Hundreds of athletes flock to Sarasota for 2023 ACA Sprint Canoe National Championships

SARASOTA, Fla. - More than 300 athletes took to the waters at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota for the 2023 ACA Sprint Canoe National Championships.

"They have been training all year for this, and this is a culmination of all that hard work," stated Kaycee Maas, the communications coordinator of the American Canoe Association.

Elena Wolgamot traveled as far as Seattle, Washinton to participate in the events. 

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"It’s really exciting…it’s stressful, it’s a game of high focus high relax trying to balance the two," explained Wolgamot. 

The nationals provide an opportunity for many of these athletes to hone their skills for the next challenge – qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Woman’s Sprint Canoe just became an event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"We’re really only the second generation of female canoe athletes who have gotten to race internationally, and we are really excited to be trying to qualify for Paris 2024 this summer and next year," said Azusa Murphy.

For Murphy’s partner Andreea Ghizila, the nationals are a great way to help grow the sport as well.

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"It’s a pretty small sport so far, so we are even combined with some of the younger girls in our races, so they get to watch us race, and we get to watch them race and cheer each other on and talk about how our races went afterward," stated Ghizila.

Some of the top athletes from these nationals will be in Germany at the end of this month in hopes to qualify for Paris. To learn more about sport, you can visit americancanoe.org.