Sarah Lessard: Paddling by Day and Night

She travels, she teaches, she trains—but above all, she paddles. Nearing her thirties, Sarah Lessard ranks among the top athletes in her category and eagerly anticipates each racing season.

When she’s not in a canoe, she shares her zest for life with her students as a physical education teacher:

“I have the best job in the world,” she says. “I get to share my passion with kids every day.”

But when she’s not teaching, she’s either training or dreaming about her next canoe race.

From Rabaska to Elite Racing

Growing up in Les Cèdres, Sarah dabbled in sports like baseball and volleyball, often following in the footsteps of her brothers, Éric and Jean-François. Her journey into canoeing began a decade ago in a Rabaska—a nine-paddler canoe—where her first experience left her completely exhausted. Still, she came back, and not just for fun.

With her brother Éric, she began racing in Ontario and elsewhere before shifting to C2 canoe racing—where just two paddlers share the boat. That’s when things got serious. Her competitive spirit grew, and so did her results. Today, she ranks among the top women canoeists in Quebec, though she prefers to speak of passion, not rankings.

Feeling the Canoe

In competitive canoeing, the community is small and tight-knit. Sarah trains year-round, either on the St. Charles River in Valleyfield (the only local river that doesn't freeze), in the gym at the Centre Multisports, or cross-training by swimming or cross-country skiing. When the thermometer hits just -3°C, she’s out paddling again.

“If you don’t train enough, it shows,” she says. “It’s just the two of you in the canoe.”

She often races with new partners and learned much of her technique from her brother. For her, mastering the canoe is about instinct:

“You feel it, like people with a musical ear. In this sport, as in many others, you have to really listen.”

Sixteen Hours on the Water

This summer, Sarah will compete in two of North America’s top races:

• The General Clinton Canoe Regatta in Cooperstown (where she won in mixed C2 in 2013),

• The legendary AuSable River Canoe Marathon in Michigan,

• Followed by the Classique internationale de canots in La Tuque, Quebec.

The Michigan race starts at 9 p.m. on July 29. Participants paddle up to 200 km through the night, finishing between 14 and 19 hours later. With GPS, headlamps, and determination, paddlers battle through fatigue and unpredictable conditions.

“It’s better than Christmas,” says Sarah. “It’s all about canoeing.”

Even when she hits rock bottom mid-race, thinking of quitting or selling her boats, she finishes. And days later, she’s already thinking about her next partner for next year.

Women Who Outlast

Sarah’s most successful performances come in long-distance events, where endurance wins over raw power:

“Women can perform just as well, if not better, than men,” she says. “We use energy differently. I do something that lets me last longer.”

Life Beyond the Boat

Thinking ahead to motherhood, Sarah wonders how she’ll transition out of elite canoeing:

“Canoeing is part of who I am. If I stop, I’ll need to find something else—I’ll be losing part of my identity.”

She hopes to paddle into her 80s, like others she’s met at races, but she also enjoys running, skiing, volleyball—anything that keeps her moving.

In the meantime, she’s focused on her season and dreams of a few more sponsors to help her stay afloat:

“It’s a partnership. I give them visibility, photos, videos. If they give me something, I give something back.”

If you're looking to support a determined, passionate, elite-level athlete, Sarah Lessard is paddling—day and night—toward her next finish line.