HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Milestone moment for Ottawa River Canoe Club at Canadian canoe sprint championships

By Martin Cleary

The Ottawa River Canoe Club has been around since 2001 and a regular participant at the annual Canadian canoe sprint championships across the country.

But never in its 25-year history has it had a milestone moment like it experienced at the recent nationals, which ended Sunday at the Wascana Canoe Club in Regina.

For the first time, Ottawa River placed first in one of the 11 point standings and earned a traditional national burgee (flag) to commemorate its significant achievement.

Ottawa River was the champion in the PaddleAll category, which is designed specifically for paddlers with intellectual disabilities, including autism and Down syndrome.

“It’s the first time. It’s very exciting,” said L.A. Schmidt, a coach and co-founder of the club. “We don’t go to events like this ever thinking we will win a burgee.”

When it came time to present the PaddleAll burgee in a podium ceremony, Schmidt and her paddlers didn’t know what to expect. Before the event, an unsuspecting Schmidt was asked by organizers to give the burgee to the top club.

“When they were announcing the top teams, it got down to three and two and ‘oh my God, we just won,’” a shocked Schmidt said in a phone interview Tuesday.

“I was presenting the burgee to the winners and the announcer was rhyming off the points. The kids didn’t know what to do. I said come up here. I was staring at them and they were standing with each other and their families. We were all looking at each other. We did it.”

When Schmidt and her husband Bevan created the club, the main goal was to make it all-inclusive, welcoming able-bodied youth and adults and those with a full range of disabilities.

During the past dozen years, Ottawa River has created and grown its PaddleAll program. Today, it has 15 paddlers in its competitive program and another 20 on the recreational side.

Ottawa River has an integrated training program, which has the paddlers with disabilities, whether physical or intellectual, working together with the abled athletes.

L.A. Schmidt, head coach Ethan Page, Maya Kerr and Andrea Nicholls, the club’s fitness trainer and a former coach, plus a team of volunteers have strived to produce quality PaddleAll athletes.

“We teach them the joy of doing the sport,” said Schmidt, who will hang the burgee and team photos in the Para Building (Schmidt Boat House) for more inspiration during training sessions. “I believe the athletes out there feel so special on the water.

“They’re committed to training in the winter, listening to their coach, improving their techniques and getting better. They put in the time and the commitment.”

The PaddleAll athletes are passionate about their sport and find it purposeful.

This has been a remarkable season for the Ottawa River PaddleAll program as its athletes also won the boys, girls and overall burgees at the Ontario and the Eastern Ontario championships.

Kevin Tobin and Mustafa Hussein, who both have autism, were the driving force behind Ottawa River’s unprecedented national burgee victory. They combined for four gold and three silver PaddleAll medals.

Tobin and Hussein won the men’s kayak pair (K2) 200 metres by more than 11 seconds. In the touring K1 200-metre final, Tobin was first, finishing slightly more than two seconds ahead of Hussein. The margin of victory was down to six-tenths of a second, when Hussein captured the ICF K1 200 metres over runner-up Tobin.

In the sport’s unified open men’s K2 200 metres, which combines a PaddleAll athlete with an abled kayaker, Tobin and Blake Preuss were first, while Hussein and Elias Gharbi took second.

Tobin then quickly departed Regina en route to Hungary to represent Canada at the 2025 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships.

Read More: Ottawa River Special Olympics paddler Kevin Tobin heads to Hungary for Canoe Marathon World Championships

In the overall standings at the Canadian canoe sprint championships, Ottawa River finished 18th with 107 points. It started the five-day championships in 25th place, but improved every day and climbed seven positions by the end.

Maskwa Aquatic Club of Halifax dominated the competition with 869 points for its third consecutive national overall burgee, while the Rideau Canoe Club, a five-time champion between 2018-23, was a distant second at 475 points. Lac Beauport took third at 458 points, while the Carleton Place Canoe Club was 19th at 102 points.

Rideau, which will play host to the Canadian championships for the 31st time in 2026, won the men’s senior points burgee, was second in the Para division, third in the women’s U18 class and fourth in the men’s junior and women’s senior divisions.

Carleton Place was sixth in the race for the women’s U 18 and men’s U16 burgees.

Here are the national medallists from the Rideau, Carleton Place and Ottawa River clubs:

GOLD: Ryan Naroditsky, Rideau, men’s junior K2 200 metres with David Stewart; Toshka Beshara, Rideau, women’s senior K1 200 metres and women’s junior K1 500 metres; Madeleine Beauregard, Rideau, women’s U18 C1 500 metres and women’s U18 C1 1,000 metres; Peter Bradley, Rideau, men’s senior C1 1,000 metres and men’s senior C2 1,000 metres with Cole Norman; Gabriel Ferron-Bouius, Rideau, men’s para K1 200 metres, men’s para Vaa 500 metres and men’s para Vaa 200 metres; Abbigail Haines and Isabel Lowry, Carleton Place, women’s U18 C2 200 metres.

SILVER: Ryan Naroditsky, Rideau, men’s junior K1 200 metres and men’s senior K2 500 metres with Alexander Hoferek; Alexander Hoferek, Rideau, men’s senior K1 200 metres; Alexander Hoferek, Gabriel Ferron-Bouius, Ryan Naroditsky and David Stewart, Rideau, men’s open K4 200 metres; Toshka Besharah, Emily Best, Malya Gagnon and Paige MacKinnon, Rideau, women’s open K4 200 metres; Kate Osborne, Rideau, women’s U18 K1 1,000 metres; Abbigail Haines, Carleton Place, women’s U18 C1 200 metres; Roenn Hodgins, Carleton Place, men’s U16 C1 1,000 metres; Roenn Hodgins, Carleton Place, men’s U16 C2 500 metres with Luka Ribero; Isabel Lowry, Carleton Place, women’s U18 C1 500 metres; William Bertazzo, Roenn Hodgins, Mason Lowry and Luke Ribero, men’s U16 IC4 500 metres; Madeleine Beauregard, Nuala Clark, Naomi Langenbahn and Veronica Rumscheidt, women’s U18 IC4 500 metres; Sara Clermont, Ottawa River, women’s para K1 500 metres and women’s para K1 200 metres; Roenn Hodgins and Luka Ribero, Carleton Place, men’s U16 C2 1,000 metres; Abbigail Haines and Isabel Lowry, Carleton Place, women’s U18 C2 500 metres; Juniper Code, Alison Nguyen, Beatrice Oger and Ella Semeniuk, Carleton Place, women’s U16 K4 1,000 metres; Rideau, women’s senior C15 500 metres, Adam Baird captain.

BRONZE: Kate Osborne, Rideau, women’s U18 K1 200 metres and women’s U18 K1 500 metres; Cole Norman, Rideau, men’s senior C1 500 metres; Peter Bradley, Rideau, men’s senior C2 500 metres with Cole Norman; Madeleine Beauregard and Naomi Langenbahn, Rideau, women’s U18 C2 1,000 metres; Abbie Begbie and Zoe Hatfield, Ottawa River, women’s U16 K2 1,000 metres; Peter Bradley and Cole Norman, Rideau, men’s senior C2 500 metres; Rideau, men’s senior C15 1,000 metres, Adam Baird captain.

The nationals came shortly after two local paddlers – Brianna Hennessy from Ottawa River and Rideau’s Zoe Wojtyk – earned silver medals at the Canoe Sprint World Championships in Italy.

Read More: WEEKENDS WRAP: Ottawa athletes win canoe world silver, plus national, continental & international titles in sailing, athletics & tennis

ISAIAH IBIT TAKING HIS GOLF GAME AROUND THE WORLD

Isaiah Ibit will be a world traveller over the next two months.

The Kent State University sophomore is already in Mishima, Japan, where the Golden Flashes will participate in their 2025-26 opening tournament during the second annual Pan Pacific University Golf Super League at the Grand Fields Golf Club.

Ibit, who was second at the Canadian men’s amateur championship at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club following a playoff, is one of five players on the Kent State team, which will compete against other NCAA Division 1 and international squads.

Golf Canada recently named Ibit as one of its three men for the world amateur team championship at the Tanah Merah Country Club in Singapore Oct. 8-11.

Ibit was named the Mid-American Conference rookie of the year for 2024-25 at Kent State, had three top-five results and 13 rounds of golf in the 60s.

15 GRIDIRON ACADEMY PLAYERS ON NCAA FOOTBALL TEAMS

The 2025 NCAA Division 1 football season has started and five players with connections to Gridiron Academy had their efforts noted on the home-opener results sheets.

Defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor made three solo tackles, recorded 1.5 sacks and had 1.5 tackles for a loss as the Miami University Hurricanes defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 27-24.

Linebacker Darius McKenzie helped the University of South Alabama to a 38-21 victory over Morgan State University with one tackle and four assists.

Wesley Bailey and Rene Konga, who patrol the defensive line for the University of Louisville, made an impression in the Cardinals’ 51-17 win over Eastern Kentucky University. Bailey had one tackle and one assist, while Konga notched one tackle.

Quarterback Christian Veilleux completed four of 11 passes for 52 yards and registered one touchdown and one interception as Georgia State University lost 63-7 to the University of Mississippi. He also ran four times for 21 yards.

The other Ottawa players on NCAA rosters for the 2025 Division 1 season are: Evan Aubrey and Etison Pholo, both of Southern Louisiana University, and Elijah St. John of Purdue University, all defensive linemen; Christos Zigoumis of the University of Connecticut, Ewan Newton of Harvard University, Uber Ajongo of Wake Forest University and Success Chikezie of the University of New Haven, all offensive linemen; Khalid Campbell of Bryant University and Hugo Djeumeni of Yale University, both running backs; and Josh Baka of the University of Alabama Birmingham, defensive back.

LOCAL PLAYERS PROMINENT AT CANADIAN MEN’S SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Softball Canada national men’s, men’s U23 and men’s masters championships in Kitchener had plenty of local talent in various lineups. And several players earned all-star status.

Tyler Branchaud, who plays for the Manotick Brewers in the Greater Ottawa Fastball League, helped Rostock Toronto Junior Batmen to the U23 gold medal with a 3-2 decision over Tavistock Merchants.

Jack Becker of Manotick was picked up by the Merchants and was an all-star infielder. Joe Mick of the Micksburg Twins also played for Tavistock.

In the U23 third-place game, Conner Hopper of the West Carleton Electric helped New Hamburg to the bronze medal as did Adam Roth of Manotick. Hopper also represented Ontario at the recent Canada Summer Games and earned a gold medal.

At the national men’s masters (40-plus) championship, Cobourg Force outscored Waterdown Hammer 7-5. Gregg Garrity, a former GOFL player, was the winning pitcher and playoff-round MVP Drew Hathway of the Quyon Flyers hit a home run.

Brad Pender of the Vars Aces also celebrated the gold medal with the Force. He was selected to the all-star team. Adam Brown of West Carleton Electric captured a silver medal with Watertown.

Micksburg Twins finished their pool play at 1-5 and lost a tiebreaker game for the eighth and final berth in the quarterfinals at the Canadian men’s championship. Jared Steege posted a .417 battering average, hit two home runs and added four RBI to earn all-star team honours.

END NOTES

· National badminton coach Mike Butler of Ottawa experienced Canadian sports history at the world badminton championships in Paris, when Victor Lai of Markham, ON, won the bronze medal in men’s singles. It was the first time Canada had ever won a medal at the worlds. Lai, 20, defeated defending champion Loh Kean Yew of South Korea 22-20, 21-18 in the quarterfinals before losing to world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi of China 13-21, 22-20 and 21-16. The loss guaranteed Lai a bronze medal. Lai had three match points in the second game.

· The Ottawa South United Force endured difficult early one-goal losses in the boys’ and girls’ U15 events at the Canadian Player Development Program Soccer Championships in Vaughan, but both teams rebounded to earn bronze medals with single-goal victories over challengers from Quebec and B.C. respectively.

· Ottawa’s Jonathan David scored the game-winning goal in his debut with Juventus, a 2-0 decision over Parma. He received a standing ovation, when he left the game in the 80th minute. Last weekend, Juventus shut out Genoa 1-0. David played 62 minutes and had one shot.

· Maverick Volleyball Club product Jordan Canham led Canada in scoring with 16 points in the bronze medal match of the 2025 Men’s Pan Am Cup tournament in Mexico. The straight-sets win over Colombia was Canada’s fourth victory in five matches. The Mavs’ Vicky Savard and the Canadian women’s volleyball team were eliminated in the round of 16 at the FIVB World Championships by USA in a sweep.

· Competing in their first international pairs competition together, Brianna Dion of Ottawa and Jacob Cote of Halifax placed ninth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix meet in Ankara, Turkey.

· The 59-athlete Canadian team to the World Athletics championships Sept. 13-21 in Tokyo will include five local runners: Audrey Leduc, Gatineau, women’s 100 and 200 metres and 4×100-metre relay; Eliezer Adjibi, C.A.N.I. Athletics, men’s 4×100-metre relay; Lauren Gale, Ottawa Lions, women’s 400 metres and 4×400-metre relay; Jacqueline Madogo, Royal City, women’s 4×100-metre relay; and Maeliss Trapeau, Ottawa Lions, women’s 800 metres.

· Ottawa Pacers product Matthew Freitag placed 12th overall and second out of the men’s Neo-Senior B2 category at the Aug. 23-31 Canadian Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Montreal. Freitag’s top result came in the third 1,500 m event, where he reached the A final and placed fifth.

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