Slip N Slide, the backyard waterslide, has provided countless hours of fun for millions of children.

Dylan Armstrong and Justin Rodhe were doing their own version of slip 'n' slide on Saturday.

Armstrong and Rodhe finished 1-2 in the men's shot put at the Canadian track and field championships and Olympic trials in Calgary on Saturday. The results mean both men, who live and train in Kamloops, have booked their tickets to the London Olympics, which open July 27.

Sultana Frizell, a Kamloops-based hammer-thrower, also qualified for the Olympics, finishing second behind Lethbridge's Heather Steacy.

It was almost a formality that Armstrong and Rodhe would qualify - they had already hit the A standard and only needed to finish top-three in Calgary.

But even that proved to be a challenge, as the throwing circle was slick and had the athletes sliding around.

"It was a very challenging circle to throw out of," said Rodhe, a 27-year-old Ohio native who is a Canadian citizen and recently was cleared by the IAAF to compete for Canada. "Dylan and I were having a lot of fun teasing each other about the circumstances."

Armstrong's winning heave went 21.29m, while Rodhe captured silver with a chuck of 20.30m. Timothy Nedow of Brockville, Ont., who is scheduled to start training in Kamloops later this year, was third in 20.21m.

The 31-year-old Armstrong, who is considered one of Canada's best hopes for a track and field medal at the Games, is headed to his second Olympics, after finishing fourth at Beijing in 2008.

With the conditions being what they were in Calgary and the stakes being so high, Armstrong made sure his first throw counted. It went 20.75m.

"That's what I usually do, knock one out there as a safety throw and after I get one of those in, I try to build," he said. "It was hard to, because we couldn't push off the back and everybody kept slipping. At that point, you really have to slow down things."

Frizell, 27, had the same thing in mind, but she didn't make it look as easy as Armstrong did.

"I don't want to say that I just went in there and did a safety throw, because on the first one, I actually got stuck in the circle," she said, with a laugh. "I was like, 'Umm, we're just gonna see where this one goes.' It actually ended up going into the sector - I was really surprised."

It went 62.63m, with Frizell's best flying 69.21m. Steacy won in 70.48m, while the NTC's Megann Rodhe - Justin's wife - was third in 63.09m. Jennifer Joyce, who also trains in Kamloops, was fourth in 62.81m.

With that out of the way, the local athletes are focusing on the next month of training. Frizell and Justin Rodhe will be competing at a National Track League event in Toronto on July 11, before heading to Portugal to train with coach Anatoliy Bondarchuk, American hammer-thrower Kibwé Johnson and Armstrong.

Before he heads to Portugal, Armstrong is to take part in a Samsung Diamond League event in Paris on Friday. He is the Diamond League's defending champion.

A lot of work lies ahead, but there was some fun in Calgary on Sunday, when the Olympic track and field team was named and a photo taken.

"I very much enjoy our national track meets, and it was good to be a part of the Olympic trials - it always is," Frizell said. "It was good to see all my friends who made the team . . . at the end of the day, everyone was just excited to make the team."

mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca