The Burloak Canoe Club is a flatwater canoe/kayak racing club located in Oakville, Ontario. It serves the communities of Burlington and Oakville and provides a variety of canoe-based activities for local residents focusing primarily on the two disciplines of sprint canoe and sprint kayak. Burloak Canoe Club is located on Navy Flats along the banks of Sixteen Mile Creek and boasts a sizable building that caters not only to sport but to special events as well.
History
Burloak's history emerges from two former canoe clubs: The Mohawk Canoe Club, formerly situated in Burlington where the Spencer Smith Park now lies, and the Oakville Racing Canoe Club. Mohawk was started in 1958 by Mike Moir, Bill Pitt and Bill Dinsmore and raced under the black and green colours. The Oakville Racing Canoe Club was founded in 1974 by former Toronto Island paddler Bill Collins and Dorothy Jamieson. Oakville's colours were brown and white but when the two clubs merged in 1989, the new entity adopted a new set of official colours, though the Mohawk colours are often used unofficially to represent Burloak. The Burloak racing vest is solid black with a coloured badge on the front.
Programs
The Burloak Canoe Club is an integral part of the local community, participating and hosting local events and providing an alternative to people looking for a unique and challenging sport. Training and competition takes place in C-1, C-2, C-4 and IC-4, C-15, K-1, K-2 and K-4 canoes and kayaks. Programs exist for all ages and skill levels, from Atom to Masters, and beginner to high-performance levels. Participation in local, regional and national competitions takes place for all age groups. Burloak Canoe Club also provides a venue for numerous local dragon boat teams during the summer months.
Many of the country's top paddlers have come out of the Burloak Canoe Club. These include Larry Cain, Adam van Koeverden and Mark Oldershaw. In total, Burloak sent four paddlers to the Beijing Olympics. Oldershaw and Reardon are both from families that have sent previous generations of paddlers to the Olympics. Burloak has led the way in the development of women's canoeing, with notable paddlers Sheila Kuyper and Mallorie Nicholson. Nicholson won gold in the world championship C2 500 meter event in both 2010 and 2011.
Off season
Winter training for all levels and ages takes place in the clubhouse between approximately November and May, revolving around weight training and aerobic exercise.
Notable successes
Burloak has won the burgee at the national championship on ten occasions: 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1997, 1998, 2000, 2007, 2009. 2010 and 2011 Burloak Masters have achieved similar success in the over-25 age-group winning the burgee in 1989, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2010 and ; and being runners-up at the annual National CanMas Competition on numerous occasions, including 2008, 2009 and 2011.
