Kamloops kayaker Abigail Donaldson (second from the right) posing with her bronze medal from the K2 1,000 at the Canada Games (Image Credit: Contributed)

By Chad Klassen

NATIONAL CANOE AND KAYAK

Kamloops’ Donaldson comes home with three bronze medals from national kayaking competitions

Sep 1, 2022 | 5:14 PM

KAMLOOPS — Abigail Donaldson didn’t have expectations on standing on the podium, but after a whirldwind two weeks competition at both the Canada Games and Canoe Kayak Canada Sprint National Championships last month, she has three bronze medals to show for it.

The 20-year-old kayaker from Kamloops earned her first bronze at the Canada Games in Niagara from Aug. 15-21 in the K2 1,000-metre race.

“That was the one I was most excited about because I wasn’t really expecting it. It was really, really cool and a really great experience in general,” said Donaldson.

Donaldson then flew to Shawinigan, Quebec for two more events, but this time on the national stage in the Femmes Junior age category.

Again, flying under the radar with few expectations — despite it being her fourth nationals — she and her partner Cassidy McPherson from Maple Ridge earned a spot on the podium twice more, including a tight race in the K2 500-metre.

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“So close that we raced the whole race, and when we crossed the line, we looked over and we thought we got fourth,” she said. “We didn’t celebrate at all. We came off the water and we weren’t too disappointed. We were like ‘Oh my gosh, it was so close. We almost made it.’ Then my coach just came running down and said ‘You guys got third!’ My dad was like ‘Why aren’t you guys happy? You got third!'”

The three bronze medal wins is encouraging and she would love to continue on with the sport at a national level, but sees few opportunities with limited competition in Kamloops and across the province. She plans to turn her focus to a career, which may include becoming a firefighter.

BOATLOAD OF MEDALS

Donaldson wasn’t the only Kamloops athlete bringing home medals from the national championships with 11 athletes from the Kamloops Canoe and Kayak Club earning 12 medals.

Twin brothers Harris and Douglas Hunter earned silver medals in both the U16 in the K4 500 and K4 1,000-metre races. Quinton Neuls took home a bronze in the K4 500-metre in the U18 race. Liam Grover and Sebastian Solomonson placed third in the U18 race for C4 500-metre, while Damian Hickey and Matthew House were part of a K4 1,000-metre bronze-medal winning team in the U16 age category. Mischa Grover rounded out the Kamloops medallists with a bronze in the C2 1,000 metre.