HIGH ACHIEVERS NOTEBOOK: Bytown Dragon Boat paddlers win 29 Pan American medals

By Martin Cleary

Welcome to Everything-Goes Friday, where we touch many bases – baseball, track and field, dragon boat racing, golf, cross-country skiing, tennis, rugby, swimming, and even the FISU World Summer University Games – before the weekend.

The Bytown Dragon Boat Club captured 29 medals at the recent Pan-American club crew championships in Montreal.

Ten different crews collected a total of 10 gold, nine silver and 10 bronze medals, while competing in races over 200, 500 and 2,000 metres.

The Super C’s senior C women and the Super D’s senior D women were untouchable, winning three golds each. Sportchicklets U16 women and Sportchicklets senior B women had matching records of two gold and one silver apiece.

The other gold medallists were the Carleton Ravens U24 crew, which also posted two silvers, and the Ship of Pain senior C open, which added a silver as well.

Three crews came home with triple silver-medal performances – Flash Dragons U16 mixed, Wyrd senior B mixed and C-Surge senior C mixed. The Water senior A mixed crew was good for three bronze medals.

The 17th International Dragon Boat Foundation world dragon boat racing championships begin Monday in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany, and 33 Ottawa and area paddlers will go to the start line.

Here are the class entries along with their club affiliation:

Junior U16 – Cameron Singh and Arabella Holtzman, both Bytown Dragon Boat Club.

Premier – Mark Singer, independent.

Senior A – Megan Holtzman, Isabelle Fradette and Julie Robitaille, Bytown; and Billy Williams, Ottawa Dragon Boat Club.

Senior B – Colleen Daly, Denise Ludington, Tania Kingsberry, Jocelyn MacKenzie, Liz Gilbert, Marie-Andrée Jacques and Michelle Chiu, all Bytown; Bettina Koschade, Sue Fagnan, Jean-Francois Martel, Kevin Banks and Steve Tobin, all Ottawa.

Senior C – Sharon Squire, Claude Tellier, Jennifer Miller, Gord Krieg and Marisa Freedman, all Bytown; and Ed Keyes, Keith Moody and Larry Shwan, all Ottawa.

Para – Terry Longhorn.

Breast Cancer – Sarah Bennett, Kathryn Bobyn and Sandra O’Gorman.

AVERY NORDMAN THIRD AT ONTARIO GIRLS’ JUNIOR GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

Avery Nordman experienced some remarkable runs and a few disastrous holes as she placed third at the Ontario girls’ junior golf championship at the Loyalist Golf and Country Club.

The Canadian Golf and Country Club member strung together rounds of 75-68-77-71 for a three-over-par 291.

After carding an opening-round front nine score of five-over 40, she went birdie, par, par, birdie and eagle to finish her back nine. Nordman moved into contention for a title run as she completed her second round with a birdie, birdie and eagle string.

After playing the first eight holes of her third round in one-under par, she marked a five-over nine on the par-four ninth hole, which seriously affected her run for another provincial title. She also had a double bogey six on the 13th hole. In her fourth round, she rebounded with a one-under round.

Nordman won the Ontario women’s match-play title last month and was the 2024 provincial girls’ U17 champion.

Serena Zhang of the Blue Springs Golf Club led from the start and won with a four-under score of 284 from rounds of 68-72-71-73.

Sophie Foulds of the Royal Ottawa scored a hole-in-one on the second hole in her fourth and final round, which helped her tie for 10th place. She shot rounds of 75-74-72-77 for a 10-over 298.

Ceilidh Spare of Rideau View was 17th at 74-73-80-77-304.

At the Ontario boys’ junior golf championship on the Lindsay Golf and Country Club, Chase Jerome of the Royal Ottawa tied for seventh place at 73-68-70-68 for a nine-under 279.

Two other Royal Ottawa golfers finished in the top 25 – Michael Vivone, tied 16th, 71-73-76-67-287; and Rowan MacDonald, tied 25th, 70-74-70-76-290.

Spencer Shropshire of the Hawk Ridge Golf Club fired a 10-under 62 to tie the Lindsay course record and force a playoff with Luke Smith of The Thornhill Club. Both players finished at 18-under 270, but Shropshire won the playoff and the championship.

Shropshire had rounds of 72-68-68-62, while Smith went 70-68-64-68.

GLEBE’S SAUL TALER EARNS BRIAN MAXWELL SCHOLARSHIP

Glebe Collegiate Institute’s Saul Taler was one of six student-athletes to win a Brian Maxwell Memorial Scholarship, which will be presented by the OFSAA provincial high school sports organization at an Aug. 15 ceremony in Stouffville.

The scholarships were awarded to three males and three females who will have their post-secondary education at the Canadian university or college. Each scholarship is worth $5,000. Taler will be attending Queen’s University in 2025-26.

“Preference is given to a student whose character is reflective of qualities that Brian Maxwell demonstrated in his life: honesty, integrity, compassion and an unwavering quest to accomplish the best they can, academically and athletically, while supporting fellow team members,” says an OFSAA press release.

A long-distance runner, Maxwell won the 1978 National Capital Marathon and Commonwealth Games trials in a photo-finish with Paul Bannon in a personal-best time of two hours, 14 minutes, 43 seconds. He also was the top Canadian qualifier for the 1980 Olympics, but didn’t attend when the Canadian government boycotted the Summer Games for political reasons.

As a businessman, Maxwell founded the PowerBar company with girlfriend Jennifer Biddulph. He died in 2004 at age 51.

Running for the Glebe Gryphons, Taler had a successful cross-country running season as a senior in 2024. Taler battled with Louis-Riel’s Daniel Cova in his two main local races, placing second in the boys’ senior class at the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association east conference championships, but winning the individual title at the city championships.

In both cases, his strong results sparked Glebe to second-place finishes in the team competition.

The OFSAA championships were staged in Ottawa and he was 12th in the individual race and the lead runner in Glebe’s seventh-place team result.

During the 2025 NCSSAA track and field season, Taler won the 1,500 metres and was second over 800 and 3,000 metres at the east conference finals, and was first in the 800 metres, second in the 1,500 metres and third in the 3,000 metres at the city championships.

At the OFSAA east meet, he focused on the 800 and 1,500 metres and had identical third-place results. During the OFSAA provincial championships, he qualified for the 1,500-metre final and was 12th. But he ranked 13th after the 800-metre heats and missed the eight-runner final.

OTTAWA WEST TWINS WIN ONTARIO LITTLE LEAGUE INTERMEDIATE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP, OTTAWA VALLEY TAKES SENIOR

The Little League Baseball season is alive and well for the Ottawa West Twins intermediate team and the Upper Ottawa Valley River Cats senior squad as they have become Ontario champions and will represent the province at the upcoming Canadian championships.

The Twins went undefeated in five games during the Ontario intermediate double round-robin tournament at Pinecrest Park, which included a 9-4 win over the Orleans Red Sox in Friday morning’s final.

Next stop for the Twins will be the eight-day national championship, which will start Wednesday in Kingston.

The Twins flexed their offensive muscles in the round-robin to defeat Oakville Whitecaps 4-2, Orleans 10-0, Oakville 13-4 and Orleans 9-7 to qualify for the final.

Orleans finished the round robin at 2-2, while Oakville was 0-4.

The intermediate division, which is for 13-year-olds, is the level between major and junior, where the pitching rubber is 50 feet from home plate not 60 feet and the base paths are 70 feet apart and not 90 feet.

Read More: Ottawa West Twins win all-Ottawa Ontario Little League final

At the Ontario Little League baseball senior championship tournament, which lost a full day to rain, the Upper Ottawa Valley River Cats proved to be the dominant team and will advance to the nationals beginning Sunday in Calgary.

After winning the six-team round robin with a 4-1 record, the River Cats defeated fourth-place East Nepean Eagles 8-2 in the semifinals and Oakville 16-6 in the final on Thursday.

Orleans was second in preliminary play at 4-1, but lost to Oakville 3-2 in the other semifinal.

The standings were completed by Cornwall River Rats at 2-3 and South Ottawa Blues at 0-5.

NAKKERTOK NORDIC HONOURS ITS VOLUNTEERS

The 2024-25 cross-country ski season is long over, but the Nakkertok Nordic Ski Club revived some good memories by thanking some key people.

Volunteer awards went to Janaka Khalsa, Tracy Baird, Alex Bota, Nathalie Mousseau, Allison Hewitt, Wayne Dustin and Meghan Schreiner. Receiving the Golden Toque award were Larry Hegan, Stephen Fleming and Toni Scheier.

OTTAWA WILL PRESENT GABRIELA DABROWSKI KEY TO CITY THURSDAY

Gloucester’s Gabriela Dabrowski will be in Ottawa on Thursday to receive the key to the City of Ottawa from Mayor Mark Sutcliffe in an evening ceremony at Andrew S. Haydon Hall.

Dabrowski is one of Canada’s most consistent, elite tennis players in the world, specializing in women’s doubles, where she is ranked No. 7 on the WTA circuit. She has been as high as No. 3.

At The Championships at Wimbledon, Dabrowski and women’s doubles partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand were defeated in the quarterfinals this week.

Dabrowski has won three Grand Slam titles in the past – the 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles, the 2018 Australian Open mixed doubles and the 2017 French Open mixed doubles.

Jim Watson declared Sept. 16, 2021 Gaby Dabrowski Day and the tennis courts at Russell Boyd Park in Blossom Park are named in her honour. She learned to play tennis on the park’s public courts.

Dabrowski also has represented Canada in the past three Summer Olympic Games and won the 2024 mixed doubles bronze medal with Felix Auger-Aliassime.

BRONWYN DUGGAN FOURTH AT ONTARIO GIRLS’ U16 TENNIS

Bronwyn Duggan of the Rideau Sports Centre has had a busy summer on the tennis courts, playing well in a pair of Ontario junior championships.

Duggan finished fourth in the provincial girls’ U16 singles tennis championships, after losing the bronze-medal match 6-3, 6-2 to Mariya Marinova of the Joshua Creek Golf and Tennis Club.

She won her first three matches to reach the semifinals before losing to Sophie Michelle Dement 6-3, 6-0. Duggan also reached the girls’ doubles semifinals with Dongahen Ding, but lost 8-3 to Dement and Jacey Tian.

At the Ontario girls’ U18 championships, Duggan advanced to the singles quarterfinals, after winning her first two matches, but lost to Tian 6-3, 7-5.

OTTAWA ATHLETES HEADED TO FISU SUMMER GAMES

Seven Ottawa athletes have been named to Team Canada for the FISU World University Summer Games, which start Wednesday in the Rhine-Ruhr region of Germany:

· Sherry Wu, Humber College, badminton, mixed doubles with Kiren Milan Derat;

· Leonarda Andric, University of Ottawa, taekwondo, women’s 67 kilograms;

· Julie Brousseau, University of Florida, swimming, 200, 400 & 800 m freestyle, 200 m IM;

· Ashley McMillan, University of Southern California, swimming, 100 m backstroke & 200 m IM;

· Jessica Gyamfi, University of Ottawa, athletics, shot put and discus;

· Doyin Ogunremi, University of Ottawa, athletics, 200 metres;

· David Moulongou, University of Ottawa, 400-metre hurdles.

EXTRA POINTS

· Gatineau’s Pamphinette Buisa, and Claire Gallagher and Maddy Grant, a pair of former University of Ottawa players, have been named to Canada’s starting 15 for its second of two exhibition women’s rugby matches against South Africa on Saturday in Gqeberha.

· In the first-ever Canada-Great Britain university dual swim meet in Loughborough, England, the visitors swept the team titles as the Canadians took the women’s team crown 144-119 and the men’s title 181-83. Ottawa’s Olivier Risk, who swims for the University of British Columbia, was fourth in the 400-metre freestyle in 3:59.21 and fifth in the 800-metre freestyle in 8:24.54.