The Burloak Canoe Club paddler, expected to contend for gold in both the kayaking singles (K-1) 500-metre and 1,000m events at the Olympic Summer Games, easily won his heats in both distances earlier this week -- including posting a world-record time in the 500m.

Van Koeverden, the defending Olympic champion in the 500m, completed yesterday's (Tuesday's) heat in one minute, 35.554 seconds, beating his own world record of 1:35.630. The Loyola grad feels he can go even faster.

"I raced that like a heat, not a final," he told CBC. "If I raced that like a final, I could have probably expected another half-second. Maybe that's saying a lot considering the time, but that's how I feel."

Ironically, while van Koeverden's victory in Monday's 1,000m heat earned him a spot in that event's final, he will still have to compete in the 500m semifinals tomorrow (Thursday). He finished the 1,000m heat in 3:29.622.

The 1,000m final will be held Friday, with the 500m final scheduled for the following day. Van Koeverden earned bronze in the 1,000m four years ago in Athens.

Other Burloak paddlers also advance

On Monday, Burloak's Brady Reardon, Chris Pellini and the men's K-4, which also includes Rhys Hill and Angus Mortimer, advanced to today's semifinal after finishing fifth in their heat in a time of 3:6.811.

Mark Oldershaw, also a member of Burloak, finished second in his canoeing singles 500m heat to qualify for tomorrow's semis. He came on strong in the final metres to finish in a time of 1:48.817. Aliaksandr Zhukovski of Belarus won the heat in 1:48.669 to advance straight to the Saturday final.

Boston Pizza in Oakville will be hosting live showings of the canoe and kayak finals beginning at approximately 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday.