HIGH ACHIEVERS: A mother-daughter outing with a unique twist for world dragon boat medallists Megan, Arabella Holtzman

By Martin Cleary

Mother-daughter outings are common occurrences, whether it’s to meet for a cup of coffee, go shopping or travel.

How about flying overseas, paddling multiple races at the International Dragon Boat Federation world dragon boat championships in Brandenberg an der Havel, Germany and winning medals for Canada?

Add it to the list of outing activities.

Megan and Arabella Holtzman, who are members of the Bytown Dragon Boat Club, had their respective mother-daughter worlds experience for the first time earlier this month. But finding enough time to spend together was a challenge with conflicting racing schedules and accommodation arrangements.

“It was amazing,” Megan said in a Friday phone interview about racing at her seventh overall (national team and club crew) world championships and sharing it with Arabella’s inaugural worlds.

“It was interesting because we had different times at the course. We were together a bit, but separate most of the time. Not only were we apart (at the site), but also the girls’ U16 team was (living) in Potsdam and I stayed in Brandenberg. The accommodations were different.”

But when they saw each other before and/or after each other’s races, they used the time to catch up and share their experiences.

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“I had thought we would be roommates,” she added. “But I did see her on the podium, the team tent, the Team Canada area and found her when she finished races and before I was about to start a race.”

In only her 11th month as a dragon boat paddler, Arabella enjoyed sharing her worlds debut with her mother.

“She was my biggest inspiration,” an appreciative Arabella said in a phone interview. “She was the reason I made the national team. I wanted to make her proud and I think I did.”

Since 2025 is an odd-numbered year, that means the world dragon boat championships are dedicated to national team paddlers in multiple age groups from all the countries. In even-numbered years, the worlds are for club crews from various countries.

Last fall, Megan and Arabella started the process of trying out for their respective Senior A (40-plus) and Junior U16 national teams. They went through a battery of on-water, paddle ERG and strength tests in September, December and March before the announcement of the teams representing Canada.

For Megan, it was the second time she qualified to paddle for Canada at worlds. She made her debut in 2019, but missed the 2023 worlds because she contracted COVID-19 before the tryouts.

Twenty years ago, she made her first Canadian dragon boat team for worlds in 2006 in Toronto and followed with appearances in 2008, 2014, 2018 and 2024.

Arabella’s primary sport is sprint canoe racing, but she has also participated in rugby, triathlon, gymnastics, soccer and curling. She struggled with the various tests at the start of tryouts, but hard training over the next seven months allowed her to improve her scores and make the national junior team and be named the girls’ U16 captain.

“I was surprised. I had no idea how it would go,” Arabella said about being named to the national team. “I didn’t have a lot of expectations.

“But I was super excited because my mom had made the team, too.”

On the water, Megan and Arabella made significant contributions to Canada winning its fourth Nations Cup in the past 25 years with a total of 107 medals (51 gold, 41 silver and 15 bronze) from 10 different age-gender categories. Canada also won the Nation’s Cup in 2023, 2015 and 2001.

“Our athletes’ commitment to their sport makes a huge impact,” Dragon Boat Canada executive director Chloe Greenhalgh wrote in an email. “We have a very developed racing scene in Canada (and) right across the country, which builds a culture of excellence.

“We also have some of the best coaches in the world. In Canada, dragon boat is very entrepreneurial, which has resulted in a high level of professionalism in all areas.”

Megan was a double overall team champion as Canada’s paddlers for Senior A (40-plus), Senior B (50-plus) and Senior C (60-plus) competition placed first in their combined event to capture the Seniors Cup. She competed in Senior A races.

At the end of the eight-day world championships, Megan was part of four gold-medal boats, which raced over 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 metres. She usually sat in the back of the standard boat in seats seven or nine. The standard boat has 20 paddlers, one steersperson and one drummer.

Dragon Boat Canada president Julie Robitaille was the drummer on the Senior A boats as well as coach and team manager.

Megan keeps her medals on a railing post and has lost track of the exact number.

Arabella raced in two categories and finished with five medals – silver over 200 m and bronze over 500, 1,000 and 2,000 m in junior girls’ U16, and a bronze over 200 m in the mixed competition.

Winning medals was only a small part of Arabella’s debut world championships.

“It was such an amazing experience. I am lucky to have paddled in it,” explained Arabella, who will compete in canoe races for the Rideau Canoe Club this weekend during the Eastern Ontario Division canoe kayak sprint championships at the Carleton Place Canoe Club.

“I don’t care about the medals, but rather representing Canada, paddling with friends and paddling well.”

Arabella ventured into dragon boat racing three years ago, when she served as the drummer on a club crew team, which included mother.

Going to her first worlds in her first year of dragon boat racing left her unsettled.

“I didn’t know what was going on. It was my first international competition and I was pretty scared,” recalled Arabella, who likely received calming advice from Megan.

Seeing Arabella develop as a paddler was an important benefit of the mother-daughter experience for Megan.

“It was incredible to watch Arabella grow through this experience as she pushed through moments of doubt and stepped up to a leadership role,” Megan wrote in an email.

“I’m so grateful to the Bytown Dragon Boat Club community, who rallied around her and Cam Singh to support the creation of the new U16 crew.

“Club members donated jerseys so the kids could have a proper uniform and our membership officer Michelle Chiu … worked late nights to make sure the crew was fully registered and ready to race. “

For the past 26 years, Megan has been connected to the dragon boat racing scene, starting in 1999, when she was a student at the University of Victoria. She became manager of a team at the company that employed her for the summer. One year was enough as manager and she became a paddler in 2000 and has never looked back.

Megan is in the final year of her three-year term as president of the Bytown Dragon Boat Club, which was founded in 2014.

Besides being a paddler and executive member, Megan also is a Bytown coach. She was the program director for the inaugural Evolution program, which welcomes new paddlers into competitive dragon boat racing.

She coaches two of the three Evolution teams. Evolution Essentials is for newcomers who paddle once a week, while Evolution Plus athletes will train two to three times a week and attend an international competition.

“The team atmosphere keeps me coming back. I want to keep fit the rest of my life and being on a team pushes me to stay fit and help the team,” Megan said.

“People support each other. We learn from each other. For me, it’s that (as well as) being on the water, enjoying nature, sunsets and sunrises and seeing trees.”