Burlington has a long and notable sports history that includes many outstanding athletes, coaches, officials, media, and volunteers. The Burlington Sports Hall of Fame (BSHOF) is dedicated to identifying and honouring these individuals who have created this rich tradition. This year, BSHOF is celebrating its 18th year and is proud to be inducting six new honorees at its 2026 induction ceremony on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at the Burlington Golf and Country Club.

Our next inductees are actually three generations of excellence, the induction honour shared by Bert, Scott, and Mark Oldershaw.

Any athlete making it to the Olympic Games has reached the pinnacle of excellence. Having one family being three-generational Olympians is unheard of and something that Burlington should be proud of. Not only that, but the efforts of the Oldershaw family have led to many other kayakers and canoeists reaching the same level of excellence. Bert got it all started when he competed in three Olympic Games.

His sons Dean, Reed, and Scott followed suit, and then grandson Mark outdid them all by winning a bronze medal in London in 2012, 64 years after his grandfather competed there. To be accurate, the Oldershaw family is the cream of Canadian Olympians, having five family members compete at the Olympics: Bert in 1948, 1952, and 1956, Scott in 1984, both Dean and Reed in 1972 and 1976, and Mark in 2008, 2012, and 2016. Scott, Dean, and Reed are in other community Halls of Fame, and now the Burlington Sports Hall of Fame completes the circle.

Legend has it that the family’s athletic success started when Bert paddled from Toronto Island to go to school in Toronto. Truth be told, Bert was paddling long before being in school.

Bert Oldershaw
Bert, one of nine children, got his love for boats when canoeing from his home on Toronto Island. He was a founding member of the Toronto Island Canoe Club. His passion and expertise led him to form other canoe clubs in the area as he grew the sport, being inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2004 as an athlete and a builder.

Bert competed as a sprint canoeist and kayaker in three summer Olympics. In 1948, in London, he competed in the C2 (Canoe tandem) 1,000 m with partner Bill Stevenson. Four years later, he showed his versatility at the world level as he competed in the K1 (kayak singles) 1,000 m before heading to Melbourne in 1956 to compete again in the C2 1,000 m.

After his own Olympic career, Bert did much to grow the sport in Canada. He coached future Olympians, including his sons Scott, Dean, and Reed. The Oldershaw legacy includes coaching Adam van Koeverden, Mark Oldershaw, Brady Reardon, Chris Pellini, Gavin Maxwell, Jack Chubaty, and Alanna Bray-Lougheed. For twelve years, Bert served on the Canadian Olympic Association as director for canoeing. He also formed an organization to help raise money for amateur sport, and in his later years, he got involved with the restoration of the Beach Canal Lighthouse in Burlington.

Bert always wanted to give back to the sport and the community, like the many who had helped him. When his family moved to Mississauga, he started the Mississauga Canoe Club in 1958, which operated out of the Oldershaw barn and trained on Lake Ontario. After three years on the rough waters, they moved their training to the Credit River. The Mohawk Canoe Club, located in Burlington, where Spencer Smith Park now sits, was also formed in 1958. In 1974, the Oakville Racing Canoe Club was formed. The Oakville and Mohawk clubs merged in 1989 to form the Burloak Canoe Club, training, as they do now, out of Sixteen Mile Creek.

Inspired by his relationship with Alwyn Morris, and to honour the Indigenous beginnings of his sport, Bert also started the Six Nations Canoe Club along the Grand River in 1991. An athlete and a builder of the highest order, Bert passed away in 2006.

Scott Oldershaw
Scott remembers a kayak being at his family’s lakefront property when he was a child. He was always around boats, and he began paddling himself at age 13.

Throughout his career, Scott competed at numerous Canadian championships, aiming at the Olympics.

He raced yearly at the world championships from 1971 to 1987. He competed at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles in the K1 500 m.

After his Olympic career, Scott turned his passion to coaching. He coached at the world championships in 1989 and from 2003 to 2017, and at the Olympic Games in 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016. He was head coach of the Burloak Canoe Club from 1989 through 2007. He led the club to national championships in 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2007. He worked with many national-level champions, including his son Mark, and training partner and multiple Olympic medalist Adam van Koeverden, and two-time world-champion Mallorie Nicholson.

Mark Oldershaw
In the life of Mark Oldershaw, the sports seed was planted very early. Always around boats, Mark began racing at age 9 and eventually became the fifth member and third generation of his family to compete at the Olympic Games, but the first to win an Olympic medal when he captured C1 1000 m bronze at London in 2012. He first made his mark on the world stage at the 2001 World Junior Championships, where he won gold in the C1 500 m and C1 1000 m events.

Mark made his world championship debut in 2002, competing in C4 events. In 2004, some nerve damage in his hand prevented him from qualifying for the Athens Olympics. By the 2006 worlds, he had moved into a solo boat and became a consistent podium contender in the C1 1000 m event. In Beijing in 2008, his training partner and good friend Adam van Koeverden was Canada’s flag bearer and Mark competed in the C1 500 m and just missed qualifying for the final. Four years later in London, the same venue as his grandfather Bert had competed at in 1948, Mark accomplished a lifetime goal of an Olympic medal as he won the bronze in the C1 1,000 m. Mark competed in his third Olympics in Rio in 2016.

When the Pan American Games were held in Toronto in 2015, Mark was given the honour of leading Canada into the Games as the nation’s flag bearer. He won the silver medal in the C1 1,000 m.

A highlight of Mark’s career was a gift given to him by his grandfather. In 2001, after coming home from the World Junior Championships with those two gold medals, Bert gave Mark the paddle that he had used in 1948. That paddle motivated Mark to continue to compete, including in 2012 on the same London Olympic course his grandfather raced in 1948.

One last story about Bert captures the legacy of excellence of the whole family. In 1948, he and partner Bill Stevenson finished fifth in the Olympic final in a boat that weighed 40 pounds heavier than their competitors. Bert came home from London determined to get the lighter boats to Canadian athletes.

With this amazing story of excellence and perseverance the Burlington Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Bert, Scott, and Mark Oldershaw into the athlete/builder category.

This year’s induction reception, which has already sold out, will be held on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at the Burlington Golf and Country Club with Steve Foxcroft as emcee. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with socializing from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and formal inductions from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.