This week is a highly anticipated one for fans of water sports. The Lanier Canoe & Kayak Club is playing host to the U.S. Canoe/Kayak Sprint National Championships and the Masters National Championships from Thursday through Sunday at the Olympic venue at Clarks Bridge Park.
The Lanier Canoe & Kayak Club will have 72 athletes registered for events, and a total of 260-290 rowers and paddlers are anticipated to be in town for the national championships.
Age classifications for athletes are divided between bantam (14-and-under), juvenile (16-and-under), junior (18-and-under), intermediate, senior and masters. Club awards will be awarded for highest point totals of athletes in each age division. Canoe and kayaking events are run in one-, two- and four-person disciplines.
On Thursday, 1,000 meter heats and finals will be run for all canoe and kayak events. Friday is designated for 500-meter heats and finals. Saturday is the final day of the national championships with all 3,000-and 5,000-meter events. The masters national championships events are scheduled for Sunday.
This week, the Atlanta Braves have two series scheduled against NL East opponents.
Today, the Braves play host to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a re-scheduled game from an earlier rain out. Atlanta rookie Tommy Hanson (7-2, 3.05 ERA) will pitch against Arizona’s Max Scherzer (7-6, 3.94). In his last outing, Hanson allowed only one earned run and picked up a win against the Washington Nationals on Aug. 11.
From Tuesday to Thursday, the Braves visit the New York Mets, followed by a trip home to face the Florida Marlins in a three-game series starting on Friday. Derek Lowe (12-7, 4.08) will pitch for Atlanta on Tuesday, and Jair Jurrjens (9-8, 2.99) will throw on Wednesday.
The first-place Gwinnett Braves wrap up a four-game series against the Pawtucket Red Sox at 2 p.m. today at Gwinnett Stadium. The Triple-A G-Braves have won the first three games of the series and currently lead the International League South division by two games over Durham.
Gwinnett will visit the Norfolk Tides for a four-game series Tuesday through Friday. On Saturday, Gwinnett returns home to face the Charlotte Knights.
The Atlanta Falcons visit the St. Louis Rams on Friday for the team’s second exhibition game.