Champion paddler shares dreams, memories at former school
By JOEL JACOBSON Bright Spot
Wed. Jan 30 - 5:24 AM
KAREN FURNEAUX beams as she walks in the front door at George P. Vanier Junior High School.
"So little has changed here," says the 31-year-old Olympic and world champion paddler from Waverley who graduated from this Fall River school 16 years ago. "The floor is the same, the gym is the same, the walls are the same. So many memories."
Karen is here today to address more than 400 students about what life has brought her since the early 1990s and how they, too, can achieve dreams, like the ones she had as a young teenager.
She’s the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame’s education ambassador. Visiting schools and meeting young people at the Hall, Karen talks of being determined, finding role models, setting reasonable, yet achievable, goals, and having a good attitude.
"I’ve done hundreds of these speeches," she says before her talk. "These are things kids need to hear. When I was that age, only one fireman came to my school, no athletes. I’m hoping I can give them a connection to an athlete if they have those dreams."
Karen stresses her message is to find a passion, any passion, have a dream and go for it.
Shane Mailman, the Hall’s facility and communications manager, runs the education program. With small children himself, he knows the importance of role models to young people. Karen, ever-smiling, and successful in her chosen field, is certainly a great role model for any youngster, he says.
Shane shows a Power Point presentation of dozens of Nova Scotia sport heroes, some members of the Hall of Fame, others still active athletes but sure to be inducted when their careers finish.
The Vanier students ooh and aah at the accomplishments of the people they see, professional athletes, Olympians, and amateurs who have reached the pinnacle.
They cheer loudly when Sidney Crosby’s picture flashes. They respond with enthusiasm when they see paddler Steve Giles and gymnast David Kukuchi. None of them are in the Hall yet, but certainly will be when eligible for election three years after their retirement from active sport.
When Karen is introduced, the cheers are deafening.
She talks of her motivation at age eight when, as a young gymnast, she took part in her first competition.
"I trained, knew my routine perfectly, was performing in front of my parents, friends, teammates and judges, and everything was going perfectly in my floor exercises, just like I had played it in my mind hundreds of times. Then I did a handstand and I farted."
The students laugh. Karen smiles, too, and tells them it was a horrible first competitive experience for her. But she says she had a dream, even then, to go the Olympics.
The paddler has won two world championship medals and competed in the last two Olympic Games. She’s training hard now in hopes of selection to Canada’s team for the 2008 Beijing Games.
"In 1993, I’d been paddling for a few years already, and wanted to make the Nova Scotia Canada Games team," she tells the students.
"My coach and I planned how I could do it, and the training schedule was really demanding. I finished second at junior nationals and made Canada’s junior world team. That was from working hard every day."
She insists young people set high expectations.
"Sport is like climbing Mount Everest. People do it in stages. You have to stop periodically to get acclimatized, then keep climbing, just like in life. As you move forward, you have to set new goals."
When she concludes, the kids are supposed to return to classes, but a few stay behind to ask a question or two. Some are paddlers at Cheema Canoe Club in Waverley, where Karen learned the sport and still trains.
Laura Fair, a 13-year-old Grade 8 student who’s been paddling for six years, wants to make it to the Canada Games.
"When I started, I just wanted to have fun. Now I realize I can train and compete in faraway places, so that’s my goal."
Grade 8 student Shelby Gray enjoyed Karen’s presentation.
"I learned I have to work hard. My goal right now, outside paddling, is to get straight As. I’m getting As and Bs now."
As Karen rushes off for a long-distance run, one of George P. Vanier’s physical education teachers, Sean Hanlon, says he’s impressed Karen came back to her old school.
"The fact she’s from here, from this community, and has made it to the top, is very significant. They can see she’s one of their own. For me as a teacher, I see girls choosing other activities than sport. This enables them to see a good female role model."
Shane sees the positives for the Hall of Fame and for sport in Nova Scotia.
"Showing the kids the Nova Scotia sport heroes helps them see the possibilities that can result from sport. At the same time, we’re teaching them the province’s rich sport history."
Joel Jacobson’s column appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. ( jjacobson@herald.ca)