The Sydenham Lake Canoe Club hosts Eastern Ontario Division Championships

Julie Druker | Aug 12, 2015

Over 250 young paddlers from six different paddling clubs across Ontario competed at the Eastern Ontario Division Championships, which took place at Sydenham's Point park on August 8 and 9. The small but mighty Sydenham Lake Canoe Club hosted the event, which included competitors from the Rideau, Ottawa River, Carleton Place, North Bay and Gananoque Canoe Clubs. Most of the paddlers competing were aged 11-15 but paddlers as young as eight years old also took part.

It was thanks to a grant from the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation in the summer of 2014 that the Sydenham club was able to restore their course, making it once again a nationally certified one where these kinds of provincial qualifying events can take place. The event was the first of this summer’s qualifying events for the Ontario Championships, which will take place August 15 at the Rideau Canoe Club in Ottawa.

While the Sydenham Club is a considerably smaller club than most, with just six competitors ages 8-16, its members did amazingly well in their events. On Saturday George Willes and Sebastien L'Abbe placed second of 11 in their final K2-500M race. Matt Symons placed first in his K1-1000M race and his twin brother Nic placed third in the same event. Both will move on as direct entries as two of the top seeds in the division. On Sunday the Symons brothers placed first in their K2-500M race, crossing the line well ahead of the pack, which made for a very exciting race. Also of note was Ian Ramzy, who placed second in the K1-100M sprint and he will also move on to the Ontario Championships. Eight-year-old Parker Friendship, the club’s youngest competitor, competed for her very first time and did her personal best in her U11 event.

One of the reasons that this small but talented club does so well is because of the dedication and talent of their coaching staff. Head coach Cia Myles-Gonzalez, a former member of the club for nine years, has been coaching the team for two years now and currently competes as a paddler with the Balmy Beach Canoe Club in Toronto. She has recently qualified to race in two C1 events and two C2 events and in four war canoes at the upcoming Ontario Cup Three Championships in Ottawa on August 16. Gonzalez credited her team for being “dedicated and working very hard towards the event despite the challenges that come with being a small club”. Gonzales also spoke of the home club advantage, saying, “It really helps to know the lake and the course. Sydenham Lake can get really windy and our team has had experience with those conditions, which is an advantage”.

Assistant coach, 16-year-old Rhiannon Murphy is also a long time member of the club and a talented paddler in her own right. Rhiannon will be competing in three events including the K1-100, K1-200 and C1-6K at the national level at the upcoming Canadian Nationals, which will take place in Ottawa at the Rideau Canoe Club from August 25 - 29. Should she place in the top three, she will move on to compete internationally.

Helen Parfitt, vice-commodore of the club, credited Roger L'Abbe and the club’s sprint paddlers for working tirelessly setting up the course prior to the weekend’s championships and she thanked the 30 officials and the 30 community volunteers who helped to make the event run so smoothly. The event is not only an exciting day of racing for competitors, their families and supporters but also attracts between 500-600 people to the area, which is a great thing for economic development in the Sydenham area. Anyone interested in joining or learning more about the SLCC can visit www.sydenhlakecanoeclub.com or call Helen Parfitt at 613-376-6613.