The Sweeney Agency

About Adam van Koeverden - Olympic Champion and Inspirational Speaker:

After a powerful performance on the water in Athens, Adam van Koeverden closed the 2004 Olympic Games holding the Canadian flag. In the ensuing years, he has proven one of the world’s best paddlers. As Olympic and world champion, he led Canada into Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games as flag bearer.

Adam van Koeverden has made a tremendous impact in Canadian canoe-kayaking. Using pure physical strength in propelling his kayak through the water, van Koeverden is now an international star in his sport. And the native of Oakville, Ontario is one of Canada’s greatest athletes ever to participate in canoe-kayak.

Four years ago at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, van Koeverden lifted Canada’s spirits with a double medal performance. First he raced to a bronze medal in the K-1 1,000 metres. One day later in the K-1 500-metre sprint, van Koeverden won the gold medal. It was only his first Olympic appearance, but van Koeverden still became Canada’s first double medallist since 1996. For this, he received the Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s Male Athlete of the Year.

Adam personifies the drive required to be a multiple Olympic medallist. In the canoe-kayak world, van Koeverden is known for always going hard every time he gets in a kayak – whether it is training, practicing against teammates or competing against the world’s best. Teammates, such as Mark Oldershaw (whose father Scott is van Koeverden’s coach) have said that van Koeverden makes the Canadian team stronger by his presence alone. His relentless attitude toward competition and his track record of success has helped instil confidence in all his fellow paddlers.

A veteran of the Burloak Canoe Club, van Koeverden has been on an upward trajectory since capturing silver in K-1 1,000m at the 2003 World Championships – and the two Olympic medals the following year. At the 2005 World Championships, the sprint kayaker won silver again in the K-1 1,000m and bronze in the K-1 500m. He had a breakthrough World Championships in 2007, where he won gold in the K-1 500m. He added a silver medal in the K-1 1,000m. In 2008 Beijing Olympic he was the reigning Olympic champion and world champion in the 500m event, for which he holds a world record time of 1:36.2.

Adam van Koeverden has won 21 World Cup gold medals. He has dominated the World Cup circuit over the past four years, winning the overall title each year from 2004 through 2007. He is a 44-time Canadian champion kayaker. In 2007 he went undefeated on the World Cup circuit and in 2008 he has notched another five World Cup victories in Olympic preparation.

Outside of competition, van Koeverden is an athlete ambassador for Right to Play, a humanitarian organization that uses sport and activity to help disadvantaged youth around the world improve health, develop life skills and live peacefully. He is a graduate of McMaster University in Kinesiology, elected class valedictorian