By BILL SPURR -- Halifax Chronicle-Herald
 Julia Rivard always dreamed about going to the Olympics but in her dreams she was in the water, not on top of it.

 The 23-year old, who now paddles out of Mic Mac in Dartmouth, was a competitive swimmer for 13 years until her career was ended by a freak accident.

 While cross-country skiing at the age of 18, Rivard fell awkwardly and suffered a broken back.

 After a year-long convalescence, she met Trevor Marshall, who would become her husband and who introduced her to paddling.

 Four years later, Rivard's Olympic dream is about to come true, but in a kayak.

 She will represent Canada in the K-4 at the Sydney Summer Games.

 "With Caroline Brunet being the best in the world the K-1 is locked up, and Caroline and Karen Furneaux have been training for K-2 for the last year so the K-4 was the only spot open for women," said Rivard, who was named to the Olympic team during national team training in Europe earlier this month.

 Five women went to Europe to compete for the four spots and Rivard earned one of the seats.

 "They tried us in different positions and found a couple of crews that were the fastest and those two crews competed," said Rivard, who will be in the third seat in Sydney.

 The K-4 crew raced at a World Cup regatta in Szeged, Hungary, finishing fourth in the 500 metre event

 "That was really good because last year's result (for Canada) at world championships was 10th," she said. The new team then competed in Duisburg, Germany and won two bronze medals.

 "We still have to work on our start and our finish," Rivard said. "There's a lot to improve and we haven't had much experience racing other crews either so this summer we're going to race in some local regattas ... maybe race some guys crews."

 The other crew members are from Quebec, Ontario and Alberta.

 "It's good because it's not always like that. Usually we get a few from Ontario or from Nova Scotia. It's kind of neat."

 Canada will be seeded 10th at the Olympics in accordance with the finish at worlds last summer but with a whole new crew, Rivard is confident of a big improvement.

 "I'm really sure that we can come top five and if we do what we can do, I think the top three, which would be great," said Rivard, who, having known adversity, is especially grateful to wear the maple leaf on her chest.

 "I was at the world championships in 1998 and there's nothing better than seeing the person in front of you with Canada written across their back," she said. "It's just unbelievable and the Olympics will be a hundred times the feeling."