Members of the Sundre Paddling Club brought three bronze medals home from the Alberta Summer Games held in Airdrie over the weekend.
Davis Neudorf won two of the medals and Allegra Neudorf won one.
“We went down there knowing that the competition would be very hard and there would be some very good paddlers to compete with us and we came away with an outstanding performance,” said coach Jim McAllister.
Four other members of the club participated in the games, including Megan, Amber and Samanta Neudorf, as well as Destanie Smeets.
The members who participated in the games are between the ages of 11 and 17, and McAllister said they are all beginners who joined the club this year.
The team qualified for the Zone 2 canoe and kayak team, along with a few people from Canmore. There are eight zones in the province. Zone 2 covers north to Olds and extends south to High River, border to border. Qualification trials took place in June.
“We performed way beyond our expectations. Everybody had fun, everybody has come away a better paddler and had a good experience,” he said.
“We were competing against paddlers who have got five years experience and we were just getting started with our kayaking experience ourselves. So if I could change anything it would be we would have started earlier and had more time to prepare.”
The Sundre Paddling Club was established in 1974. McAllister has been coaching since 1981.
The club is most active during the summer months and involves people of all ages. It offers instructions for canoeing and kayaking, and has an assortment of canoes and kayaks available to the members.
Members of the club have paddled all over the world, including South America, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, he said. Not all members are local – some have come from as far as France and Germany.
The club averages 60 members each year. They go canoeing once a week and lessons are available on the weekends for beginners.
For more information, McAllister can be reached at 403-638-3898.
