The Rideau Canoe Club (RCC) is a

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

club located on the

Rideau River The Rideau River (french: Rivière Rideau) is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at the Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is . As explained in a writin ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The club is located at Mooney's Bay, where the

Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal, also known unofficially as the Rideau Waterway, connects Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, to Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River at Kingston. It is 202 kilometres long. The name ''Rideau'', French for "curtain", ...

splits away from the river prior to joining up with the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...

History

The club was founded in 1902 as the Rideau Aquatic Club with a clubhouse on the

near the Exhibition Grounds designed by

Moses Chamberlain Edey Moses Chamberlain Edey (1845–1919) was an Ottawa architect who designed the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park, a National Historic Site and the Daly Building (1905–1992), which was Ottawa's first department store. His architectural style ...

in 1904-5. A memorial brass plaque on a flag pole is dedicated to the memory of the members who fell during the First World War. In 1981, this memorial was rededicated to include the members of the Club who fell during the Second World War. The clubhouse was on the canal at Fifth Avenue in

the Glebe The Glebe is a neighbourhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located just south of Ottawa's downtown area in the Capital Ward. According to the Glebe Community Association, the neighbourhood is bounded on the north by the Queensway, on the ...

until the 1940s, when it was destroyed by winter ice. In 1946, the club reorganized as the Rideau Canoe Club and in the following year, relocated to its current location at Mooney's Bay. Club facilities include a clubhouse with five boat bays and a repair shop, and two 'annex' boat storage buildings set somewhat back from the water. The club is directly adjacent to a set of locks on the Rideau Canal. A book on the history of the club has been written by lifetime member Mike Scott. In June 2009, it was announced that the RCC was to receive funding for an expansion project. The governments of Canada, Ontario and Ottawa each contributed up to $594,000. Additional funding was raised by the Club for a total project cost of more than $2.3 million. The current facility officially opened on September 3, 2010 accommodating more programming for educational and day-camp operations and training for athletes from beginners to Olympians. The facility is also fully accessible to visitors and athletes with

disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

. The new lounge in the club house was named the Mike Scott Lounge after his extensive community service and extraordinary community service record.

Programs

Traditional events include K-1, K-2, K-4, C-1, C-2, C-4 (Canadian and International) and C-15 (

War Canoe A war canoe is a watercraft of the canoe type designed and outfitted for warfare, and which is found in various forms in many world cultures. In modern times, such designs have become adapted as a sport, and "war canoe" can mean a type of flatwat ...

), where a K-2 is a 2-person kayak and C-4 is a 4-person canoe, etc. Several programs are offered, encompassing children and teenagers of varying experience and skill levels, high-performance paddlers, and Masters paddlers (age 25 and up). Rideau traditionally hosts a

Canada Day Canada Day (french: Fête du Canada), formerly known as Dominion Day (french: Fête du Dominion), is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 18 ...

regatta, drawing high-performance athletes from across Canada and the United States.

Dragon Boat A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China, different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of t ...

practices are frequently held at the club and the Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival is held on the club's course, with visiting teams setting up across the river. The club also offers courses in more conventional recreational canoes, kayaks and

stand up paddle boards Standup paddleboarding (SUP) is a water sport born from surfing with modern roots in Hawaii. Stand up paddleboarders stand on boards that are floating on the water, and use a paddle to propel themselves through the water. The sport was do ...

, and is the venue for the Head of the Rideau

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

, held annually in late September by the

Ottawa Rowing Club The Ottawa Rowing Club (ORC) is a rowing club based in the city of Ottawa, Ontario. It is the oldest continuous rowing club in Canada. It is a registered club with Rowing Canada and Row Ontario. Location Members of the Ottawa Rowing Club practic ...

Notable successes

The club has won the overall Canadian Championship eight times: 1923, 1925, 1927, 1973, 1985, 2002, 2015, 2018 and 2019. Former Olympians

Sue Holloway Susan Holloway (born May 19, 1955) is a Canadian retired cross-country skier and sprint canoeist. In 1976, Holloway became the first woman and first Canadian to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in the same year, competing in c ...

Renn Crichlow Renn Crichlow (born May 9, 1968) is a Canadian sprint kayaker who competed from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. He won a complete set of medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with gold (K-1 500 m: 1991), a silver (K-1 500 m ...

Angus Mortimer Angus Mortimer (born September 4, 1985) is a Canadian former sprint kayaker. He represented Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, finishing ninth in the K-4 1000 m event. He won a gold medal in the 2007 Pan American Games K-1 1000m. ...

, Kristin Gauthier, and

Rhys Hill Rhys Hill (born February 8, 1986) is a Canadian sprint kayaker who competed in the late 2000s. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of Ch ...

trained at RCC, and several high-level Canadian athletes call Rideau their current home club. Canada's Sprint Canoe Clubs: Rideau Canoe Club http://cfly.ca/canoe/Rideau.htm The Rideau Canoe Club is also home to the 2018 Olympic Hopes U-16 women's C-1 200m champion.

References

External links

The Rideau Canoe Clubthe Canadian Canoe AssociationCollections Canada images of the Rideau Canoe Club
{{Canoeing and kayaking Canoe clubs in Canada 1902 establishments in Ontario Sport in Ottawa

History

Programs

Notable successes

Further reading

References

External links