Maurice Deguire
Maurice Deguire of Alexandria is an all around athlete who’s participated in many sports throughout his lifetime, including broomball, tennis, skiing, running, golf and triathlons. His main passion has been canoeing. He’s paddled close to 100 canoe races and won at local, provincial and national levels.
The multi time winner of the Raisin River Canoe Race has entered major competitions throughout North America including the General Clinton Canoe Regatta, the longest single day flat water race in the world where he won the silver medal.
“It was the hardest competition I ever did,” Deguire said of the 70 mile race he completed in 1994. “I was leading the race most of the time.”
Deguire described the world-class even in Bainbridge, N.Y., that attracts more than 1500 paddlers including US Olympic medalist Greg Barton and 28 time General Clinton winner Serge Corbin.
In 1992, Deguire placed second in the 140 mile Classic that saw him go through a half mile of rough rapids.
Beginning in 1977, Deguire won top broomball goalie in the Seaway Valley league as well as winning in the class B pool tournament in St. Zotique.
In 1979 he won Alexandria’s tennis tournament and won gold medal in the C-2 canoe race in Les Jeux du Quebec.
From 1980 to 2014, Deguire won canoe races in Rigaud, Prescott, Alexandria, Lac-des-Plages, Ogdensburg, Campbellford and Brockville.
Over the years, he’s teamed with canoeists Bruno Major, Maurice Sauve, Yvon Ranger, Corey VanLoox, Pierre Brault and Pierre Pinard to win many challenging canoe races.
He took the championship title in the Glengarry Triathlon Cup from 1984 to 1989 and continued to win several other canoe races including the National Marathon Canoe Championships in Fredericton, N.B., in 1993.
Another highlight of his canoe career was winning both the Raisin River Canoe Race and Jock River race on the same weekend in 1996 with partner Pierre Brault.
In 1997 and 1998 he won the Alexandria and Glengarry Open Low net “C”, the Alexandria Open Low net “B: in 2007 and the Cornwall Open Low net “C” in 2010. When Deguire hangs his paddle and golf clubs for the season, he dons his cross-country skis and participates in gruelling winter events. One of the hardest ski races was when he participates from Lachute to Ottawa on a two-day, 100 mile competition.
