Burnaby Lake Canoe and Kayak Club’s Eric Fast is hoping to remain true to his surname.
The 17-year-old North Vancouver resident is one of just four B.C. paddlers to earn an international assignment following national junior team trials held at Lake Banook, Nova Scotia three weeks ago.
Fast and Alex Brent of Maple Ridge won a spot on Canada’s men’s kayak team that will compete at the junior world championships in Szeged, Hungary July 17 to 20.
Fast had high hopes of making it in the singles kayak, but despite a solid winter of training, he finished with disappointing results.
“Honestly, I didn’t feel my singles were up to my or my coach’s expectations of what my performances have been this season,” said the 5-8 Fast.
He thought maybe he hadn’t prepared well enough for the team trials, or perhaps it was the competitive atmosphere.
But when he and Brent stepped into the doubles kayak, things changed.
“When we got into the K2 Alex told me ‘Don’t look back.’ I got in front and we just kept going,” Fast remembered. “At 150m left, I took a look and couldn’t see anybody. Alex said. “’Pal, we’re golden.’
“I was pretty surprised because (Brent) is my size, and we were up against a sizable headwind.”
Bigger and heavier crews often have an advantage in such conditions, but Fast and Brent won the 1,000-metre K2 final by a whopping four seconds.
The win earned the two an extra week of practice in Nova Scotia for junior national team assessments.
“It’s amazing. Where we’re going is basically the mecca of paddling in the world,” said Fast.
“For me, I’ve surpassed any expecations I had for this year, so anything I achieve will be a bonus, but I’m still going to race my heart out.”
Fast came by his skill at a young age. Since a toddler, he had been exposed to ocean kayaking by his parents and began to paddle in earnest by the time he was ready for school.
He’s been racing at the Burnaby Lake club since he was eight, often on his own and self-coached.
Provincial head coach Blake Dalton began working with Fast in November of last year and likes what he’s seen.
“Eric is a hard worker and a student of the sport and always eager to learn,” said Dalton.
Being of a smaller body type, paddlers like Fast have to be technically more efficient than their taller, longer-limbed competitors, said Dalton.
He gave an example of Fast’s determination and character at a recent practice, where the high school senior was tired from exhaustive 1000-m repitition training against a veteran national team member on Burnaby Lake.
“Eric was tired from a hard training week,” said Dalton. “He was pretty exhausted. Most paddlers would say, ‘time for a break’, or throw it in, ‘I’m done’ and call it a day. But he was willing to stick it out and keep trucking.”
It’s that attitude that Fast hopes will help fuel his kayak at junior worlds.
“I’m really, really excited to go to my first international competition,” he said.
To help Fast on his self-funded journey to the junior worlds, go to raiseathon.ca/jrworlds to donate.
