMAN Handyman 905-510-0015 Ludwig Nemeth - Handyman 289-993-8554 HEATING/COOLING Ralph's Heating & Cooling 289-259-9121 To Advertise in this section call Alycia Howe Van Koeverden, Reardon form a unique paddling team by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff HOME IMPROVEMENTS Canadian Home Pro 416-708-7269 Ceiling Restoration 905-541-5292 DB Contracting 416-417-6600 Dreamworks Contracting 647-678-9007 Dunn-Right Contracting 416-988-1382 Eastlake Home Improvements 905-847-7054 Halton Home Improvements 416-543-2081 License to Art & Design Inc. 905-464-5129 National Construction Services 416-455-8350 On The Level 416-903-1141 P. Jay Contracting 905-616-3150 Ruby Renos 905-691-0124 www.rubyrenos.com Total Upgrade 647-898-3753 HOME RENOVATIONS Leo's Building & Renovations 905-333-5664 Optibuild Design Inc. 905-464-2261 RenPro 416-605-4431 LANDSCAPING A.M. Landscapes 905-825-0813 Greenways Landscaping 905-464-5789 LAWN MAINTENANCE Lawn-Bros 905-467-1507 · 905-484-3971 MASONRY A&M Masonry 647-618-4261 PAINTING First Impression Custom Painting 647-818-7729 Inter-Can Painting Inc. 905-469-0092 Paint All 905-822-9338 Pipe's Paint 416-558-8756 Richard Professional Painting 647-449-1775 Xtreme Pro Painting 905-334-2120 PAVING C. Valley Paving 905-637-0155 ext. 301 POOLS Ontario Pools & Backyards Inc. 289-242-2518 WINDOWS/EAVES Crownseal Inc. 905-564-3575 Soften That Spot 905-338-8942 They are an unlikely pairing and at the same time a natural fit. Brady Reardon grew up with the sport -- his father Jim having competed for Canada at the 1972 Olympics -- and got in a kayak as soon as he was old enough to keep it upright. Adam van Koeverden was the newcomer, the kid enrolled at the Burloak Canoe Club by his mother in hopes of keeping him active and out of trouble after school. They have trained alongside one another for a decade and a half. Both have competed at the Olympics. Reardon helped Canada reach the K-4 (kayak fours) final in Beijing in 2008 while van Koeverden has won four medals in K-1 (kayak singles) over three Games. In fact, as van Koeverden prepared for London, he asked Reardon to come to Europe so he would have a daily training partner to push him. At the world championships this week in Duisburg, Germany, the two clubmates will work together in pursuit of a world title. "I don't even know how it happened," Reardon said with a laugh. "Adam had talked about it before, about trying some crew boats. We talked about it in Florida (at the national team training camp). We tried K-2 and thought, `Let's give it a shot at the World Cups. Let's see how it goes at the international level.'" While the pairing of two longtime friends seems logical, it's odd in that Reardon had switched his focus from crew boats to K-1 over the past couple of years, winning a silver medal at a World Cup race in 2012. Meanwhile, van Koeverden, Canada's most decorated paddler, is moving from K-1 to crew boats -- at least for this year. Reardon made his world championship debut in Duisburg in 2007, competing in K-2. That same year, van Koeverden won his first world title, taking gold in the K-1 500m. They are hoping this year's event will produce some more fond memories, and if their World Cup success can be used as a gauge, the duo should be in good shape. Though they had a rough debut in the Czech Republic -- finishing 10th in the 500m and ninth in the 1,000m -- Reardon said they knew what they did wrong. "We got a little too excited the first race," Reardon said prior to leaving for worlds. "Our stroke rate was super high. It wasn't comfortable. You can't be too high but if it's not enough, you're not going to get that good traveling speed." The duo found that balance two weeks later in Poznan, Poland, winning a silver medal in the 1,000m and a day later adding a bronze in the 500m. "It's great to see improvement week to week," van Koeverden said at the time. Both Reardon and van Koeverden grew up with Scott Oldershaw as their coach. Reardon said that helps the duo in that they have similar paddling styles. Even more important may be that they are friends, allowing for an open discussion in developing a race plan, as well as knowing when adjustments need to be made on the water. "Communication is so important," Reardon said. "If you don't have that, you're not going to do well." -- Herb Garbutt can be followed on Twitter @Herbgarbutt Don't miss these, and other great deals! 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