Canada’s top paddlers about to open World Cup calendar

Canada’s top canoe/kayak athletes are in Europe, about to power through the three sprint World Cup stops in consecutive weekends starting Friday.

From May 15 to 17 the paddlers are in Portugal, which is followed by Germany the following weekend. The World Cup tour wraps up in Denmark May 29-31.

Watch live stream from Portugal via International Canoe Federation

Mark de Jonge

Mark de Jonge

The team includes major men’s kayakers in four-time Olympic medallist Adam van Koeverden who will race in the K-1 1000, and reigning World Champion and London 2012 bronze medallist in the K-1 200 Mark de Jonge.

RELATED: Mark de Jonge wins world title

Mark Oldershaw's poster in the Canadian Olympic Committee's Now Or Never  promotion for the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.

Mark Oldershaw’s poster in the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Now Or Never promotion for the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.

Top canoeist Mark Oldershaw – London 2012 bronze medallist – will be in the water for Canada in the C-1 1000, along with Ben Russell and Gabriel Beauchesne-Sévigny in the C-2 1000, back after a fourth place finish in the World Championships. Another canoeist to watch is Laurence Vincent-Lapointe in the women’s events.

The full team is listed in the CanoeKayak Canada website