The sun was shining and brought the warmth. Music pumped out of the speakers and carried across Schwatka Lake for the 2019 Yukon Championships Regatta on Saturday.

Paddlers from U13 to open adult categories competed in a variety of races using different boats ranging from kayaks, canoes and stand up paddleboards (SUP).

The Championships Regatta was held before the Western Canada Summer Games, in Swift Current, Sask., held in early August. A number of the young paddlers competing in Saturday’s races will be heading to the Games.

Colin Wilkie-Hobus and Bruce Porter are two of the athletes on team Yukon heading to the Games.

“This is a good warm-up because we are doing the Western Canada Summer Games in a couple of weeks,” said Porter. “It should be really fun.”

For both Wilkie-Hobus and Porter, it will be their first time attending a Games and they said any paddling and competition is good preparation for the races.

Porter said there are some nerves heading into the Games, which features athletes from the three territories as well as Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

“A little bit (nervous),” said Porter, “but it should be fun. It’s going to be busy, all of our races are quite stacked at Westerns.”

He clarified that stacked means the competition will be tight and the races will happen in quick succession.

“A lot of these guys have been padding a lot longer than we have,” added Wilkie-Hobus. “They usually have a lot more experience than us.”

Both hoped that they could potentially put Yukon paddling on the map.

Julianne Girouard, who recently qualified for the Canadian Nationals in Regina in the K-2 and K-4 events, said even though the Yukon Championships Regatta’s main focus is fun it is still always good to get paddling in. She will be competing in Swift Current as well.

Before the regatta’s intermission, the youth paddlers filled a Dragon Boat, which has 12 paddles plus a steerer, to try and outclass the adults.

The young paddlers posted a time of one minute, seven seconds and were all very pleased with their time when they got back to shore.

“I’ve never been a boat like that and have it got that fast,” said Wilkie-Hobus. “I’ve paddled in the Dragon Boat with a lot of little kids but it was pretty slow.”

It was the adults turn to load the boat and they narrowly edged the youth by three seconds. The young paddlers threw their arms up and disappointment and shouts of “awes” and “come on” could be heard across the lake.

In speaking with a couple of the adult paddlers in the Dragon Boat they were happy to get the win but acknowledged that the kids are hot on their heels and it is only a matter of time before they overtake them.

In the U13 K-1 500-metre race James Mccann was the top paddler reaching the end buoy in 3:09. Anya Lera was 20 seconds behind Mccann and Anick Girouard third.

The open C-1/SUP 500m race was won by Kaleb Parry in 3:24. Danni Wilkie-Hobus came second and on a SUP, Cole Wilkie-Hobus came third.

The duo of Mason Parry and Mccaan won the U13 K-2/C-2 500m race in a kayak. It was the tandem canoe of Kaleb Parry and Danni Wilkie-Hobus who came second.

Rogan Parry was the top of the open K-1 500m race in 2:31. Julianne Girouard paddle to second and Cole Wilkie-Hobus third.

Quick times were posted in the K-2/C-2 open 500m event. The duo of Daniel Girouard and Kaleb Parry, 3:15, were the top team in a C-2. Maeve McManus and Joel Girouard also in a canoe came second only six seconds behind the top pace.

The quartet of Anya Lera, Joel Girouard, McManus and Mccann needed 59 seconds to win the C-4 200m race in a photo finish. The team of Danni Wilkie-Hobus, Julianne Girouard, Porter, and Kaleb Parry finished just a second behind the leaders.

The day of races concluded with an all-ages, canoe/kayak/SUP two-kilometre race. The top three were all solo kayakers.

In another photo finish, the bow of Rogan Parry’s kayak just edged out Cole Wilkie-Hobus to take the race. Rogan’s time was 11 minutes, 28 seconds, one second quicker than second place.

The two top finishers ran away with the race. The third-place finisher, Porter, was two minutes behind.