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Cheema Aquatic Club
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Cheema Aquatic Club was founded over 30 years ago by a group of Waverley families who wanted to involve their children in aquatic sports.The club is run by a volunteer board of directors who are elected at the Annual General Meeting in October. There are two paid coaches on staff year round. Cheema is a well-known club both nationally and internationally. We have a significant number of paddlers on the National Team. Head Coach Lazlo (Csom) Latorovszki is a well-respected world-class coach. 
Cheema Aquatic Club is located in the Village of Waverley on a lovely and relatively secluded point at the southern end of Lake Thomas. It is accessed by a gravel road off Cobequid Road on the Waverley side of the railway tracks. This gravel road forks, with the left fork going toward the Charles L. McDonald Sportspark and the right fork leading to Cheema.Cheema offers instruction, coaching and the opportunity to race in singles boats, crew boats, and the war canoe. While Cheema does not have a Dragon Boat, Cheema paddlers take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself to train and compete in Dragon Boats as well. Cheema also offers swimming lessons, and has a competitive swim team, the Cheema Chargers. For more information, including the club handbook and newsletters, see the Cheema website, at http://www.cheema.ns.ca/. Cheema's Olympic Athletes
Karen Furneaux
Karen Furneaux, a resident of Waverley, began kayaking with Cheema Aquatic Club at age 12 and progressed quickly through the ranks, competing locally, nationally and now internationally as a member of Canada's National and Olympic teams. A silver-medal performance in the 200 meter K-4 at the 1997 World Championships in Dartmouth (Nova Scotia, Canada) earned Karen the 1997 Female Athlete of the Year Award for Nova Scotia. Several podium finishes at World Cups early in 1998 were rewarded with the Canadian Airlines Athlete of the Month Award for Canada. Karen topped off 1998 with a World Championship win at Szeged (Hungary) in Women's 200 meter K-2. Karen's gold medal in the 200 meter K-2 represents the first female World Champion from Nova Scotia, in any sport. 1999 was equally eventful and Karen responded with two gold medals at the Pan-Am Games in Winnipeg (Canada), where she put in a personal best to win the 500 meter Women's K-1. Karen was also part of the gold medal winning Women's 500 meter K-4 team. The 1999 World Championships in Milan (Italy) presented Karen with another opportunity to race with the world's best. Teaming with Caroline Brunet in Women's 500 meter K-2 resulted in a silver medal. In April 2000, Karen, and K-2 partner Brunet, qualified as Canada's entry for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney (Australia) this September. Along with a rigorous and physically demanding training schedule for this Summer's Olympic Games, Karen recently (December 1999) completed her Bachelor of Science Degree, Honours, in Kinesiology at Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada). Thanks go to Cheema Aquatic Club for the information in this profile. |
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