Helluva season paddlers! The schedule got very, very busy late in the season and many of you pushed through right to the end. Congratulations to everyone that posted times this year, and especially to those that completed all events!
Monthly Prize Draw
Here’s the draw for September, picked randomly from everyone who submitted results in the month. We’ll also send out a little something for everyone that completed all 2022 events…
Probably the toughest challenge of the year, with 4 x 15 km paddles spread out over three days. It was certainly a tough one to pull off both physically and logistically. So, here is the full top ten, with everyone deserving mad credit:
Check out the Race Reports section to see first-hand accounts of the action. Incredible efforts!
Other Final Results
Three other races wrapped up at the end of September. Check out the final results:
All individual race results flow into the 2022 national rankings. Danielle Holdsworth topped the female national ranking this year, with a dedicated and strong performance! Here is your top five… love seeing Ontario, Quebec and Alberta all represented!
In the men’s group, congrats to Ryan Blake who’s consistent effort through the year earned him the national title. Two Quebec paddlers were close behind in a tight battle…
The last weekend the schedule and the weather would allow I decided to take the leap and commit to the Endurance Championship! UGH! What a grind, but so glad I did it! The smoke blew in the heat warnings were still out but the WIND stayed away for the most part! Had people having their morning coffee timing my laps and cheering me on which was kind of fun! This has been a season of big paddles so seemed fitting to complete the challenge! Had to copy Robyn Bell (my fierce paddle buddy otherwise known as HELLZ BELLZ) with her pictures to celebrate each leg down!!
We’re on the home stretch now! Great effort in August. The Canada Cup wrapped up, but a handful of key races remain open, and we have some great battles for the overall 2022 title.
Monthly Prize Draw
Here’s the draw for August, picked randomly from everyone who submitted results in the month:
Dan Miller took the Canada Cup 10 km race with a strong 6:24 pace. Jake Davidson and Ryan Blake were close behind in a tight battle for 2nd and 3rd. And, the leaderboard was bulky just a minute or so behind this podium.
Danielle Holdsworth continued to dominate Season 2022 with a 1 hr 7 minute 10 km run. Megan Sheppard and Wendy Tillett continue to jostle for podium spots.
And the much-respected prone and OC1 results:
From the water
We love seeing the photos of your virtual racing… keep them coming! Half the fun of this league is sharing and seeing where everyone paddles. There are some really beautiful spots out there!
Good job keeping at it in July. The 1000m sprint and Fastest Five were very different events that have become staples of the Canadian Paddle League season. We’re deep into the summer now with longer sprints and endurance work.
Monthly Prize Draw
Here’s the draw for June, picked from everyone who submitted results in the 1000m Sprint, Fastest Five, Downwind Cup and Endurance Challenge:
The 1000m has got to be one of the premier virtual time trials, and this year saw strong results. Ryan Blake topped the pack breaking the 6:00 mark, with Dan Miller and Dmitri Tsvetkov close behind.
Danielle Holdsworth found the top spot again among the girls. Very strong times for the podium finishers.
Alberta paddler continued to top the list in the Fastest Five, racing down the Bow River! Dan Mill cracked a 4:00/km pace to take the win…
Robyn Bell, whoa, just over 20:00 for 5 km – that is moving! Jana Miceli was not far behind, and Marie-Eve knocked out a super fast time in Quebec.
The prone and OC1 results:
From the water
We love seeing the photos of your virtual racing… keep them coming! Half the fun of this league is sharing and seeing where everyone paddles. There are some really beautiful spots out there!
Great effort in June! That was a tough month, with both sprint and endurance races. The 2 hr distance challenge has gotta be the nastiest of the year! Congrats to everyone, and let’s keep it going with some more (fun?) variety in July.
Monthly Prize Draw
Here’s the draw for June, picked from everyone who submitted results in the 1000m Sprint, Fastest Five, Downwind Cup and Endurance Challenge:
Dmitri Tsvetkov knocked out 17.73 km over 2 hrs to claim what we believe is his first Canadian Paddle League title (applause) in what is arguably the toughest event. Sylvain St-Cyr has proven to be an endurance monster and was right on his tail, while Ryan Cuthbert claimed third spot.
Danielle took another one here, with Wendy Tillett and Megan Sheppard rounding out the podium. Tremendous efforts.
Rob Kavcic almost cracked to 20 km mark in his OC1, and Ian Hu and Sharon Purdy continue to grind it out prone. Anyone that has spent 2+ hours paddling prone knows this is no joke!
From the water
We love seeing the photos of your virtual racing… keep them coming! Half the fun of this league is sharing and seeing where everyone paddles. There are some really beautiful spots out there!
Our Clubs had OC workouts today as part of our dragon boat training. We did a 1K time trial with a turn at the beginning of our workout. Whenever you can kill 2 birds with one stone it’s a win win. It was weedy in the bay but very calm. Not too bad overall.
We had a great strong turnout to start the season, and great effort across the board. SUP, OC1 and prone are all represented, as well as Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and the United States. Let’s keep the momentum going through the season!
Monthly Prize Draw
Here’s the draw for May, picked from everyone who submitted results in the 500m Sprint and Spring Classic:
Tim Oliver smoked the Spring Classic with a sub-6:00 pace over 4 km. Dan Miller grabbed second spot, while Ash Adams’ 6:14 pace was good for third place.
The female leaderboard is a copy of the 500m race, led by Danielle Holdsworth. Megan Sheppard clocked in 1 second ahead of Wendy Tillett, a race we would love to have seen live!
Final shout-out to the OC1 and prone paddlers:
From the water
We love seeing the photos of your virtual racing… keep them coming! Half the fun of this league is sharing and seeing where everyone paddles. There are some really beautiful spots out there!
The final 2021 standings are locked in! Kudos to everyone that participated in a great season of virtual racing and motivation. All final national rankings are up on the site and highlighted below. Also, a special shout-out to 24 of you that committed to and completed every event this year!
Note: We’re also sending out some Cdn Pdl League toques to the top-3 national ranking finishers for male/female/SUP/OC1. And, we have a small trophy for all of you that completed every event this year.
True North Strong
Amazing commitment by everyone on this list. We know it’s not easy to hit every event on time, in good conditions, but 24 of you stuck with it for the entire season. Trophies will be sent out to you soon:
Men SUP Results
Dan Miller finished on top of the men’s ranking in 2021 with 942.6 points. A solid performance that came with three outright wins. Sylvain St-Cyr takes second spot, helped by an impressive win in the Endurance Championship. Ryan Blake was a few points behind for third place on season. Alberta, Quebec and Ontario representing on the podium–nice!
Danielle Holdsworth didn’t leave much to the imagination as the season closed out, dominating for the much of the year and leading the pack with 952.3 points. Wendy Tillett’s steady effort earner her second spot in the 2021 national ranking, with Megan Sheppard pushing for third.
Rob Kavcic led the men’s OC1 charge, sticking with every event through the season. Marianne Tai edged out Carole Fullerton by just a few points in a tight battle in the female group. It looks like a strong Downwind Cup was the real deciding factor after some very close times between the two!
What a great finish to the season! You guys went hard to the finish, that’s for certain. Here’s the draw for September, picked from everyone who submitted results in the 2000m, Paddle Battle and Downwind Cup.
Dan Miller took the men’s SUP race a 12:13 time, almost cracking the 6:00/km barrier. Ryan Blake continued to move up the leaderboard as the season progressed, taking the silver medal position in the 2000m. Brad Petrus rounds out the podium.
Danielle Holdsworth, doing her business, claimed another top spot in the long sprint with a strong 12:55 time. Kudos to Julia Barnes for putting Alberta on the podium again for the women, and Megan Shepard with a strong effort to take third.
Strong paces all around in the OC1 race, with Rob Kavcic and Marianne Tai taking top honours for the guys and girls.
The five-buoy course brought out some nifty designs in the Paddle Battle. While we hoped to meet up in person for a legit BoP-style race in the surf, we never quite got the conditions we wanted on the right day (until two days after the race window closed, of course!). Maybe next season we’ll widen the window so we can really have a memorable event in the surf. In the meantime, Dan Miller topped the podium, continuing a strong September showing. Ian Connor and Brad Petrus round out the podium.
Danielle was at it again in this one, with an impressive pace over 6 km including turns. Tara Imerson found the podium again, while Alanna Gergor gets a shout-out for a strong performance in this one.
OC1s on a buoy course is…interesting. Marianne Tai knocked out a beauty in 34:58, with Carole Fullerton just 12 secs behind. Rob Kavcic topped the guys.
The season-long Downwind Cup was a fun one to watch as result trickled in over the past five months. Great effort by everyone that pushed their limits and took their paddling out into the open water. These point-to-point open-water paddles are not easy, so kudos to everyone that took it on, regardless of time.
Ash Adams took the men’s SUP race (point ranking), edging out Rob Kavcic with a smokin’ 5:30 pace over 15 km on Lake Huron. And there’s Dan Miller again stalking the podium.
We knew Jessica Rando was out there, and she showed up with purpose in the Downwind Cup with a 6:17 pace over 12km. Ariel Amaral found the second spot with a fast one on Lake Simcoe, and Wendy Tillett found the podium again.
The OC1s rip in the bumps, and there were some fast times here. Rob K took the pace to 4:47 over 12 km, and Marianne Tai led the girls. Shout-out to Stella Gan who found the podium with a strong pace in the bumps.
This year we tried something a bit different with the ‘special event’, adding running shoes and a bike to the mix. Congrats to everyone that pushed through this one. Ryan Blake and Dan Dakin had a very close battle, and it would have been great to see this in person. Alanna Gregor topped the women’s group.
Here’s the draw for August, picked from everyone who submitted results in the Canada Cup and Endurance Championship. Note that we pulled a few repeat winners, but we’re putting those names aside for now.
Tim and Dan battled it out again in the 10 km Canada Cup, with Tim topping the leaderboard in 1:02:05. Sylvain St-Cyr found the podium with a very strong 1:05:02 time. This event hurt a bit being straight out and back for most paddlers.
Danielle Holdsworth continues to run away in the female season SUP ranking, taking the Canada Cup in a very strong 1:08:56. That’s a very fast sub-7:00 pace over 10 km. Kimberly Kenyon put B.C. on the podium, and Megan Cynowa took up the U.S. flag. Great showing by all girls in this one!
The OC1 race was tight at the top. Rob K brought it home in under an hour to lead the guys. Marianne Tai almost broke the 1 hr mark to finish atop the girls podium.
This was a big one. When we set the endurance format for this season (12-hr all-you-can-paddle), we weren’t quite sure what the response would be. But the distance junkies went out with purpose. Sylvain St-Cyr knocked out 80 km to lead all SUP paddlers (which is probably about twice what we thought people would put down), surely one of the most noteworthy efforts of the season so far. Max Ackford and Ryan Blake each topped 70 km to round out the podium.
Danielle was at it again in this one, posting a 70 km total, while Tara Imerson and Megan Sheppard each broke 50 km. These are impressive efforts to say the least!
Catherine Smyth led the OC pack with nearly 100 km within 12 hrs! Marianne and Carole Fullerton took it past 50 km to round out the podium. It looks like the OC1 boys played it cool in this one (or maybe ran out of time?)
