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
Trois
Riviere, Quebec
September 3, 2002
EDITOR’S NOTE: Hi
resolution photos of the Triple Crown champions and winners of La Classique de
Canots are available for download on the web at: www.ausablecanoemarathon.org/laclassique02photos.html
REIGNING
CHAMPS TAKE 3rd CONSECUTIVE
TRIPLE CROWN OF CANOE RACING CHAMPIONSHIP
BUT QUEBEC’S SERGE
CORBIN STYMIED IN BID FOR 25th WIN AT QUEBEC’S
La
CLASSIQUE DE CANOTS de la MAURCIE – FINAL
JEWEL OF CANOE RACING’S TRIPLE CROWN
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. 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.
Heading into the final leg
of the Triple Crown in 2002 Corbin and partner Jeff Kolka, 43, of Grayling, Michigan,
had swept to victory during 2000 and 2001 at all three Triple Crown races and,
in 2002, at the first two of the three races that comprise the prestigious Triple Crown of Canoe Racing. The 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/
Triple Crown of Canoe Racing * Page 1 of 4 * Final Standings Follow
·
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
Perhaps more important to
Corbin this weekend than winning the Triple Crown Championship for the 11th
straight year, was achieving his 25th victory on his “home turf” at
La Classique de Canots de la Mauricie, a three-day, three-stage race on the
St. Maurice river from the start in LaTuque to the finish on Ile St, Quentin in
Trois Rivieres, on the St. Lawerence Seaway.
For Corbin, his 25th
victory at La Classique will have to wait.
Two Quebecois competitors,
Patrick Lynch, of Shawinigan-Sud, Quebec, and partner Denis Marcoullier, of
St-Gerard-des-Laurnetides finally achieved their goal of winning one of North America’s premier marathon canoe racing events - La
Classique - after
20 years of competing in Corbin’s shadow.
Lynch, of Shawinigan-Sud, Quebec, Quebec, took the championship at La Classique, finishing 2:50 [two minutes, 50 seconds] ahead of Corbin and
partner Jeff Kolka, of Michigan.
The winners at La Classique
were able to take advantage of a rare opportunity for marathon canoe racers…
misfortune - in the form of severe cramps - overtook the reigning champs.
Following a short sprint on
Friday and stage one of La Classique on Saturday, from LaTuqe to St-Roch de
Meckinac on the St. Maurice River, the defending champs – Corbin & Kolka –
held a slim one second lead over Lynch & Marcoullier, followed a minute
later by another Quebec-Michigan pairing, Steve Lajoie, of Ste-Therese, Quebec,
and Andy Triebold, of Marquette, Michigan.
Sunday,
during the second leg of La Classique, from St-Roch de Meckinac to Shawingan,
the defending La Classique and Triple Crown champs – Corbin & Kolka –
pumped up their paddle-stroke rate to a “sprint”, paddling at a torrid pace at
least 80 paddle strokes per minute. They steadily moved out to a lead of more
than three minutes over their main rivals, the Quebecois’ Lynch-Marcoullier and
the Michigan-Quebec pairing of Lajoie & Triebold.
Then, at the second of three
portages during day two of the three-day, three-stage race, the physical strain
of maintaining such a fast pace caught up first with Corbin, clearly North
America’s top marathon canoe racer.
Corbin was doubled-over by severe cramps. Kolka attempted to maintain the team’s
lead. Soon both of the powerful duo were affected by cramps and they spent precious minutes
drifting and not paddling while waiting for the effects of the cramping to
pass. The top two pursuers,
Lynch-Marcouillier and Lajoie-Triebold passed by the drifting champs and
eventually built up a lead of nearly three minutes as the second stage came to
an end following a thrilling portage through thousands of fans lining the
boulevard in Shawinigan, Quebec.
The challengers were able to
maintain their lead during the final stage of La Classique on Monday, from Shawinigan to Trois Rivieres, as all of the top seven teams crossed the finish
line with one minute. Patrick Lynch and
Dennis Marcoullier took first place at La Classique, completing the course in
13:30:13 [13 hours, 30 minutes, 13 seconds], followed by Andy Triebold and
Steve
Lajoie,
less than one minute, twenty seconds behind [13:31:30]. Serge Corbin
and partner Jeff Kolka finished La Classique third ,
Triple Crown of Canoe Racing * Page 2 of 4 * Final Standings Follow
Triple Crown of Canoe Racing * Page 3 of 4 * Final Standings Follow
completing the course in 13:33:03. A pair of Quebec paddlers,
Steve Carpentier, of Shawinigan-Sud, Quebec, and Louis Berthiaume,
St-Gerard-des-Laurentides, Quebec finished fourth in 13:36:45. Rounding out the top five finishers was a
pair of Michigan competitors, Bruce Barton, of Homer, Michigan, and Matt Rimer, of Homer, Michigan, who finished the course in 13:50:36.
Despite their third place
finish at La Classique, the final jewel of canoe racing’s Triple crown, the defending Triple Crown Champs, Quebe’s Serge
Corbin and Michigan’s Jeff Kolka, took their third consecutive Triple
Crown of Canoe Racing crown.
The pair have
now taken the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing Championship three years in a row,
2000-2001-2002, and Corbin has won or shared [with his partner] the Triple
Crown Championship each of the eleven years since the Triple Crown Championship
was established.
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. Complete finish results and other information
about LaClassique are available on the web at www.classiquedecanots.qc.ca
# # #
TRIPLE CROWN OF CANOE RACING
Final 2002
Standings After Final Stage - La Classique de Canots
de la Maurcie
|
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
|
3
|
13:33:03
|
5
|
35:57:12
|
1
|
|
Serge Corbin
|
45
|
St. Boniface
|
Quebec
|
1
|
7:19:13
|
1
|
15:04:56
|
3
|
13:33:03
|
5
|
35:57:12
|
1
|
|
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
|
|
Matt Rimer
|
18
|
Horton
|
Michigan
|
5
|
7:23:59
|
2
|
15:10:22
|
6
|
13:51:13
|
13
|
36:25:34
|
2
|
|
Bill Torongo
|
40
|
Roscommon
|
Michigan
|
3
|
7:23:04
|
3
|
15:16:47
|
7
|
13:51:30
|
13
|
36:31:21
|
3
|
|
John Sullivan
|
32
|
Grayling
|
Michigan
|
3
|
7:23:04
|
3
|
15:16:47
|
7
|
13:51:30
|
13
|
36:31:21
|
3
|
|
Bruce Barton
|
45
|
Homer
|
Michigan
|
5
|
7:23:59
|
4
|
15:17:05
|
6
|
13:51:13
|
15
|
36:32:17
|
4
|
|
Serge Rouleau
|
57
|
Grandes-Piles
|
Quebec
|
24
|
7:40:38
|
11
|
15:40:54
|
9
|
13:55:15
|
44
|
37:16:47
|
5
|
|
Doug Howard
|
42
|
Townsend
|
Vermont
|
20
|
7:35:49
|
15
|
16:04:17
|
24
|
14:27:34
|
59
|
38:07:40
|
6
|
|
Lori Roseboom
|
36
|
Mt Vision
|
New York
|
17
|
7:32:25
|
19
|
16:14:55
|
32
|
14:40:21
|
68
|
38:27:41
|
7
|
|
Sylvain Greffard
|
36
|
La Tuque
|
Quebec
|
28
|
7:44:16
|
20
|
16:18:23
|
22
|
14:17:59
|
70
|
38:20:38
|
8
|
|
Yves Greffard
|
44
|