Fifteen year old local paddler Zeyana Laplante struck gold at Canoe Kayak Canada's National Sprint Championships in Regina, Saskatchewan this past weekend.
She won gold in the Women's C4 500m event in a time of 2:32.9 along with Emily Howard, Emily Jenkins and Vanessa Oly.
The foursome becomes the youngest crew to win gold in this event in the 113 year history of the sport.
A crew from Calgary came second while a crew from Ottawa placed third.
“We had an average start and when we hit the 350 meter mark the cross wind worked to our advantage as we went double left which gave us a huge advantage with steering the boat. I can't believe we pulled this one out – we were complete underdogs and nobody gave us a shot at even hitting the podium, we beat some really good paddlers out there today including a couple of National Team members,” said the grade 10 Ecole Secondaire Algonquin Student.
Meanwhile, her older sister Zaffia picked up four silver medals at the Championships in Senior Womens C4, U19 C2, C4 and Junior C2.
Next up is a well earned rest and fall training at the North Bay Canoe Club.
