HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Ottawa and Bytown dragon boat club paddlers help Canada storm to world championship

By Martin Cleary

Canadian athletes are striking it rich in a wide variety of arenas, like hockey, basketball, speed skating and swimming to name a few.

But there’s at least one sport that flies deeply under the radar and has regular success on the world scene, but asks its athletes to do it all on their own.

Make room for dragon boat racing and those true amateur paddlers will need plenty of room because of their large, ornate boats, whether they’re in a 20-seat standard canoe or a 10-seater small canoe. Each boat also has a steersperson and a drummer.

“In Canada, we are a completely self-funded sport and our athletes are the best in the world and deserve notice,” Dragon Boat Canada executive director Chloe Greenhalgh wrote in an email to High Achievers on Tuesday.

Best in the world, indeed, as Canada stroked its way to another Nations Cup title at the 17th International Dragon Boat Foundation world dragon boat racing championships, which concluded Sunday in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany.

After eight days of racing heats, repechages and finals for standard and small canoes in nine age and gender classes over 200-, 1,000- and 2,000-metre courses, Canada finished on top of the overall medal standings as the only country to exceed the century mark.

By earning the most medals, Canada won the Nations Cup and also received the Seniors Cup for the best overall results in the A, B and C racing categories.

“It is not a first (Nations Cup) though it is no less special as the competition gets tougher every year,” Greenhalgh added.

Whether based on the most gold medals won or the most medals captured overall, Canada was the most dominant country with a runaway 51 gold and 107 overall medals. Completing the stats picture, Canada also notched 41 silver and 15 bronze medals.

China, the powerhouse in the small-boat races, was second in the overall standings with 32 gold, but managed only 48 medals in total along with nine silver and seven bronze.

The United States was Canada’s most dogged competitor with a third-place showing. The Americans posted 26 gold, but were stronger in the other two columns with 30 silver and 42 bronze for 98 medals in total.

Canada also won the Seniors Cup by scoring 27 gold, 12 silver and five bronze medals in A, B and C division races.

The Ottawa Dragon Boat Club and the Bytown Dragon Boat Club, which had a combined 33 paddlers on the Canadian roster including one independent, provided plenty of firepower for their Canadian crews, and delivered a lot of medals.

Ottawa club paddlers were part of 81 medal performances – 41 gold, 25 silver and 15 bronze – while the Bytown athletes contributed to 61-medal efforts – 33 gold, 17 silver and 11 bronze.

It’s too challenging to determine the number of medals won by each of the 33 Ottawa and Bytown club padders unless you ask them individually.

In the standard boat races, Canada was first with 82 medals (38-33-11), while the U.S. was a close second at 80 medals (25-25-30) and China was third with 21 medals (10-5-6). The small boat races saw China post the most wins at 22 for first place along with four silver and one bronze for a total of 27 medals. Canada was runner-up at 13-8-4-25 and Ukraine took third at 11-16-9-36.

Here are the Ottawa and Bytown club paddlers who competed at the world championships:

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-Andree 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.

OTTAWA ROWING CLUB JUNIORS WIN MEDALS AT MICHIGAN REGATTA

Ottawa Rowing Club’s Henrik Neuspiel took an important step in his transition to rowing from kayaking by winning three medals at the inaugural International Rowing Challenge in Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor, Michigan.

He also was able to share his achievements with clubmates and Canada’s White Team peers Jack Coulson and Maxim Froeschl, who earned two medals apiece.

Bow Myles Quintyn of the Niagara Falls Rowing Club, Neuspiel, Coulson and stroke Froeschl captured the gold medal in the men’s quad sculls in four minutes, 51.22 seconds. The Canadian team finished 2.5 seconds ahead of Mexico at 4:53.73, while the United States was third in 4:55.20.

Coulson, Neuspiel and Froeschl occupied seats in the middle of the mixed 8 with coxswain boat and earned the silver medal in 4:49.84. The United States was first at 4:48.10.

Neuspiel and Quintyn combined to finish a distant third for the bronze medal in the men’s double sculls final in 5:23.71. New Zealand and Mexico were one-two respectively in the tight finish at 5:14.39 and 5:14.90.

In the men’s pair, Coulson (stroke) and Froeschl (bow) were fifth in 5:30.85.

Ottawa Rowing Club’s Samaya Khosla, who was on Canada’s Red Team, raced in two B finals – fourth in the coxed four in 5:59.67 and sixth in the mixed 8 with coxswain in 5:14.23.

HIGH PARK DOWNS SOUTH OTTAWA TO WIN ONTARIO LITTLE LEAGUE MAJORS TITLE

Undefeated Toronto High Park rolled to the Ontario Little League Baseball majors championship in Oakville on Tuesday morning, despite strong efforts from the South Ottawa Blues and the East Nepean Eagles.

The powerhouse High Park team defeated South Ottawa 11-1 to win the provincial title and a berth in the Canadian championship next week in Victoria. The national champion will represent Canada at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

South Ottawa qualified for the Ontario final by turning back the Eagles 4-2 on Monday. The nine-team, double-elimination championship saw South Ottawa finish with a 4-2 record, while East Nepean, which won its first three games by the identical score of 14-2, was 3-2.

At the double-elimination Ontario Little League juniors championship in Timmins, East Nepean Eagles reached the final, but lost the final game 14-2 to the Kingston Colts. Kingston advances to the national championship in Lethbridge, AB.

The Eagles had a 3-2 record, while the Carleton-Russell Expos were 0-2.

After winning the Ontario title on their home diamond, the Ottawa West Twins bowed out in the semi-finals of the Canadian intermediate championship tournament with a 7-6 defeat to Alberta. The 3-3 Twins will face host Kingston in the bronze medal match Wednesday.

PLENTY OF OTTAWA COACHING CONTENT ON ONTARIO U18 FOOTBALL ROSTER

Defending champion Ontario lost 37-34 in overtime to Alberta in the championship game of the Football Canada Cup in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

Running back Joel Thorpe scored his fourth touchdown in overtime to give Alberta the boys’ U18 gold medal.

While there were no Ottawa players on the Ontario roster, there were five coaches with connections to the capital.

Head coach Tommy Kanichis played for the Carleton University Ravens from 2013 to 2016 and is a former Ottawa Sooners junior football coach. Assistant Ontario coach Jean-Philippe Asselin was head coach of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in 2010 and 2011 and was on the 2016 Ravens staff.

Assistant Chris Coulson spent six years as offensive co-ordinator with the Gee-Gees from 2005-11 and has coached with Cumberland Panthers and Gloucester South Raiders in the National Capital Amateur Football Association. He crossed paths with Ontario assistant Irv Daymond, who was on the Gee-Gees coaching roster from 2006-11. Daymond also played with the Ottawa Rough Riders from 1986-95.

Assistant coach Donnavan Carter played three seasons for the Ottawa Renegades in the early 2000s.

At the Eastern regional football challenge in Antigonish, Quebec defeated Ontario 21-10 for its sixth consecutive title.

Ontario reached the final with a 37-0 win over New Brunswick. The Ontario roster included linebacker Hayden Steeves of Osgoode and St. Mark High School, receiver Eric Shillington of Woodroffe High School and coaches Nathan Walker of the University of Ottawa and Nigel Williams, who played for the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1995 and the Ottawa Renegades in 2002.

SHINYAO ZHANG WINS QUEBEC JUNIOR GIRLS’ GOLF TITLE

Ottawa Valley Golf Association players Shinyao Zhang of the Rivermead Golf Club and Hogan Blais of the Camelot Golf and Country Club posted top-three finishes at the Quebec junior girls’ and boys’ golf championships in Thetford.

In her final year as a junior golfer, Zhang won the girls’ title with four consistent rounds, shooting 75-75-72-75 for a nine-over-par 297. She took the overall lead with an even-par 72 after the third round and captured the title by three strokes following the fourth and final round.

Zhang has qualified for the 72-hole Canadian junior girls’ championships Aug. 13-16 at the Sainte-Marie Golf Club and will represent Quebec in the two-round team competition.

Florence Ho of the Ottawa Hunt placed eighth at 78-80-84-77-319.

Hogan was third in the junior boys’ championship with a nine-under score of 279 from rounds of 71-69-71-68. Thomas Grenier of Thetford won at 14-under, after shooting 68-68-67-71-274.

END NOTES

· Former Ottawa Rowing Club athlete Adam Griesbach of the University of Western has been named to the Canadian team for the world U23 rowing championships, which are slated to start Wednesday in Poznan, Poland. The Ottawa Rowing Club will be represented in the women’s 8 by coxswain Victoria Grieder of Rutgers University and the Orlando Area Rowing Society and Isobel Campbell of the University of California Berkeley and the Northfield Mount Herman Rowing Club.

· Spain edged Canada 70-68 in the bronze-medal game at the FIBA U19 women’s basketball World Cup in Brno, Czechia. After winning its first five games, Canada dropped its semifinal 87-75 to Australia. Ottawa’s Rachael Okokoh averaged 3.5 points and 2.7 rebounds a game as Canada posted a 5-2 overall record. Syla Swords, the daughter of former Ottawa player Shawn, averaged 15.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists a game.

· Tyler Branchaud of Metcalfe has returned to the Canadian men’s U23 roster and will play in the World Baseball Softball Confederation Americas men’s softball championship Sept. 13-20 in Santa Rosa (La Pampa), Argentina.

· Three local sprinters have been named to Athletics Canada’s roster for the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association track and field championships Aug. 15-17 in Freeport, Grand Bahamas – Lauren Gale, Ottawa Lions, women’s 400 metres; Audrey Leduc, Gatineau Athletics Club, women’s 100 and 200 metres; and Jacqueline Madogo, Royal City Athletics Club, women’s 200 metres.

· Canada placed second in the $70,000 CSI03 Nations Cup at Caledon, ON. Amy Millar and her ride Jagger HX were the anchors on the team, which included Amy’s father Ian as chef d’equipe.

· Owen Wagner of the National Capital Outaouais ski team and Mont Ste. Marie, has been named to the Ontario alpine ski team.

· Ottawa’s Cara MacDonald was the 10th Canadian and 17th overall out of 58 competitors at the 2025 Americas Triathlon Cup Montreal at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Saturday. The Glebe Collegiate Institute grad who competed for NCAA schools Queens University of Charlotte and Arizona State University finished in 59:49, while Canadian Desirae Ridenour won in 57:12.