Hall battles back to win his personal game four

If anyone can relate to a team being down 3-1 in a best of seven series and coming back to win in seven it’s Pointe Claire native Tom Hall.

That’s because the 26-year-old Hall did the same, and in the same dramatic fashion. Over the span of the past several weeks in his chosen sport of canoeing, Hall, who learned and honed his paddling skills under the guidance of the Pointe Claire Canoe Club, earned a spot on a C-1 boat in the 1,000-metre event at this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing, by winning three straight games of his own. Down 3-1 in his Olympic quest, Hall won game two by qualifying a spot for Canada in the C-1 1,000-metre event at last month’s Olympic qualifications at the Olympic Basin. He then captured game three by being the top Canadian in the C-1 1,000-metre event at a World Cup paddling competition in Szeged, Hungary on June 7. He then clinched the all-important game four on June 14, beating rival Mark Oldershaw in a sudden-death tiebreaker at another World Cup event in Duisberg, Germany. Not only did Hall beat Oldershaw in Duisberg, he won the race, his first ever World Cup triumph. “Crossing the line at Duisberg, I let out a big yell and threw my hand up,” said Hall. “I felt a wave of relief and intense happiness, almost a vindication that I was good enough to be there. Any doubts I had or anyone else had of me were swept away and it felt nice. I thought of my coach, Mike Creamer, and what we’d been through over the past four years and how it finally happened. He got a big hug and was just ecstatic as well.”

Hall admitted the week heading up to Duisberg was one of the most difficult, and lonely times of his entire life. He avoided contact with pretty much everyone, not because he was purposefully acting anti-social - he called home a lot and talked to some dear friends and my family – but because everyone else had either made or not made the team. That left him feeling like an outsider, in a type of limbo. “I had a couple of talks with Mike (Creamer),” said Hall. “Usually about paddling but also just life in general. Knowing that he believed in me so much really helped my confidence. You know, I also came to the realization earlier this year in Florida that there is a lot more to life than paddling, and a lot of things are a lot worse.”

Hall will take that exact same philosophical approach with him to Beijing, where he will be paddling for Canada but keeping the Pointe Claire Canoe Club in his heart. “Obviously, I hope to win,” said Hall. “I wouldn’t be going if I didn’t expect to win. But for the club, this is so important. It’s really been a huge part of my life and now I feel like I’ve justified all the awesome support they and the city of Pointe Claire have given me. I hope that I have made them proud.” <@BVI>Tom Hall races last month.<@$P> <@CP>Chronicle, Peter McCabe<@$P>