BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
Andrew McMillan is making waves, and he's
riding them all the way to the Canada Summer Games.
 |
| name="valign"
top >
Andrew McMillan (front) and
Jonathan Blackadar will compete in the 2005 Canada
Summer Games in Saskatchewan from Aug. 6-21. |
McMillan, 16, recently qualified for the 2005
summer games in canoeing. McMillan won a spot on the Ontario
Sprint Canoe Racing Team, and will compete in Regina, Sask.
from Aug. 6-21.
McMillan, who lives in Sudbury, but trains
with the North Bay Canoe Club, made the team by virtue of his
impressive performance at Team Ontario Trials.
The Lasalle Secondary School student was
originally from North Bay, but moved with his parents after his
dad transferred jobs.
McMillan had to race in four different heats
against 16 of the best paddlers from around the province in
order to qualify for one of only five spots.
McMillan had terrific finishes in the
200-metre, 500-m, 1,000-m and the 6,000-m races, and the points
he amassed earned him a berth on the team.
Being on Team Ontario will boost McMillan's
profile.
"I was good enough to make it and I am
excited about this," McMillan said. "It has been my main goal
since last year. For now, I am just focusing on doing the best
I can at the games, and then we will see what happens after
that. Just making this team puts me on the radar screen for
universities and colleges. It gets me more recognition."
The journey to the Canada Summer Games hasn't
been a piece of cake for McMillan.
For starters, he has to travel to North Bay
every weekend, during the school year, to train. With school
out, McMillan makes even more trips to the Gateway City.
"Moving back and forth from North Bay and
Sudbury gets tiring," McMillan said. "I just love the sport.
It's fun and keeps me active, fit and sunburned."
McMillan was one of only five paddlers to
make the squad, but there will be a familiar face on the
squad.
Jonathan Blackadar, McMillan's paddling
teammate for the last five years in North Bay, also made the
team.
McMillan knows it will be a benefit. "We know
each other very well and have great chemistry," he said. "It
helps, especially on longer races, and with motivating one
another."
There's more to being a top paddler than just
a trim body.
"Canoeing is a lot of technique," McMillan
said. "I have to focus on mental preparation. I have to feel
the boat and how it's moving. Balancing is also important to
success."
McMillan plans on pursuing more canoeing
ventures in the future.
"I believe I still have a chance, in two
years, to make the Canadian Junior World's Team," McMillan
said. "It would take a lot of hard work and I would
have to be better than the other kids trying
out."
