FOR MORE INFORMATION :

 

 

Triple Crown of Canoe Racing

Steve Southard, Publicity Director

989-370-8840 * aricmmedia@12k.net

 

La Classique de Canots de la Mauricie

Rejean Huard or  Johanne Francouer
www.ausablecanoemarathon.org/tcrown01.html        819-537-9221

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 29, 2002

 

FINAL JEWEL OF TRIPLE CROWN OF CANOE RACING THIS WEEKEND IN QUEBEC

REIGNING CHAMPS GUNNING FOR A “TRIPLE-TRIPLE” AT QUEBEC’S LaCLASSIQUE

 

Quebec’s Serge Corbin and his partner, Michigan’s Jeff Kolka, will be gunning for their third straight Triple Crown of Canoe Racing Championship over the Labor Day Weekend at La Classique de Canots de la Mauricie in Quebec, the final jewel in canoe racing’s Triple Crown.  Corbin, 45, of St. Boniface de-Shawinigan, Quebec, and Kolka, 43, of Grayling, Michigan, not only won the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing championship in both 2000 and 2001, the pair have won all eight Triple Crown races during the past three years heading into this season’s finale.

 

The prestigious Triple Crown of Canoe Racing  recognizes the top performances by marathon canoe racers who compete at:

 

·      The General Clinton Canoe Regatta - staged Memorial Day on New York's  Susquehanna River - a one-day, non-stop 70 mile race from Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of  Fame, to Bainbridge, New York.   www.canoeregatta.org/

 

·    The Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon – North America’s toughest, richest non-stop canoe race, staged from Grayling to Oscoda on Northern Michigan’s famed AuSable River during the last weekend of July.  www.ausablecanoemarathon.org

 

·    La Classique de Canots de la Mauricie - staged Labor Day weekend on central Quebec's majestic St. Maurice River - a three-day, three-stage race from La Tuque to Trois Riviere, Quebec.        www.classiquedecanots.qc.ca

 

Since its inception in 1992, the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing has been dominated by Quebec’s Serge Corbin.  Corbin has taken the championship every year either individually or together with his partner.  He has clearly been the preeminent marathon canoe racer in North America for more than 20 years. 

 

No other competitor has dominated any sport the way Corbin has dominated marathon canoe racing!  His record is astounding, rising well above the level achieved by dominant athletes in other sports.  During his 25 years in marathon canoe racing, with a variety of partners, Serge Corbin has won 90% of the major canoe races he has entered.

 

 

 

Triple Crown of Canoe Racing * Page 1 of 2 * Standings Folllow

The closest Triple Crown challengers to the powerful Corbin-Kolka duo are a pair of strong Michigan paddlers, Bill Torongo, 40, of Roscommon, Michigan and his partner John Sullivan, 32, of Grayling, Michigan.  The Michigan paddlers finished third at the first two races of the Triple Crown, in New York and in Michigan and they would have to finish at least four places better at La Classique to overtake the reigning champs…not a likely event barring unforeseen circumstances.

 

Marathon canoe racing on the grand scale of the Triple Crown events is an action-packed spectator favorite, with the competitors battling the rivers’ natural obstructions, the weather and the sheer exhaustion brought on by paddling their lightweight hi-tech kevlar or carbon-fiber canoes at a torrid pace of 55 to 80 strokes per minute.  They receive no assistance except food, drink and, perhaps, a dry shirt passed to them by their “feeders” or who meet them on the river along the course or during overland portages.

 

La Classique, the final jewel of the Triple Crown, is North America’s oldest Marathon canoe race, celebrating its 69th anniversary this year.  The Classic [La Classique], a three-day, three-stage race, takes place on Quebec’s St. Maurice River, starting at La Tuque and finishing at Trois Riviere on the St. Lawrence Seaway.  The race covers approximately 120 miles and the winning team will paddle 15 to 16 hours over the three-day race. 

 

La Classique competition gets underway with the Official Sprints, staged on Friday from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM at Lac St-Louis in LaTuque, Quebec.  The main event starts Saturday morning on the St. Maurice River, the beginning of the epic three-day race:

 

-         Stage 1, sponsored by Hydro-Quebec, starts at 10 AM Saturday in LaTuque and finishes at St-Roch, with the winning team anticipated to arrive at approximately 4:00 PM

-         Stage 2, sponsored by Caisses Dejardins, begins Sunday in St-Roch at 10 AM with the winning team expected to reach the finish line in Shawinigan at approximately 3:30PM

-         Stage 3, sponsored by Abitibi-Consolidated, begins Monday in Shawinigan at Noon with the winning team expected to reach the finish line at Ile St-Quentin, on the St. Lawrence Seaway in Trois Riviere, at approximately 3:30 PM

           

Stages 2 and 3 feature thrilling portages in Shawinigan where the two-person teams run several blocks down the boulevard that is lined by thousands of festive, frenzied fans.

 

La Classique is the centerpiece of a full week of festival events that take place throughout the week along the St. Maurice River valley, from La Tuque to Grand Mere and Shawinigan and on to Trois Riviere throughout the last week of August and through Labor Day weekend.

 

Tens of thousands of canoe racing fans and spectators turn out to cheer on the competitors at the top-notch marathon canoe races such as the Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon and La Classique de Canots.  These world-class canoe racing events generate significant national and international-media interest and exposure.  Triple Crown news reports have been carried worldwide by cable and satellite TV sports and news services. 

 

More information about the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing, links to the web sites of each of the Triple Crown races and more information about marathon canoe racing is available on the web on www.ausablecanoemarathon.org

 

Triple Crown of Canoe Racing * Page2 of 2 * Standings Folllow

 

TRIPLE CROWN OF CANOE RACING                            *Standings Before Final Stage - La Classique             

                        page 1 of 2

 

1st Leg - New York - General Clinton Canoe Regatta                          2nd Leg - Michigan - Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon  3rd Leg - Quebec - La Classique de Canots de la Mauricie

Competitor

 

Age

City

State/ Province

General Clinton Place

General Clinton Time

AuSable Marathon Place

AuSable Marathon Time

La Classique Place

La Classique Time

Triple Crown Points Ranking

Triple Crown Cumulative Time

Triple Crown Position*

Jeff Kolka

43

Grayling

Michigan

1

7:19:13

1

15:04:56

 

 

2

22:24:09

1

Serge Corbin

45

St. Boniface

Quebec

1

7:19:13

1

15:04:56

 

 

2

22:24:09

1

Bill Torongo

40

Roscommon

Michigan

3

7:23:04

3

15:16:47

 

 

6

22:39:51

2

John Sullivan

32

Grayling

Michigan

3

7:23:04

3

15:16:47

 

 

6

22:39:51

2

Matt Rimer

18

Horton

Michigan

5

7:23:59

2

15:10:22

 

 

7

22:34:21

3

Bruce Barton

45

Homer

Michigan

5

7:23:59

4

15:17:05

 

 

9

22:41:04

4

Dave Jensen

38

Sunnyvale

California

10

7:26:49

8

15:34:23

 

 

18

23:01:12

5

Serge Rouleau

57

Grandes-Piles

Quebec

24

7:40:38

11

15:40:54

 

 

35

23:21:32

6

Doug Howard

42

Townsend

Vermont

20

7:35:49

15

16:04:17

 

 

35

23:40:06

7

Lori Roseboom

36

Mt Vision

New York

17

7:32:25

19

16:14:55

 

 

36

23:47:20

8

Tom Trudgeon

43

Grayling

Michigan

32

7:45:45

9

15:36:40