Connor Fitzpatrick

Biography

Connor Fitzpatrick first represented Canada at the 2015 Olympic Hopefuls regatta in Poland. He placed fourth in the C-1 1000m, a result he still extremely proud of as it showed he could compete with the best in the world. He went on to paddle at the 2016 Junior and 2017 U23 World Championships. In the summer of 2017 he also represented Nova Scotia at the Canada Games where he won medals in all five of his events, including three gold. 

Fitzpatrick debuted on the World Cup circuit in 2018, competing in the C-2 with Roland Varga. They won the C-2 1000m B final in their first event in Szeged, Hungary and the next weekend they advanced to the A final in Duisburg, Germany. At his first senior ICF World Championships later than summer, they finished sixth in the B final of the C-2 1000m. 

In 2019, Fitzpatrick and Varga made another A final in the C-2 1000m at a World Cup in Duisburg. That preceded a career highlight at the 2019 World Championships where he and Varga lowered the Canadian record in the C-2 1000m to 3:28.742 in their semifinal before they finished second in the B final. That result would end up earning an Olympic quota spot for Canada and they would book their own tickets to Tokyo 2020 at the national trials in early 2021. Fitzpatrick was also the victor in the C-1 1000m at the trials. 

In his Olympic debut, Fitzpatrick made it to the C-2 1000m A final with Varga where they finished sixth overall. He was also a B finalist in the C-1 1000m.

A Little More About Connor

Getting into the Sport: Started paddling at age 12 but fully committed to the sport at 15… Got hooked on canoeing after joining his friends who were paddling instead of conventional off-season hockey training… Has watched older paddlers from his club represent Canada and that gave him something to strive for… Outside Interests: Enjoys golfing in the off-season and is very into cars… Odds and Ends: Favourite mottos: “Success is where opportunity meets preparation, prepare yourself for the next opportunity.” / “Life is all about decisions, and i chose to be great everyday”… Inspired by Canadian Olympic medalist Steve Giles, his coach Andreas Dittmer who is a five-time Olympic medallist for Germany, and Sebastian Brendel, a three-time Olympic champion from Germany who he has trained alongside for two years which allowed him to see what he needs to do to be the best at his sport…