Whoever said advertising doesn't work should talk to Shylo Wollf.

Five summers ago, at age 10, Wollf was cruising through the Lakewood Civic Centre when he happened upon a poster offering kayaking lessons. It looked cool, he thought.

Fast forward to today, where Wollf is the top medal contender on Team Saskatchewan's kayak and canoe contingent heading into the Western Canada Summer Games in Strathcona County, Alta., and it's pretty cool, indeed.

View Larger Image

Shylo Wollf (right) has the potential to win 10 or 11 medals at the Western Canada Summer Games, according to his coach, Andre Gronowicz

Richard Marjan, The StarPhoenix

Email to a friendPrinter friendly

Font:

• *
• *
• *
• *

"I loved it right away," Wollf said. "It was just something that looked like a lot fun and I was good at it."

He must have been smitten. While beginners are often eased into a new sport and gradually increase their involvement, during that first summer Wollf was out on the water twice a day every day of the week. The commitment could have been enough to scare him away. Instead, it was the opposite.

"We'd go in the boat and paddle up to the sandbar upstream and play soccer and all kinds of games and just had a lot of fun," said Wollf.

While it started out with a recreational bent for the 15-year-old E.D. Feehan student, lately it's become serious. Wollf shows the potential to be a national team member and his coach of five years, Andre Gronowicz, thinks his young protege is almost there.

"Shylo is close. He's a hopeful for the junior national team for next year's junior world championships, and I think he will be one of the contenders," said Gronowicz.

Though a berth is by no means guaranteed, one thing is for certain -- Wollf clearly has the mindset to prepare himself for when the opportunity to step on to the national stage arises next year.

"I like training and winning races a lot. I am really keen on training, actually, and just making myself faster," he said. "I'm a pretty competitive person and I like to compare myself to whoever is faster and then make sure I beat them. Ideally, the national team would be an amazing chance for me."

Wollf will compete in three different boats in his first-ever Summer Games -- the K-1, K-2 and K-4 -- adding up to 11 total races. Team Saskatchewan is expected to once again challenge for the podium with the same verve that saw them bring home a whopping 66 medals in 2003. Expectations are lofty all around.

"I think both our boys' and girls' teams will have a really good chance. The boys are maybe a bit stronger, but the girls have good potential and we should challenge for a lot of medals," said Gronowicz.

"And Shylo is getting way faster, he's much stronger than last year and he's in really good shape. I expect him to get around 10 or 11 medals at the Games."

It's heady praise for a young athlete, but Wollf thrives on the pressure and embraces the challenge of getting better, getting faster and getting the most out of the sport.

"I hope we beat the team mark by at least a few medals. There is a lot of pressure, but I love that kind of stuff," said Wollf. "I'm pretty confident in our team and we should have a chance to win every event we compete in."

A berth on the national team and the chance to tour the European Regatta circuit and compete at the 2009 junior nationals are all potentially on the horizon for Wollf, but for now he's eager to head to Alberta and get his paddle wet in his first-ever Games.

"It's good to have people from the West have a specific event for themselves," said Wollf. "I just want to win a few races and see some friends and I hope to get as much out of it as I can."

cwalper@sp.canwest.com

© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007