Oakville's Simon McTavish brings home two medals from the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games.
McTavish brings home gold in the men's K-2 500m Canoe/Kayak Sprint with his teammate Ian Gaudet of Nova Scotia. The new combination in the two-man kayak, 27-year-old McTavish and 20-year-old Gaudet finished almost a second ahead of second place with a final time of 1:30.45.
The following day, McTavish won Sliver in the men's K-4 500m Canoe/Kayak Sprint with teammates, Nick Matveev, Pierre-Luc Poulin and Laurent Lavigne with a time of 1:21.28, almost half a second behind Argentina.
McTavish grew up in Oakville before moving to Australia when he was ten and followed his brother's footsteps, getting into canoeing and kayaking at 16 years old. Mctavish represented Australia for seven years before returning to Canada after finishing his university degree.
"I moved to compete for Canada in 2019, in the lead-up to the Olympics in 2020 (Tokyo), with the passion to compete for Canada, my country of birth, which I felt held a special place in my heart," says McTavish,
"Competing for Australia never quite felt right."
McTavish went on to debut at his first Olympic games wearing red and white, qualifying for two events. In the K-1 100m, McTavish finished 20th and in the K-4 500m, he finished 10th.
McTavish qualified for the 2023 Pan American Games at this year's World Championships. Not only did McTavish qualify for the Pan American Games, but also secured a ticket to his second Olympic games with his K-4 500m crew.
"The more I go away with Canada, the more used to or I guess, familiar I get wearing the maple leaf on my chest. It sort of just, the pride grows and grows and grows every time."