By CHERYL SHUMWAY
North Country This Week

CANTON – The International C-1 Pro World Championship Race season began Saturday with over $7,000 awarded at the 58th annual Canton Canoe Weekend.

Winners in the professional competition came as far away as Michigan and Quebec. Several dozen local paddlers also competed in recreational and amateur races on the Grasse River.

“If you want to see how fast you are, you come to this race. This course has everything. This is the best race,” said Holly Reynolds, Rochester, winner of the 2-woman canoe race, along with partner Gloria Wesley, Massachusetts.

A Michigan husband and wife each won their professional solo canoe race. Rebecca Davis won the solo women’s race for the third year. Her husband Mike won the men’s solo division for the first time.

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Mike Davis won the professional solo men’s canoe race for the first time, and his wife Rebecca won the solo women’s race for the third time, at the Canton Canoe Weekend Saturday. The couple said they came from Michigan to participate in the premiere international paddling event. North Country This Week photo by Cheryl Shumway.

“I come here because it is the first race of the year, and there is a lot of competition and fast paddlers.” said Mike.

“The race has a super deep field of paddlers. Canton is a super nice little community. We’re from a small town in Michigan. It’s homey here. We love the camping on the river. and the race organizers go above and beyond,” said Rebecca Davis.

Blanche Town, Canton, and Allen Kelly, Rensselaer Falls, won the mixed canoe team above 50. “My wife Mary and I started paddling because it was something we could do together, and it is good fitness,” said Kelly.

“It is good to push yourself. It is good exercise,” added Town.

“Canton is the premiere professional paddlers race. It marks the start of the season. Canton has the largest purse for professional paddlers,” said Steve Coffin, one of the event organizers. He said the generous cash awards are thanks to St. Lawrence Health Systems and several other local sponsors of the event.

“About 50% of paddlers came from Quebec and Ontario, Canada. They also came from several other states: Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire,” said Coffin.

This year there were 119 boats, a combination of solo and 2 person canoes and kayaks.

Paddle distances along the Grasse and Little Rivers range from 1-14 miles, with a variety of recreational, amateur, and professional categories.

The event was held at Taylor Park, and also included music by DJ Double Dutch, a chicken barbeque, and free overnight camping.