Jasper kayaker Andrea Thomas recently returned from a five-week trip to the canoe polo world championships in Milan, Italy. 

Thomas spent August travelling through Europe, competing in pre-worlds tournaments to prepare for the final event in Italy. Thomas said her under 21 women’s team competed against everyone, including men’s teams, and gained valuable experience. 

“It went really well,” Thomas said. “Everyday we’d be on the water.”

In the final tournament, the Canadian team placed eighth overall, but Thomas said they enjoyed the games anyway. 

“We were still happy with it,” she said. 

Throughout the month, the women’s team played against a variety of competitors, and won two games against Spain and Italy. They earned a tie against Italy as well. 

The 17-year-old said the wins were exciting, because they were playing against teams that had been practising for two or more years. The Canadian team was formed over the summer, with Thomas playing her first games in July. The tour started in Italy, went on to Austria and Belgium before returning to Milan, for the world championships. 

“It’s a huge culture shock,” Thomas said. 

During the trip the U-21 team met with a world champion canoe poloist from the U.K. who had competed in all nine world championships and had earned many gold and silver medals.

“It’s crazy to see how much competition there is,” Thomas said. She compares the popularity of hockey in Canada to canoe polo in countries like Australia, where the sport has been played for many years. 

The kayaker said she went from knowing nothing about the game, to scoring a goal against Spain in the semi-finals. 

With her first season finished,  Thomas is hooked on canoe polo, a sport that combines basketball and water polo and encourages tackling. 

“It’s kind of like a crazy rush,” Thomas said. “You’re doing something every minute of the game.”

She likens the action to a game of hockey, where all players are hands-on at all times.

 “You get really excited. It goes really fast.”

The Canadian U-21 team suffered quite a few injuries during the European tour, so Thomas will have the fall and start of the winter off before rejoining with her team in December. Without team practices though, Thomas is still going to be busy building on what she learned this summer. 

“All we’ve been told to do is just weight training,” Thomas said. 

When the team meets again, they will continue with training camps throughout the winter. Thomas will travel to her team in Edmonton while continuing Grade 12 at Jasper Jr./Sr. High School.