Championships bring all to Montreal
The 22Dragons dragon boat club, with members Robert Deom and Suzy Goodleaf from Kahnawake, competed hard in the Olympic basin over the weekend. Courtesy Pan American Club Crew Championship
Jean Drapeau Park’s Olympic basin was where the latest edition of the 2025 Pan American Club Crew Championships took place last weekend.
Having the championships in Montreal was a change of pace for the dragon boat rowers who usually compete in more tropical locations, according to participant Robert Deom, from Kahnawake.
“Certainly, the other teams looked forward to travelling to and visiting Montreal,” said Deom.
Along with teams local to the province, there were teams from the United States, the Carribean, and teams from China who competed in exhibitions.
“As fun as it is to travel and visit other places, I believe our entire club was content to race on our ‘home turf’ and be able to sleep in our beds each night.”
Deom and Goodleaf competed with the 22Dragons dragon boat club, one of the two largest clubs in Montreal, along with H20 - as Deom put it, their “frenemies.”
“We make very good friends among our teammates, and also with our competitors,” said Deom, who said the social aspect of the sport, due to the sheer number of competitors involved - 10 or 20 paddlers per crew, depending on the competition - is part of what has kept them involved.
Both clubs competed in the Senior C division, specifically made for men and women aged 60 and over - teams compete in the Open, comprised almost exclusively of Men’s, Women’s, or Mixed categories, and participants can be in multiple categories, as both Deom and Goodleaf did.
“The advantage of sports-level dragon boat racing is that high-level competition exists for older athletes,” said Goodleaf.
“Although our times aren’t as fast as for the younger divisions, the competition is still very strong,” said Deom.
The mixed Senior C 22Dragons raced 200m, 500m, and 2,000m races, facing H20 throughout, where they each exchanged close wins - for example, the 22Dragons beat H20 in a 200m heat round by 0.3 seconds on Friday, while H20 beat 22Dragons in the 500m finals on Sunday by 0.11 seconds.
“Even though we lost the 500M by a slim margin, our crew was proud, since we only had 18 paddlers and they had a full boat of 20,” said Deom.
“Our two teams were quite evenly matched, so it was exciting and gratifying that the results were so close.”
All in all, the 22Dragons Senior C teams came away with nine medals from the weekend: one gold, six silver, and two bronze.
One of the bronzes, earned in the 2,000M race, was a significant one for Goodleaf, as it was a race that also included younger categories, and showed that the Senior C team could compete hard even outside their division.
Speaking of competing hard, both Deom and Goodleaf are now in Germany for the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, held from July 14-20, where they will be a part of the Canadian National team.
“Suzy and I have been working hard,” said Deom, who said he’ll be posting the free live stream of the competition on his Facebook page.
For Goodleaf, who will be competing for Canada on an international stage for the fourth time, this edition comes with some extra personal motivation to do well, as her sister, Krissy, passed away during the holidays.
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“I know as an athlete herself, Krissy would be pushing me to do my best,” said Goodleaf.
The full results from the 2025 Pan American Club Crew Championships can be found on their website.
