We are only a couple of days away from the last leg of the triple crown this year so it is time to take a look at the current field to see who you should be looking out for this coming weekend. La Classique internationale de canots de la Mauricie will be starting this Saturday August 31st and will traverse 120 miles on the St. Maurice River from LaTuque to Trois-Rivieres over the course of 3 days. Currently there are 34 teams on the entry list for the C2 event with 8 of those teams in the mixed division and 1 in the women's.
This year's event looks like it should be a close matchup for the top spot with some of the top finishers of this year's ARCM not participating in the Classique. based on the purely statistical rankings from the NACPR (North American Canoe Paddler Ranking) we should expect to see the teams of Pellerin/Lajoie, Blais/Frigon, Lefever/Schlimmer, Pellerin/Willoughby, Pellerin/Meersman, and Davis/Macdowel. The interesting thing here is the top 3 teams from the Clinton are paired up again for the Classique, will Blais/Frigon be able to break thru and take the top spot? Will Lefever/Schlimmer be able to make a comeback from their drop out in Michigan? Another interesting matchup will surely be in the mixed category. Proulx/Schlimmer are teamed up and the ranking have them slated for 7th overall. The last time Schlimmer teamed up with a triple crown race overall winner she came in 4th overall and we have yet to see Chris Proulx at any of the major races this year as he has been focusing on Olympic style kayaking. Other teams to watch out for in the MIxed category are Gelinas/Lessard who came in second in Michigan and The Olney's who are ranked for 3rd in the mixed division but did not finish in Michigan this year.
For the Women's it looks like CRW friend Rebecca Davis is partnering up with Edith MacHattie and going for what my sources say may be the first women's team to sweep the Triple crown winning the division in all three major races. Rebecca was recently on our podcast and if you haven't heard the episode yet, be sure to check it out https://anchor.fm/canoeraceworld/episodes/Ep-2---Rebecca-Davis--USCA-Nationals--Wells-Bridge-Race--and-Sooo-Ultimate-Paddle-e517dm
There are also a good amount of paddlers that could not be ranked as they have yet to complete a triple crown in the professional division from what the record keepers can tell. This only means that these rankings could easily go out the window as these paddlers abilities are yet unknown when it comes to competing at one of the most prestigious races of the sport. These athletes include Jérémie Léveillé, Sara La Rose, Jessica Turcotte, David Bournival, Gérémy Michaud, Guillaume Lamarche, Annie‐Claude Bourque, Christophe Marchand Pellerin, Yves Pronovost, Christian Francoeur.
With the culmination of the classique this weekend we will also have a champion awarded for the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing. This year Steve Lajoie is in the lead and if all goes according to plan he should be able to secure this title.
We here at CanoeRaceWorld want to wish all the competitors the best of luck this weekend and cannot wait to hear how the race turns out. Be on the lookout for our next podcast episode where we will break down the action of the classique with competitor Daniel Medina.
Comments