Heritage Moments with Genny Orton
Genevieve Orton started paddling at age 16, after she had become too tall to be a top level gymnast. Starting a little later than most, but already determined to make it to the Olympics, she threw herself into the sport. Seven years later, Genny made the National Team for the first time. When 2011 rolled around, she was in Canada’s top K-4 trying to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. When they came up short to qualify for 2012, her sights were now set on the next chance to be an Olympian, in 2016. With an entire Olympic cycle before Genny needed to be at top speed to qualify for Rio, she and her husband Jon decided to take this time to start their family. Training right up until their daughter Annika was born and then getting right back into it after a brief break, Genny won both the 200m and 500m K-1 races at Nationals just a few months after giving birth. When it came time to qualify for the Olympics, Genny was ready.
She and her K-2 partner KC Frazer qualified the spot at the continental qualifiers and then won a race-off at National Team Trials to secure their berth to represent Team Canada the Olympics. Since there were two other quota spots qualified as well by two other Canadian female kayakers, Genny would also be racing a K-4 in Rio. At the Games, they finished 8th in K-4 500m and 13th in their K-2 500m. Congrats Genny on the impressive career!