Langley paddler Meghan Cheung is back home after tackling some of the toughest competition in the country at the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg.
Cheung and her Team BC teammates in canoe and kayak competed most of last week, finishing Friday.
“It was amazing,” said Cheung. “There was a lot of excitement on our team, we had a lot of young teammates.”
She singled out Cassidy MacPherson, 14, who won gold in the women’s kayak five kilometre race.
That young team meant achievements like Cassidy’s were tough. Many of the other teams were older and more experienced, said Cheung.
The local paddlers, many of whom train on Bedford Channel at Fort Langley, wnet in with no expectations, said Cheung.
They just tried make sure their paddling and their boats did the best they could.
“I think we achieved that,” Cheung said.
She took part in 200 and 500 metre four-paddler kayak races, and had the responsibility of calling the transitions for her boat. That means she had to give instructions on how to change their paddling as they moved through the different stages of the course.
They came in sixth in both courses.
Unfortunatley, this will be Cheung’s last Canada Summer Games, as she will have aged out by the time the next games take place in four years.
However, many of her young teammates from this year will be able to compete again, with much more experience under their belts.