Goodleaf wins mutiple medals
Courtesy Suzy Goodleaf
Kahnawa’kehró:non Suzy Goodleaf earned a gold, silver, and bronze medal in the final race results at the 2026 2nd Can American Club Crew Championships in Montreal’s Olympic Basin at Parc Jean-Drapeau.
Four Kahnawa’kehró:non competed in the 22Dragons, a dragon boat sports team, along with Goodleaf, including Erica Delisle, Robert Deom and Leslie Walker at the championships from July 17 to 20.
“It’s really great, I’ve been doing this for 10 years now. I’ve been on the national team four times, and I may try out again,” said Goodleaf, who competed on five teams. “But the reason why I keep doing it is so I can keep being healthy, because there’s a certain level of athleticism that you need to do this.”
From the teams’ results in points, Goodleaf won gold in the Senior C mixed team, silver in the Senior B mixed team, and bronze in the Senior C open small-boat races.
Both the Senior B and Senior C women team’s Goodleaf paddled on won fourth place from the teams’ points.
For each division, athletes compete in two 200-metre races, two 500-metre races, and a final two KM race.
Goodleaf won additional medals from the 200-metre, 500-metre, and two KM races.
The Senior B division includes athletes over 49, and Seniors C includes athletes over 59 years old.
It is exceptional for Goodleaf, who is 61, to compete in the Senior B division. Only herself and two other paddlers, who were also in the Canadian National Dragon Boat Team, were on the Senior B teams.
Sign up for email updates from The Eastern Door
“I was really happy to be able to be on not only the C team, which is my age division, but the B team as well, which was a nice acknowledgement of all the work I’ve done,” said Goodleaf.
Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
