Athlete Profile: Sue Brisley

Enthusiastic Paddler Both In and Out of the Water

by Janit Stahl

“Sue Brisley was a reluctant canoe racer her first outing. In her early twenties and a recreational paddler, she had no plans to enter a race. But a friend’s partner didn’t show up, and there she was. Sitting in a canoe in borrowed clothes, starting what became her sport of choice for the next 17 years.

“I didn’t have any clothes,” Sue says, who came as a spectator. “We had awful steering, we were bank to bank the entire race,” she adds. Somehow, that experience was enough to catch the racing bug, and Sue became a regular on the marathon canoe racing circuit in the Adirondacks.

Since that propitious day, Sue has been involved in canoe racing, regatta directing, and administration of canoe associations. Over the years she has been membership chair for the USA Canoe Association, officer for Northern New York Paddlers/Schenectady Wintersports Club and member of New York Marathon Canoe Racing Association. She has directed the Towpath Regatta on the Mohawk, and the Grafton Lake Barge Chaser Regatta. The dry-land commitments only support her passion for the racing as an athlete, and her interest in promoting the sport for all competitors.

“There are times when you’ve had a bad day and you go out to the river and train hard for a couple hours… Then that day doesn’t look so bad,” Sue says. Like many involved in endurance sports, a good workout cures all frustrations for the part-time culinary school student and full-time career woman.

Sue Brisley is a modest, soft-spoken champion of local canoe racing. She is a champion in a true sense by winning races through the years, but she is also a champion because she is uniquely suited to be “every woman’s” endurance athlete. For Sue, who has peaks and valleys in her training based on her work and school demands, “just being out there” is a great experience and winning often comes when she’s had more time to train.

She has also had more tangible awards and accomplishments. She has completed 14 of the annual 90-mile Adirondack Canoe Classics, held over three days. The race starts in Old Forge and ends in Saranac Lake Village. Sue says the camaraderie of this race, when the competitors camp together Friday and Saturday nights, is why she plans to race it every September. In 1996, she earned 3rd in her age group at the Sprint Race in the National Canoe Championships held in Syracuse.

Sue has also completed the grueling General Clinton Canoe Regatta from Cooperstown to Bainbridge on the Susquehanna River, which is a 70-mile one-day race on Memorial Day. She is a perennial on the New York Marathon Canoe Racing Association points tally, which ranks participants in several races over a season, including: ‘Round the Mountain, Madrid, Saranac Lake, Eric Canal, St. Regis and others.

Races range from three miles to 100 or more, although most fall in the 10 to 12-mile range. She has raced as a solo and in tandems with men or women. The nature of marathon canoe racing limits the numbers of racers. The amount of time required to train for any endurance event is great. If you factor in that the water, well, it needs to be flowing, not frozen, and you knock out a few months of the year in the Adirondacks. Sue is training about three days a week right now, she would prefer five, but her full-time position at the NYS Office of Mental Health, as well as the courses she is taking to be a professional chef, have stolen a few training days.

“She does manage a good bit,” says Alec Davis, who is a veteran canoe racer and has directed several races with Sue over the years. The 64 year-old canoe racer says, “She does have a career, and has started as second career as a chef.” He adds that she can’t race at the same level when she is doing so much work. Sue’s best racing years were in the mid-to-late 90’s. During that time, Alec and Sue raced a tandem at the U.S. Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, together.

According to Sue, many people have an image of canoeing sprung from scout days or summer camp: heavy, bulky canoes paddled with the uncertain and inefficient strokes taught by non-paddlers. Boats and technique have evolved quite a bit, and paddling a sleek, lightweight canoe meant for marathon racing is a different experience. The stroke is straighter and shorter, perhaps, than most would remember, and boats are swifter and easier to maneuver. The paddles have a bent shaft that improves the efficiency of the stroke. The weight of newer boats helps a great deal when portaging (walking your craft) from one waterway to another, common in marathon canoe races. Racing boats are about 18-1/2 feet long and weight about 32 pounds.

“When you get a good rhythm going, it’s a great feeling,” notes Sue of times when two paddlers are in synch. “You have to match your stroke with your partner, hitting the water at the same rate.” She adds, “The water is meditative, sort of calming.” Water sports in the Adirondacks, she feels, provide a pleasing natural environment.

Her sport suffers one dramatic personnel inequity: only about 10-percent of the competitors are women. Sometimes finding women’s teams for relays is a challenge, and often Sue races unopposed in her category. She feels women are well suited for this endurance sport, both mentally and physically. Alec Davis feels it is the time commitment that keeps numbers down, and notes that several canoe racers are former runners trying to do an endurance sport without destroying their knees. Their ages are “up there,” and that limits women’s participation as well. Both participants note that often older, better technical paddlers will beat younger, less skilled racers.

Her club, Northern New York Paddlers, part of the Schenectady Wintersports Club, offers informal learn-to-canoe sessions in the summer at the Kiwanis Park in Rotterdam, hoping to draw potential members and racers. They also hold 4-mile time trials at the Aqueduct Park in Niskayuna every Wednesday for those already in training, directed by Alec Davis.

During the winter, Sue cross-trains mostly with hiking and cross-country skiing. She says that since canoeing doesn’t really use the larger muscles of the legs, that she always tries to supplement her workouts year-round. She weight trains as much as possible, but really just likes to be out there on the water. The Mohawk is Sue’s favorite playground. Look for her and members of her club next summer at the Aqueduct Park put-in.

Janit Stahl, MS, ATC is a certified athletic trainer, freelance writer and swim coach. She is, or has been, a triathlete, rower, swimmer and weightlifter. She lives with her husband and three children in Gansevoort.