Canada’s Freestyle Ski Team presents 2018-2019 roster
Nov 16, 2018·Freestyle
The Canadian freestyle ski team has unveiled the lineup of athletes who will compete in the aerials, moguls, halfpipe, slopestyle and big air events on the World Cup circuit this upcoming 2018-2019 season.
The season features four FIS freestyle World Cups in Canada: on January 12 in Calgary, Alberta and on January 26 in Tremblant, Quebec for the moguls skiers; the first-ever halfpipe World Cup in Calgary on February 14-16 and, closing the season, a big air and slopestyle contest in Quebec City on March 14-17, 2019.
Athletes of all four disciplines will ski in the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, which take place February 1 to 10, 2019 at Deer Valley and Park City, Utah. The big air event is on the schedule for the first time in the history of the Worlds. Its inclusion comes on the heels of the IOC’s decision to include the event in the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Freestyle Canada took advantage of that announcement to present its official season schedule, including the top FIS and AFP events. To view and download the PDF version of FIS World Cup events and AFP platinum-level events, click here. A more complete schedule that includes Nor-Am and Canada Cup dates is also available here.
Wind of renewal on the Canadian team
With the PyeongChang Olympics over and done with, the Canadian freestyle ski team is greeting some new faces. Several veterans have chosen to turn the page on their long careers on the slopes; the departure of Marc-Antoine Gagnon, Simon Pouliot-Cavanagh, Maxime Dufour-Lapointe, Alex-Anne Gagnon and Audrey Robichaud (moguls) as well as Mike Riddle, Rosalind Groenewoud and Keltie Hansen (Halfpipe) has opened up spots for such hopefuls as Sofiane Gagnon, Berkley Brown (moguls), and Rachael Karker (halfpipe). Young talents like Elena Gaskell (big air, slopestyle) have highly earned their spot on the national team
Others, like Olivier Rochon, Travis Gerrits and Lewis Irving, are still sidelined while they recover fully from injuries or surgery. “It is not unusual to see changes on teams in a post-Olympic year,” commented Peter Judge, CEO at Freestyle Canada. “For some skiers, the Games are the ultimate goal before they move on to something else; for others, it’s time to rest before coming back completely healthy for the next Olympic cycle. We have a very solid core of athletes in all four disciplines. I’m thinking here of Mikaël Kingsbury, Justine Dufour-Lapointe, Cassie Sharpe and Alex Beaulieu-Marchand – who all made the podium in PyeongChang – but also those who push the boundaries of the sport, like Evan McEachran and Teal Harle. Our objective over the next few years will be to build around them and groom the next generation of young skiers to be our medal hopes at the Olympics in 2022 and 2026.”
CBC and Radio-Canada, broadcasting partners
As in previous seasons, the CBC and Radio-Canada networks will be airing some freestyle ski events on their respective websites, including the FIS World Cup moguls competition, starting December 7. Fans who want to follow the FIS World Championships in Deer Valley from February 1 to 10, 2019 can logon to either network, as both will be streaming all events live.
Here are that athletes who have been appointed to the 2018-2019 World Cup team:
WORLD CUP TEAM – AERIALS
Men: Travis Gerrits(Milton, ON), Olivier Rochon(Gatineau, QC), Lewis Irving(Quebec City, QC)
Women: Catrine Lavallée(Montréal, QC)
Development team
Men: Félix Boucher-Cormier (Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, QC), Marc-Antoine Gagnon (Quebec City, QC), Tommy Doyle (Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, QC)
Women: Naomy Boudreau-Guertin (Quebec City, QC), Marion Thenault (Sherbrooke, QC)
Coaching staff
Jeff Bean (head coach), Rémi Bélanger (development team coach)
Top news
Travis Gerrits, Olivier Rochon and Lewis Irving will sit out the season while they focus on rehabilitation and fitness after injuries sustained last year. They expect to be back competing in 2019-2020;
Jeff Bean, former freestyle aerialist, signs on as head coach of the World Cup team;
Coaches Dennis Capicik and Liz Gardner have left the team.
WORLD CUP TEAM – MOGULS
Men: Mikaël Kingsbury(Deux-Montagnes, QC),Philippe Marquis(Quebec City, QC), Laurent Dumais(Quebec City, QC), Kerrian Chunlaud (Sainte-Foy, QC), Brenden Kelly (Pemberton, BC)
Women: Andi Naude(Penticton, BC),Chloé Dufour-Lapointe(Montréal, QC), Justine Dufour-Lapointe(Montréal, QC), Valérie Gilbert(Sainte-Adèle, QC)
Development team
Men: Simon Lemieux (Repentigny, QC), Robbie Andison (Oakville, ON), Gabriel Dufresne (Repentigny, QC), Jordan Kober (Penticton, BC), Elliot Vaillancourt (Drummondville, QC), Ryan Portello (Cochrane, AB)
**Women:**Sofiane Gagnon (Whistler, BC), Berkley Brown (Aurora, ON), Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert (Sainte-Adèle, QC), Maia Schwinghammer (Saskatoon, SK)
Coaching staff
Michel Hamelin (head coach), Freddy Mooney (coach), Steve Omischl (aerials coach), Guillaume Turgeon (team coach), Jim Schiman (development team head coach), Dean Bercovitch (development team coach)
Top news
Mikaël Kingsbury will look to snare his 50th World Cup win as the season opens;
Veteran Philippe Marquis is looking to return to competition after surgery to the right knee;
Andi Naude is taking a sabbatical year to focus on school;
Michel Hamelin has been appointed head coach of the national team;
Jim Schiman and Dean Bercovitch join the coaching staff;
Coaches Rob Kober and Vincent Sigouin have left the staff;
Taking retirement: Marc-Antoine Gagnon, Alex-Anne Gagnon, Audrey Robichaud, Simon Pouliot-Cavanagh and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe.
WORLD CUP TEAM – HALFPIPE
Men: Noah Bowman (Calgary, AB), Simon d’Artois (Whistler, BC), Brendan MacKay (Calgary, AB)
Women: Cassie Sharpe (Comox, BC), Rachael Karker (Erin, ON)
Development team
Men: Evan Marineau (Calgary, AB), Sam McKeown (Calgary, AB), Dylan Marineau (Calgary, AB), Finnian Young (Calgary, AB), Sascha Pedenko (Calgary, AB)
Women: Rachael Anderson (Caledon, ON), Megan Warrener (Sylvan Lake, AB)
Coaching staff
Trennon Paynter (head coach), Marc Mcdonell (coach), Jeremy Cooper (head coach, Nexgen), Matt Margetts (coach, Nextgen)
Top news
First World Cup on Canadian soil, in Calgary, February 14-16, 2018;
Cassie Sharpe will be looking to defend her champion’s title on the World Cup circuit;
Keltie Hensen and Roz Groenewoud are both retiring;
Veteran Mike Riddle, silver medallist at the 2014 Sochi Games and the 2017 World Championships, is retiring.
WORLD CUP TEAM – SLOPESTYLE
Men: Alex Beaulieu-Marchand(Quebec City, QC), Alex Bellemare(Saint-Boniface, QC), Evan McEachran(Oakville, ON), Teal Harle(Campbell River, BC)
Women:Dara Howell(Huntsville, ON), Yuki Tsubota(Whistler, BC), Elena Gaskell (Vernon, BC)
Development team
Men: Patrick Dew (Vernon, BC), Étienne Geoffroy-Gagnon (Whitehorse, Yukon), Mark Hendrickson (Calgary, AB), Max Moffat (Caledon, ON), Philippe Langevin (Mont-Tremblant, QC), Noah Morrison (Vernon, BC)
**Women:**Megan Oldham (Perry Sound, ON)
Coaching staff
Toben Sutherland(head coach), JF Cusson(coach), Gabriel Leclerc (head coach, Nextgen), Sandy Boville (coach, Nextgen)
Top news
Sochi bronze medallist Kim Lamarre will compete as an independent during the 2018-2019 season;
Dara Howell underwent knee surgery and will take the 2018/19 season to concentrate on her rehabilitation;
One to watch: Elena Gaskell, a young skier who placed fourth at the recent FIS Junior Freeski World Championship in Cardrona, NZ.
Source: Freestyle Canada
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