Cameron Smedley
Canoe Slalom
The twenty-five-year-old Carleton mechanical engineering student made it to his first national junior team in 2005. Smedley went on to make Canadian history by becoming the first men’s C-1 paddler to finish in the top 10 at the ICF World Junior Championships. In 2015, he won silver at the Pan Am games in Toronto, making his fellow Canadians proud. His success continued when he placed third at the official Rio 2016 test event and made it to the 2016 Olympics for the canoe slalom event, coming in at 12th and 13th in his two runs.
Melanie McCann
Modern Pentathlon
McCann, currently studying economics at Carleton, placed fourth at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, which qualified her to compete in the summer 2012 Olympics in London. There she finished 11th place in the women’s competition, which was the best ever Olympics result by a Canadian modern pentathlete. McCann was invited to Canada’s Olympic pentathlon team in June 2016 and ranked 26 out of 36 in the Rio Olympics.
Michael Tayler
Canoe/Kayak Slalom
Michael Tayler started his Olympic career in London for the canoe-kayak slalom event. The 2016 graduate finished 20th in the men’s K-1 event and was the youngest competitor at only 20 years of age. In the Rio Olympics, Tayler finished in 16th place.
Erin Rafuse
Sailing
The 27-year-old sailor joined her first national team in 2009 and she competed in the world championships from 2009-2012, recording a top result of 56th in 2012. Rafuse graduated in 2013, and participated in the 49er FX event at the Rio Olympic games, finishing 16th.
Mark Oldershaw
Canoe Sprint
Oldershaw, a sprint canoeist, graduated from Carleton in 2010 and won the bronze medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics in the C-1 1000m. A third generation Canadian Olympic canoer but the first of the family to win an Olympic medal, he placed 20th in the C-1 1000 at the Rio 2016 games.
