“All boats out of the water!” The call came loudly over the speakers for the second time. Organizers heard thunder, and they weren’t taking any chances. Spectators at the Rideau Canoe Club Canada Day International Regatta sprinted for cover while paddlers hauled their boats onto the grass. Within seconds, the drizzle turned to buckets of rain.
The races were postponed. It was pouring Canada Day. Yet still, spirits were light. Athletes got drenched with smiles on their faces. Others played cards or just razzed each other as they waited to get back out on the water. Canadian paddlers took photos and exchanged slang with competitors from Puerto Rico and Colombia.
“It’s a big defining feature,” says Ian Mortimer, a former coach at the club now working as a manager for Canoe-Kayak Canada in domestic development and partnership relations. “Fierce competition on the water, and a lot of great, lifelong friendships off.”
That’s what hooked Rideau paddler August Sibthorpe, who, at age 17, already has one Junior World Championships appearance under her belt.
“I love being here (at the Rideau Canoe Club) because all my friends come,” Sibthorpe indicates. “Practice is always really fun.”
For promising athletes like Sibthorpe and the host club itself, the Canada Day event served as a warm-up for the national championships, which will be held Aug. 25-29 at Mooney’s Bay.
As the second of three stops on the new Canada Cup circuit, the Canada Day regatta was a strong competitive event, but the five-day nationals competition in late August is a different beast altogether.
“Right now we’re racing together as Team Canada, but at the end of the summer (at nationals), it’ll be a dogfight,” explains Dave Robertson, a Canadian development team coach based out of Montreal. “They’ll be fighting against each other for club championships.”
Robertson will have a number of athletes from Ottawa under his watch in the near future. Sibthorpe was recently selected to return to this year’s junior worlds July 24-26 in Portugal, along with fellow Rideau paddler Scott Braddon and Genevieve L’Abbé of the Ottawa River Canoe Club. Rideau’s Drew Hodges and Megan Sibthorpe were also chosen for the under-23 worlds competition in Portugal, while Braddon and clubmate Isaac Finkelstein were chosen to represent Canada at the Sept. 25-27 Olympic Hopes regatta in Poland.
The local paddlers are reaching the elite levels of the sport – the plethora of gold and silver medals they collected at the Canada Day event serving as strong evidence – but it’s an initial love for the sport that got them there.
“It’s the calmness,” explains Braddon, who first set foot at the Rideau Canoe Club as an 8-year-old summer camper. “You get out there on the water and all your stresses are gone. You get out there and take a deep breath and don’t have to worry about anything, just moving forward in the boat.”
While Braddon cherishes the calm, L’Abbé is addicted to the idea of self-improvement on the water.
“Even at the highest levels, you’re always trying to just tweak your technique,” notes L’Abbé, who was two seats behind Sibthorpe in a victorious K-4 Canada Day boat that will likely compete together again in Portugal. “You can always work individually, but then there’s also the team aspect.”
Friendly spirit reigns
In all, there were 164 races at the two-day regatta. Over and over, medallists climbed the podium as other races finished.
Those who had just raced would cheer for the winners – regardless of nationality or affiliation. Rain or shine, it was one big family.