One could say Audrey Veillette, in a way, is a victim of her own success. The Lachine teen just came off a successful run at the National Sprint Canoe Championships in Dartmouth, NS when her family got a call.
“We couldn’t really say no,” said her mother, Martin Sullivan. “We were crying, we were happy, we were so satisfied.” Problem was, the competition cost $3,500, money the family hadn’t budgeted for.
Normally the family budgets for competitions months in advance. But they only had two weeks notice for what’s known as the Olympic Hopes Regatta in Hungary, considered an early test for Olympic potential.
Veillette ended up placing third with her partner, Kate Hennesey, in the 200m pairs competition.
However, the family have friends in Lachine, friends who organized a spaghetti dinner Saturday at the Lachine Hunting and Fishing Club to fray the cost of the competition. The spots are sold out and the event raised almost $2,000, putting Veillette that much closer to realizing her Olympic dreams.