Corbin takes over the position following Schwertner's death on January 17, in accordance with the COPAC's statute which stipulates that the first vice-president assumes the functions of the President, until the next COPAC Congress.

At the next COPAC Congress, expected in June, a new President will be formally elected.

Corbin is the former President of Canoe Kayak Canada and has been the first vice-president of COPAC since 2007.

He was also a member of the International Canoe Federation (ICF) Board between 2011 and 2015; and served as technical delegate for canoe sprint at the 2011, 2015 and 2019 Pan American Games.

"COPAC will need to continue the current successful projects in the area of development and provide new and innovative projects that will promote canoeing in all disciplines in the Americas," said Corbin.

"COPAC and its Member Federations have many qualified coaches, officers and administrators who can certainly facilitate this work.

"I know it can be difficult, but I look forward to the opportunity, as we will all work on the problems that the pandemic may bring.

"It is difficult for athletes to train and compete in canoe and for federations to provide these opportunities while we are fighting the pandemic.

"I believe that it will be my job, with the support of the COPAC Board, to provide leadership in these circumstances to assist the federations in these difficult times."

Holding a position where he speaks to largely Spanish-speaking countries, Corbin has also stated he is looking to improve his language skills.

Corbin is also looking at whether Olympic qualification events are viable due to COVID-19.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are scheduled to run from July 23 to August 8 2021, after it was postponed due to the pandemic.

"Right now, the biggest job we have is to try and determine if it's safe due to COVID-19 to have Olympic qualifiers," Corbin told Canadian publication, The Journal Pioneer.

"We've had numerous meetings with the international community of the ICF and our group to determine whether our qualifiers will be held.

"The sprint is in April in Curitiba in Brazil and the slalom is in Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of May.

"We had a meeting this past weekend and we decided, with the encouragement of the ICF and the International Olympic Committee not to cancel [the qualifiers] at this point because they are trying to hang on as long as they can before any definitive answer regarding COVID-19 is made."