WHITEWATER RACING

Even before I got a real racing C-1, I trained in the "Canal" at T'Ville for about a year.  At the time, the site was in use by many world-class paddlers:  Wendy and Jennifer Stone, Kathy Hearn (sister of Davie) and Dana Chladek (Silver Medal in the Olympics), Bruce Lessels, Elliot Weintrob, all officially trained by Ken Stone, father of Wendy and Jen.   I tried not to get in their way too much the first year, but after a while was accepted, at least a little. Even in my 1987 peak, though, they were all much faster than me..I learned a great deal just watching them. The sport is so competitive since slalom has become Olympic that there are now about a half-dozen official Centers of Excellence around the country with paid coaches that have taken over the (now) official training of potential team members.

What is Whitewater Slalom, anyway? On the other hand, we still can breed 'em.  Steve Conklin, #4 boat on the U.S. C-1 team in 2000, started out right here just a few years ago, mentored by Mike Campbell and me - mostly Mike. The photo above shows Mike demo-ing my cruising  boat, the Hornet, in the canal.  The Hornet was my first attempt at doing a boat from (almost) scratch.  I took the basic shape of the Cascade and narrowed it by more than an inch, and flattened it by about 3/4".  It's a little shy of initial stability, but very fast and easy to paddle.  I designed it to be my "creek boat".

I picked up my first race boat in the fall of '83, and actually raced for the first time at the (C/D ranked - that's relatively wimp stuff) Punch Brook Slalom in '84.  I won!  Surprised a lot of people, although not me - after all that training.  Not many were as serious as  I was. I immediately jumped into A/B races where I actually felt less pressure.  I knew there was no possibility of me winning, unlike the C/D races - where I was now the one to beat!  I did the A/B stuff until '87, picking up a serious training partner in Steve Dunlap.  Steve, even more than me, was a driven athlete.  He also competed in world class downhill skiing, and had the shoulder scars to prove it!  I had more experience - he had the physique and youth (he was just 23).  It took him two years to beat me.  That's what I like about slalom.  It's a great combination of strength, endurance and skill.

This is actually just a high-water Punch Brook race.  I  have translated some of my video pictures to JPEGs below.  Sorry about the quality. What I regard as my best finish during the A/B years was in '87.  I actually beat some people who were on their National teams!  My U.S. ranking that year was about 22nd in the country.  It's a LOT more competitive since the Olympics!  Now, in 2001, I'd probably be ranked about 40th, and I swear I'm just as fast as I ever was.  Even in my advanced age.  You've heard the adage - Age and Treachery...

The Savage River International Race in '86 or '87
After coming out of the river-right upstream, one must surf the hole across to the gate, which was in a jet past the hole.   The righties were stopping their boats and backing  up to the next gate on river-right.  The lefties were doing a full spin.	Not knowing my limitations, I went directly through the gate and then made a Big Stern Pivot. It allowed me to turn quickly and race back to the other side.
Next, a quick turn back through the next gate, with a bow pivot made possible by the low bow volume of boats of that vintage.  I got the bow around quickly enough to be high for the next upstream on river left. Since those years, the bows have gotten bigger and the sterns smaller, in the interest of higher straight line speed.	Leaving the 3rd in the sequence.  I ended up the 7th US paddler and about 12th overall.  I was happy just to make all the gates.  A great race at a great site.  The Savage is a continuous class 3-4 through this section and the site for the '89 World Slalom Championships where Jon Lugbill had his "Ultimate Run".
This sequence gave me my career's biggest paddling boast.  Through this three gate sequence (this was #2), I was the 3rd fastest C-1 - Behind World Champions Jon Lugbill and Davey Hearn.

Not all the time spent in a race boat is on a slalom course!  Actually, almost all my cruising on "normal" rivers is done in a race boat.  They are simply more fun! This is me surfing "Cathies wave" at T-Ville with a very early prototype paddle.  Only the ninth in a series of about 50 experimental layups.  I produced my own paddles for several years - there are still some people begging me for them.  But I just don't have the time anymore, except to make my own...

World Masters - 1989 - Chur, Switzerland Four years of intense training took its toll on my body.  By '88 I had shoulder tendinitis pretty bad.  I took the next year off mostly, just some light cruising to de-stress.  In '89, the powers that be created a World Masters competition, combining it with the Junior World Championship in Chur.  I decided to go for it, training very hard for the West River Team Trials.  Traditionally, this race had always been my nemesis - I always 50'd a gate here in both my runs.  But I guess they had sympathy for me that year.  The first day's course was relatively easy, and I finished first in Master's class.  I made the team! I trained the next several months,with increasing tendinitis (and a pinched nerve in my neck) making life somewhat unpleasant, but I was still in very good shape   Unfortunately, the race turned out to be a fiasco... The course was in Chur, Switzerland, on the upper Rhein river.  A spectacular place among the alps in that section of the county bordering on the Romisch section (near Italy) of the country.  Unlike the rivers in France, this one was sparkling clear and cold, being fed from a dam fairly far upstream with slightly aged ice melt.   The rules allowed only one practice run, and the two race runs on the next day.  It was a fairly difficult course, but one that I felt was quite "doable."   Turnout for the Masters Class in C-1 was incredibly poor, though - just three of us!   The race started just upstream of this spectacular bridge!   These pictures were taken at "low" water the day before the race. Apparently, in Europe, when you aren't competitive with the "good guys" you just hang up your paddle.  At least there were about 15 competitors in K-1 (kayak). Then it rained.  And rained.  We must have received about 4" of it overnight, tripling the river flow and doing some damage to the course.  Things had to give, and us old guys were the losers.  In order for the Juniors to do their thing, the Master's class was reduced to a single run - without any practice on the higher water.. My run was not too bad, although at the flooded level I missed several gates, one more than the "other guys."  A lack of experience on a very pushy river, I guess.  I was faster than the other boats by a bunch, but not by 50 seconds.  Close, but no cigar...  On the other hand, I had a great time, in a beautiful site. Then, I had to take another year off to let the body heal.  Sheesh... I raced C1 in C/D races pretty sucessfully for the next 9 years, and then an opportunity to redeem myself presented itself in the 1998 Nike World Master's Games

The Open Boat Years