Image: 15-year-old Michal Smiesko placed first on the Junior podium on March 23, 2025. / Provided / Stanislava Smieskova

By Alyssa Conti

CANOE SLALOM GOLD

Local athlete wins U18 gold in 2025 Pan American Championships

Apr 21, 2025 | 10:32 AM

CHILLIWACK — A 15-year-old athlete has stirred some local pride recently after nabbing gold at the 2025 Pan American Championships in Montgomery, U.S.A.

On March 23, Chilliwack local Michal Smiesko placed ninth in the heats and beat five other Canadian boats to the A finals. He then placed sixth in the Men’s Kayak Final, earning him the podium’s top spot for the Junior (U18) Canoe Slalom medal.

29-year-old Martin Srabotnik took first place in the overall final.

Image: Stanislava Smieskova / Provided

His mom and coach, Stanislava Smieskova, says the young athlete has been preparing for the rapids since he was a child in Liptovsky Mikuláš, Slovakia.

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“He has spent his whole life at the water,” said Smieskova. “I used to be a competitive canoe-slalom athlete on the Slovakian National team, and then became a National coach. Michal would regularly come to the river with me.”

Rowing onwards and upwards

He eventually started paddling in his own kayak at just seven years old. Once they moved to Canada in 2020, Smiesko began training on the Tamihi Rapids at the Chilliwack River.

“When he won the Junior Gold medal for Canada at the Pan American championships last month, he felt relief that all his efforts over the last years are starting to pay off. His immediate goal is to earn a place on the Canadian National Team for canoe-slalom at the Team Trial races.”

Image: Michal Smiesko kayaking. / Provided / Stanislava Smieskova

The Canadian Team Trials Kayaking Race is set to run on May 3 and 4, on the same rapids that Smiesko has been training on since he was 11 years old.

“Beyond that he is hoping to see how far he can get in the sport, competing in international competitions and hopefully at the Olympics.”

Canoe slalom is the general term for the Olympic discipline. Athletes can either canoe, which is typically in an open-deck boat, or kayak in a closed-deck boat. Michal Smiesko kayaks in a K1M class.

Fellow Chilliwackian Nathan Christensen also competed in the event in the U23 category.