OPS Water Sports Club

04/05/2024

Looking forward to my 15th annual participation at Jim Farintosh's Florida Dragon Boat Training Camp at Indian Harbour. We leave tomorrow morning for week #2 of the 3 weeks of camp. Over that time, our camp crews (over 250 total paddlers over those years) have been assigned a wide range of great coaches from both Canada and the USA. Pictured is our fabulous 2016 coach Hype Mattingly-Swan. I'm a proud dirtbag! This year our coach is Kathy Milne. We all look forward to seeing many familiar faces at camp, plus paddling with dolphins for a week on the Banana River. Thank you Jim for creating this one-of-a-kind camp.

12/12/2022

After years, the club is going back to Puerto Rico to race in San Juan. The banner picture on this page is actually from Puerto Rico (Ponce in this case) and we have an international crew coming together for the event on Jan 28th. OPSers and anyone else continue to be invited to join the club and any of our teams. We'll be announcing our new 2023 team opportunities soon! Stay tuned at

The Rusty Dragons offer a very unique range of coached and collective teams. We love this sport! We are more than a club and consider ourselves a community organization

12/10/2021

The Ottawa Ice Dragon Boat Festival is a GO and the Rusty Dragons have been there every year with multiple teams. For this event, we invite any individual paddlers from anywhere in the world to join our collective teams. The event is Feb 11-12 on Dows Lake on the Rideau Canal (during Winterlude). Join us now as the deadline to register with Rusty Dragons is Wed Dec 15 as that is when we must register teams (and know how many teams to register). See details and registration at:

On Dec. 10th, the Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation announced the details for the return of Ice Dragon Boat to Dows Lake. The event will be held on the weekend of Feb. 11-12, with practice on Friday and races on Saturday. Registration is now open for anyone interested. The details and registration butto...

01/13/2020

We had our Open House event today at rented venue Beach United Church in the east end of Toronto. About 30 people attended, and our 12 teams are opening registration shortly (if not already). Contact [email protected] for a list of teams and their programs and costs.

08/08/2019

We have 5 teams racing in Woodstock on August 10th, and an Open House Paddle on August 18th (1-3 PM). Contact [email protected] if you are interested in paddling with us or trying it out once. We practice in Toronto in the east end at 10 Ashbridges Bay Park Road.

01/26/2019

Ontario Public Service employees, their families, and friends are invited to join in this great sport and sign up for any of our teams. All are open to anyone on a first-come, first-serve basis. Our club prides itself on being fair-play, accessible, non-profit, respectful, safe, and operating with openness and integrity. Our coaches love the sport and working with people of all abilities and experience levels. For more information please e-mail [email protected] or call or text 647-971-7332.

11/05/2018

Our OPS teams are done for the season, but we are celebrating the year with a party on Saturday, November 17th, 2018. We start training up again in January with indoor winter training at Afterburn Fitness in Scarborough. Our next racing events are Feb. 8-9 in Ottawa (4 teams) and Florida training camp in April (12th year). We are also considering racing in Trinidad & Tobago in March. See www.RustyDragons.ca for the latest information on our events and teams. Registration for our Canada Day Regatta on Toronto Island is also now open (payment is not due until April)

11/05/2017

We held our end-of-season party and recognition awards last night downtown Toronto with 35 people in attendance. The OPS Guns n Roses team had a great year and are ready to break out in 2018 as a full season team (rather than a July-Sept team). We are happy to announce Shalini and Babar as the two co-captains for the team, who will work with Tim to develop the program for 2018 (and Faizel looking after team jerseys). Registration for this team will open by January 15th. The OPS Two Twenty Two team will also open registration by February 15th. They are a half-season (May to July 1st) team. We have many OPSers on other teams as well, and ALL teams accept anyone on our teams (including non-OPSers).

10/14/2017

Ontario Public Service paddlers and their team mates had a great season and will attending the big end-of-season party and recognition awards event on November 4th. The year 2018 will be a breakout year for OPS teams as special new initiatives are planned.

09/17/2017

Our Ontario Public Service (OPS) teams and paddlers did very well this summer and have once again demonstrated that we are the best place for OPSers (and anyone) to participate in the sport of dragon boat racing and receive great value and respect. We love the sport and believe all people of all abilities can enjoy the sport. Since the DDRA (OPS) Canada Day Regatta completed on July 1, 2017, and then the Great White North (GWN) Dragon Boat Challenge on Sept. 9-10, or next event is on Sept. 23 at the Christie Lake Regatta. The Motley Crew and OPS Guns n Roses dragon boat team will race there. We are also now gathering paddlers who want to train in Florida in April (as we have been doing for OPSers and others for 10 years. Want to join us?? Give us an e-mail or call. [email protected]

03/07/2017

As 2017 approaches, our OPS teams and others are gearing up for our best season ever, showcased by the 15th annual OPS Canada Day Regatta taking place on Canada's 150th birthday at the scenic Toronto Island. See www.RustyDragons.ca to review and sign up for one or more of our over 20 opportunities to paddle and race this summer. Questions? Contact Tim MacFarlane at [email protected] or cell 647-971-7332.

05/01/2016

There are several teams still recruiting for paddlers, including the OPS Two Twenty Two, OPS Diversity EANG DRagons, OPS Guns n Roses, OPS Muskrats, and others. The MTCS Oars to Discover team is full. See www.RustyDragons for details. NOW is the time to get registered and get introduced to this amazing sport that is easy for anyone to get involved. ALL teams are open to anyone - you do not have to work for the Ontario Public Service (OPS). Contact [email protected] if you have ANY questions about the sport or these teams.