Eastern Regional Bouldering Championships Results 2019
Madison Fischer and Seb Lazure win Eastern Regional Bouldering Championship
This weekend, 90 of eastern Canada’s elite athletes competed in the Eastern Regionals Bouldering competition at Up the Bloc in Mississauga, Ontario. In BC, 59 athletes competed at Boulder House’s Western Regional Bouldering Championships in Victoria, British Columbia.
This competition is the final qualifying round of an athlete’s road to nationals and features some of the strongest competitors in the country.
In Ontario, 39 women and 51 men each fought to qualify for a space in Canada’s National Championship. Eastern Regionals featured a skilled team of setters headed by National Chief Routesetter Kaleb Thomas. The competition followed a five-on, five-off format for the qualifying round and a parade-style format for finals.
The Parade format showcased each athlete and allowed each competitor a large amount of rest between boulders. As such, every athlete was able to try their hardest on each problem, with the knowledge that rest was coming.
In Finals, Ontario climber Riley Galloway finished in third after a stunning performance on W3. Women’s three was a complicated problem that required the climber to moon-kick into a palm-press, before rolling over to a compression sequence on a volume. This type of coordination problem had never been set in the female category of an Ontario Bouldering competition before, denoting the increasing strength of Canada’s female field.
Galloway was psyched to complete W3, saying, “Since (dynos) are my strong suit, I was excited to try it… My goal was to stick the dyno. Once I did, I was determined to send.” Galloway attributes her recent success in competitions to upping her training intensity and buckling down on her weaknesses.
Sydney Park finished ahead of Galloway with a two tops. Her second place finish was a strong result for the young climber, but was not enough to beat Ontario’s Madison Fischer. Fischer dominated the competition, topping each of the four Finals problems.
Fischer said, “Competition days are something I look forward to like people do their birthdays or upcoming trips. When I think about why I’m motivated for Nationals I think about the fight I’m going to have to make finals.” Where such a competition might instill anxiety in another climber, it is where Fischer derives her motivation.
The “If you’re sending, it’s too easy” mentality drives her forward. She said “I don’t want a goal that I know can happen. I want one that could happen if I really, really try.” For Fischer, inspiration comes from the challenge. This year, Fischer is looking to compete in Boulder World Cups and become a “true competitor” instead of just a participant.
This level of professionalism found in the athletes was reflected by the gym in which they competed. Up the Bloc ran a well organized competition that kept things light and fun even while the competitors turned up the heat.
The men’s field brought a particularly strong crew of climbers. 2018 PanAm Bouldering Champion Zach Richardson finished in third, next to second place crusher Samuel Tiukuvaara. Tiukuvaara has had strong season, and has goals to make finals and nationals before making preparations for the outdoor season. Tiukuvaara qualified in first heading into the final round of the competition, and only missed out on first place by a top.
Tiukuvaara said that “Qualifying first was amazing, but managing to keep some consistency and finish second was big for me.” Even with such a good finish, Tiukuvaara said” I need more experience on comp style boulders. I feel like I have a lot more potential to harness.”
Quebec’s Seb Lazure won the men’s category with an impressive performance. Beginning with a technical finish of M1, Lazure showed the strength Team Canada. This past year Lazure struggled with injuries that affected his performance. This year, he has moved past these injuries and is looking to compete on the World Cup Circuit. He says, “It feels good to be able to train and climb again without worrying about (injury) and having to keep a foot on the brake.
Bouldering Nationals will take place on January 11 and 12 at Altitude in Ontario. Results and video clips below, full results here.
Eastern Finals Men/Women
1. Seb Lazure / Madison Fischer
2. Sam Tiukuvaara / Sydney Park
3. Zach Richardson / Riley Galloway
Western Finals Men/Women
1. Ivan Luo / Alyssa Weber
2. Tosh Sherkat / Paige Boklaschuck
3. Jaxson MacDonald / Maki Koci
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