Thank you so much to my biggest supporters from the very beginning, my mom and dad! They have been with me since Spring 1998 when I first stepped into a marathon racing canoe and fell in love with paddling. Mom and Dad drove me out to my first Marathon Nationals in New Brunswick in 1999. They were with me in Selkirk in 2001. They even drove down to Pennsylvania to cheer me on at the U.S. Nationals.

Thanks to my brother who gave me some great advice, "You can be good at lots of things, or amazing at one. It's your choice. If you keep doing everything you will only go so far. If you focus on one, there's no limit on how far you will go." Who knew that a big brother could be so wise. When I started to focus on paddling, the results spoke for themselves.

As I embark on a year focusing on training, I'm grateful for the support from Animas Canada. I'm privileged to be part of their Animas Heroes Campaign. With Animas I get to meet children, teenagers, adults and families that are living with Type 1 Diabetes. I get to share my story, my challenges, my successes and my outlook on life as a diabetic with these people.

Dr. Jamie Garvey has worked diligently with me to help straighten out my back. He has done a world of good for me and I feel that I wouldn't have been as successful during the 2009 season if it weren't for him.

While back in Parry Sound, Ellen Koennecke worked with me a few times a week to improve my core strength as well as my flexiblity at Yoga in the Sound.

When I returned to the Okanagan Valley, I obviously needed a gym to work out at so after checking out a bunch of gyms on the westside, I decided to go with Bodyfit Kelowna.

I also needed a chiropractor to continue the work that Garvey had started. So I have partnered up with Sarah and Travis at Health in Hand Family Chiropractic. It was the many "small world" connections along with their membership with Garvey's Chiropractic Care for Kids with Cancer Foundation and their enthusiastic and friendly atmosphere that made me choose to go with them.

I am currently working to finish up the work I started in the spring in terms of creating sponsorship packages. All my racing and traveling is self funded. I do not get any money from the government or sport organization to compete for Canada. I do it purely for the love of my sport. With the IVF World Championships taking place May 25-29th in New Caledonia in 2010, I have to raise the money to cover my expense for the trip as well as training leading up to it. Some of my expenses include: rent, gas, food, supplements, gym fees, paddling club fees, training camps (fees, travel, accomidation), coaching, new paddle, entry fees, airfare to/from New Caledonia, and accomodation while there, just to name a few! While I do plan on trying to work part-time while I'm training, the support from sponsors means that I can focus on my training and not have to worry about if I have enough money to eat properly that week.

If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a sponsor or supporter, I'll get a package to you as soon as I have them ready. Just fire me an email.