HIGH ACHIEVERS: Late to the game, architect Barry Padolsky wins first Canadian tennis title at 85 years old

By Martin Cleary

When Barry Padolsky was growing up in Winnipeg in the 1940s and 1950s, he played the traditional neighbourhood and high school sports with gusto.

Tennis, however, wasn’t on his go-to list. He didn’t have a love affair with something he considered “a snobby sport.” It didn’t measure up to hockey or soccer or baseball.

But times changed, special people became influencers and all of a sudden he was learning how to play tennis, entering tournaments and winning a national title at an age when some people would prefer to hold onto walkers and canes rather than a tennis racquet.

Padolsky, an active highly respected and honoured Ottawa architect and urban designer with more than 55 years experience, ventured into the world of tennis rather late at age 40.

Evelyn Stone, a long-time player at the former Rideau Tennis and Squash Club (now Rideau Sports Centre), provided plenty of encouragement for Padolsky to step out and learn about forehands, backhands and drop shots. He couldn’t say no to the love of his life. And that also went for hiking and cross-country skiing.

But how does one start playing tennis at 40? Padolsky did the logical thing and secured a coach. He connected with Dale Power, a former Davis Cup player for Canada and the 1979 national men’s champion.

“His approach was to work on fundamentals, start from scratch,” Padolsky outlined. “’At your age,’ he said, ‘the body doesn’t have the ability to learn quickly.’ Over the years, he was my off-and-on coach.”

Padolsky learned well from Power, who went on to become the head tennis pro at the Rideau from 1998 to 2007 as well as the Granite Club in Toronto. Power passed away after a one-year battle with cancer on May 16. He was 74.

Once he was comfortable with the basics of tennis, the left-handed Padolsky spread his wings and became a regular recreational singles and doubles player two or three times a week on Ottawa courts.

Tournaments were never a part of his tennis life, until Shaheer Mikhail, a well-decorated Ottawa age-group player at all levels, invited him to enter the 2023 International Tennis Federation Masters tournament at Mont Tremblant, PQ.

Padolsky, a member of the Rideau Sports Centre, wasn’t sure he could compete at the international level, but he agreed to give it a shot. As luck would have it, he faced Mikhail in the first round of the men’s 80+ age-group draw and “he beat me soundly,” Padolsky admitted. But Mikhail and Padolsky joined forces to win the men’s doubles title.

Padolsky did redeem himself as a singles player in the 2023 ITF Masters Gatineau tournament by reaching the men’s 80+ final. His two tournament appearances helped him earn a berth on Team Canada for the ITF world masters tournament in Mallorca, Spain, last year. At age 84, he lost his first-round singles match.

Padolsky scored a major breakthrough in his young competitive career in late August, when he captured the national men’s 85+ division crown at the 2024 Steve Stephens masters tennis championships in Toronto. His four opponents were all national-team players.

He swept through the five-player round robin, defeating Peter Marshall 6-0, 6-0, Horst Dammholz 7-5, 6-4, Raynald D’Aoust 6-1, 6-1 and Guido Weber 6-1, 6-1.

“After the last point, I was actually stunned,” Padolsky admitted, following his first national title win at age 85. “I’m even tempered, but I got emotional. It was an achievement I didn’t expect. I was delighted.”

Padolsky also played men’s 80+ doubles with Mikhail, but they lost to top seeds John Tibbets and John Stanton Yeomens 2-6, 6-0, 10-6 in the first round.

Padolsky isolated himself during the championship as part of his mental preparation, which was a key area of improvement for him. After competing at the Mallorca worlds, he realized he “wasn’t tournament hardened.” Competing against players you don’t know is much different than facing your regular weekly partners at the club.

“One of the things my coach recommended was: don’t rejoice (over a winning point) and don’t get down and angry (over losing a point),” Padolsky continued. “It’s all about staying in the moment and watching the ball.”

Padolsky also channeled thoughts about Power through his mind during his matches. He wanted to do well at nationals to honour Power.

“I was channelling him and focusing on him. The outcome was very successful,” he added.

The five-foot, nine-inch and 130-pound Padolsky entered his first national championship tournament with no goals.

“I felt lucky that I won all four matches,” he said. “I felt very good about how I played. I didn’t have any expectations because all four players were on the Canadian team. I just said ‘let’s see what I can do.’”

Padolsky doesn’t follow any exercise program to stay in good physical shape. He prefers to just play tennis to stay fit.

“When I started tennis, I had no expectations. I had no earlier teenage-me to compare myself to. But I’ve steadily improved and I continue to improve.”

That’s life for Padolsky. Keep moving ahead. Keep getting better.

When he’s away from the court, Padolsky continues to work on selected projects in urban design and heritage consulting, whether working from home or setting up shop in local cafes.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he turned to writing – A Winnipeg Boy’s Imaginings (2021), Shoreline Poems (2022) and Alphabet Soup (2024) – as well as producing a collection of sketches, architectural explorations, poems, essays and short stories.

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