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saying, “Although we love this house. We love Russell. It’s a great place to live.” But says dad, Marc, “We decided as parents that we didn’t want to stand in our children’s way.” They have been unable to sell their home in the time since. Their home, the site of the first home in Russell Township, is immediately adjacent to the property pro- posed as a mega-landfill site. His parents are very proud of Zac’s time management skills, which they say is im- portant for student athletes to master, and enjoying watching younger son Adam move up in the sport—even if it means fa- ther and son are in Lake Placid, while moth- er and son are in Gananoque at a different race. Says dad, “It’s a different mindset, the boys are self-motivated. Zac wants to beat the entire American team this year in Dart- mouth.” Zacharie Richard : one of Ontario’s best canoeists CANDICE VETTER candice.vetter@eap.on.ca
at Rideau Canoe Club. He says he saw other people on the water in these “nice, skimpy, little canoes” and wanted to try racing. About four years ago he began racing a lot, including practicing in the early morn- ing and late afternoon daily, and racing on weekends. He has also recently started at- tending three-week March break training camps in Florida. This year his season has already included weekend races, including international events held in Canada, fol- lowed by the Canada Day Regatta and races in Lake Placid the following weekend. Up- coming races include the Ontario Team tri- als and a four-day event in Dartmouth, NS. He usually races in an IC4, which is a four- person canoe, or the war canoe, which has a large team. Each morning he gets up really early, is driven into Ottawa by his parents, who then go to work. In the hour gap after practice is over and before school starts he bikes to school and does homework. Then he puts in a full day of school work, which includes a tough mandatory phys-ed class. Then he bike’s back to the club for his afternoon practice. It is usually around 7 p.m. by the time the family is home again. In the winter cross-training includes swimming, weights, running and broom- ball. In fact Zac was on the Russell broom- ball team which won gold at the tourna- ment in Barrie this year. Almost two years ago the family decided to sell their home and move into Ottawa,
RUSSELL | Fifteen-year-old Zacharie Ri- chard is not big but he is strong—as pro- ven by his stellar canoe racing record. Zac is a canoeist who specializes in canoe racing, a fast and strenuous sport. He is cur- rently the best Midget men’s canoeist in Canada, after being the only Midget (U-16) on the Juvenile (U-18) team at the recent Canada Day Regatta in Ottawa. Zac’s team beat the Men’s National team by centime- tres in a video finish. Zac moved to North Russell with his par- ents, Jen and Marc, 11 years ago, so it’s home to him, but a year ago he left Embrun High School to attend high school in Otta- wa at École secondaire catholique Franco- Cité. His younger brother Adam, also a ca- noeist, will be starting there this fall as well. The school has a sports-oriented focus and particularly talented athletes can apply, similar to Canterbury Arts High School. Stu- dents must maintain a minimum average of 70 per cent and need letters from coaches before being enrolled. The school is also not terribly far from Mooney’s Bay, where Zac and Adam practice. Zac has canoed all his life at the lake where his grandparents lived, but when his grandparents moved his parents signed him up for Canoe Kids
Photo Candice Vetter
Zacharie Richard is shown here with two of his recent m edals. The North Russell resi- dent is a cha m pion canoeist, and races with the Rideau Canoe Club on Mooney’s Bay. He won two bronze in the Open at the international Canada Day Regatta in Ottawa, and co m peted in Lake Placid the following weekend. His recent showing, which in- cluded racing against the national m en’s tea m in the Juvenile category ranks hi m as the best Midget canoeist in Ontario.
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