Crossman-Serb aiming to pursue her paddling dreams
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This article was published 01/05/2017 (3298 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Nadya Crossman-Serb isn’t letting a hefty bill sink her goal of once again paddling for Team Canada.
The 20-year-old elite canoe-sprinter from South Osborne recently returned from a productive two-and-a-half-month training trip to northern Italy with the Manitoba Canoe and Kayak Centre.
“It was a really, really awesome experience and the water was fantastic so that was a huge thing for us,” Crossman-Serb said.
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“To be able to buckle down and to live and train… and have blinders on, that was nice.”
While in Mantova, Italy Crossman-Serb, won three gold medals at the Canoe Sprint International Regatta in the C1-200 metre, C1-500 metre, and C2-500 metre events. The competition was the first for Crossman-Serb this season.
“I competed against a couple of the girls at world cups last year, so it was pretty good,” she said. “It was a good starting competition I think.”
Travelling around the country and the globe is a necessary part of Crossman-Serb’s training and instrumental in her success so far. Crossman-Serb, who has been paddling since six years old, has earned multiple Canadian national titles, and last year won a gold medal at the 2016 ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Racice, Czech Republic and silver in the 2016 ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Minsk, Belarus.
After a successful season, Crossman-Serb recently learned she owes about $7,000 to the sport’s governing body for past competitions. The debt has to be paid down before Crossman-Serb can compete in national team trials later this month.
Without a chance to pick up a part-time job between training camps, she felt out of options and decided to turn to crowdfunding to help support her bid for a spot on Team Canada.
“I have until the 13th of May to pay my national sporting organization the money,” she explained.
The federation has also offered to allow instalments as long as a big portion of the bill is paid up front.
“That’s kind of a weight off my shoulder,” Crossman-Serb said. “It definitely added a bit more stress this winter but it needs to happen.”
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Just over $2,500 has been raised so far towards her $7,000 goal.
“The support has been fantastic. It’s just amazing to me that people who haven’t met me are supporting me,” she said.
If the Canadian team trials in Montreal later this month go as planned, Crossman-Serb will likely be heading to the Czech Republic to compete at the world championship. Eventually, the up-and-coming canoeist hopes to represent Canada at the Olympics. The 2020 games in Tokyo will be the first to include women’s canoeing.
“That would be massive — it’s been my life’s dream to compete at the Olympics,” she said. “Even though we weren’t in the Olympics yet we always had this vision that it would happen. It would mean a lot.”
Crossman-Serb said there will be a few local regattas this summer where she can be seen in action. In the meantime however her crowdfunding campaign can be found at makeachamp.com/nadyacrossman