By CHRIS STEVENSON -- SLAM! Sports
 PENRITH LAKES, Australia -- Mihai Apostol had a bad taste in his mouth after his performance Tuesday.

 Wednesday, well, he did a heck of a lot better, but the taste came close to being worse.

 The kayaker from Dartmouth, N.S., almost lost his breakfast after qualifying for the semifinal of the men's K-1 500-metre race at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.

 He had to sit down at the end of the dock and splash water on his face after he was overcome by nausea.

 "It's been a while since I almost fed the fish," he said afterwards. "That's a good sign. I went hard."

 Apostol, whose parents traveled from Romania Tuesday and watched him race, finished fifth in his heat to advance to the semifinals Thursday.

 He was one of only four of 31 competitors who failed to advance in the men's K-1 1000m Tuesday, so he was out for redemption in the 500, a stronger event for him. It didn't help him Tuesday that he hadn't raced since June.

 "I was thinking too much, about race plans, technique, my parents coming from Romania. I forgot how to go out and do what I do every day."

 Apostol went out hard for the first 300 metres, harder than he normally does.

 "The last 200 I was just hanging on for dear life," he said. "I didn't want to fall apart and I hung in there. Only a certain percentage of people made it here. You can't underestimate them and I did that (Tuesday)."

 "I was thinking too much, about race plans, technique, my parents coming from Romania. I forgot how to go out and do what I do every day."

 Apostol went out hard for the first 300 metres, harder than he normally does.

 "The last 200 I was just hanging on for dear life," he said. "I didn't want to fall apart and I hung in there. Only a certain percentage of people made it here. You can't underestimate them and I did that (Tuesday)."

 Apostol, the only kayaker here for Canada on the men's side, has been following the Canadian performances at these games and knows what people are saying back home.

 "We're all Olympians here and we all feel some pressure," he said. "Take Australian TV. All they do is talk about gold medals. If you finish second or third, you're not looked upon as a winner. I'm getting fed up with that.

 "I've been reading about the reaction (in Canada) and why we don't have medals. You don't win medals at the Olympics. It's not not like boom!, you show up here and you win. You win them every day (before you get here), putting in your time, training three times a day, whatever it takes.

 "But you have to have the means to get to that level."

 In the canoe events Wednesday, Maxime Boilard of Lac-Beauport, Que., finished fifth in his C-1 500m heat and advanced to the semifinal Friday.

 In the men's C-2 500m, brothers Attila and Tamas Buday finished last in their heat, but because of the few number of boats entered, still advanced to the semifinal Friday.