Lou Lukanovich
Quick Facts
Biography
Louis "Lou" Lukanovich (born December 5, 1930) is a Croatian-born, Canadian sprint canoer who competed in the early 1960s. He and partner Alan McCleery were eliminated in the repechage round of the K-2 1000 m event at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.
After his Olympic career, Lukanovich went on to a lifetime of involvement in the sport of canoe-kayak. He was a coach for the Canadian team at the Olympic Games in 1972 in Munich and 1976 in Montreal. He is currently the president and chief designer at Simon River Sports, a Quebec-based manufacturer and supplier of canoe-kayak and other sporting equipment. Lukanovich founded the Viking Canoe Club in 2001 and is still an active competitor in Masters competitions at the age of 83.
In 2014 Lukanovich was awarded the Edgar R. Gilbert award by CanoeKayak Canada for his sustained contribution to coaching in the sport.