Julia Demchuk - ICF U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships

This past July I had the opportunity to compete for Team Canada on the international stage at the U23 World Championships in Montemor-O-Velho, Portugal. This has been my second consecutive time competing for the under 23 Canadian Team, and I am extremely grateful for the experience and opportunity after putting in a lot of hard work the past few years. Racing and being a part of Team Canada is always a huge honor, and being a part of a team that is so much bigger than myself is always a very rewarding journey. 

This year after qualifying we began a mini preparation camp in Dartmouth, NS before heading to Portugal. We were able to train alongside the senior national team, junior national team, and with the rest of my U23 women's kayak teammates. We were able to practice our crewboats ahead of the competition, and be incorporated into the national team training environment for the 10 days we were in Dartmouth. 

For the competition itself, I competed in the K4 500m alongside Alina Tverie, Callie Loch and Chloe Bryer. While we didn't quite reach our goal of making the A-Final, we still had some good learning experiences and ended up finishing effectively 10th overall, and fourth in the semi-final. This year I also had the privilege of being at the competition with my teammate Nikita Ciudin, who also qualified for the World Championships in Milan, Italy, and coach Ornmadee Baxter-Lovo who has been a part of my kayaking journey since 2020! Being in Portugal with two other Calgary Canoe Club members, getting to share the journey with them, and having some familiar faces around made the whole event a special one! 

Overall the competition was a good experience with much to take away for the future, lots of pride for competing with my teammates and coaches on the international stage, and hope to continue my journey on the international stage in the upcoming years!

The Alberta Sprint Racing Canoe Association granted Julia Demchuk an ASRCA Athlete Grant for this international competition.