#OurAthletes: Edmonton's Ben Hayward optimistic for Pan Ams
Pan Am Games run from July 10 to 26, Parapan Am Games from Aug. 7 to 15
Over the coming weeks, athletes from across Canada will be gearing up to compete in July's Pan Am and Parapan Am Games in Toronto.
Using the #OurAthletes hashtag, CBC News is pairing up with competitors to give Canadians a behind-the-scenes look at the competition, training and day-to-day life of the athletes, both leading up to and during the games.
Ben Hayward — Slalom Kayak
Each week, we'll be checking in with Edmonton's Ben Hayward, 25, as he travels from race to race and trains for the Pan Am Games.
Hayward competes in slalom kayaking, a 90-second sprint of serpentine splash that sees him zig-zagging his boat through a series of 'gates' down a 400-metre-long course.
"If you touch a pole, it's two seconds added to your time — and if you miss one of these gates, it's 50 seconds and you're pretty much out," Haywards says.
"The fast, clean runs always take it and then a lot of it is dependent on how you react to the whitewater because it's always unpredictable."
At first glance, Hayward's success in the field is a little surprising, given the lack of whitewater available in his home town of Edmonton. But like former Olympic paddlers Roy Sharplin and David Ford before him, Hayward's found a way to make it work in the prairie city, regularly training with the Edmonton Whitewater Paddlers out of the Kinsmen Sports Centre.
"They were unbelievable with helping me build fundamental techniques — and playing kayak polo is just such a fun sport as well," Hayward says.
Today, Hayward races mainly in Europe, traveling from competition to competition in a custom-built "hobbit van" he and a friend built to cut down on his travel expenses.
Last year, Hayward posted a this video to help him crowdsource funds to build his own mobile training unit:
Hayward will spend the next few weeks traveling and racing across eastern Europe before returning to Toronto for the Pan Am Games, where he says the U.S. and Brazil will be Canada's main competition.
"Canada's got a real shot at gold in pretty much all of our events, so that's what I'm definitely shooting for," he says.
"With home course advantage, it's looking pretty good."
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Follow #OurAthletes on Twitter for updates, photos and video as the Canadian team prepares for Pan Am