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December 5, 2004 -- Dillsboro, NC
Every year sometime in November the Nantahala River turns off for scheduled maintenance
on the hardware at the Duke Power hydro plant. During this time local slalom and
wildwater athletes turn their attention to the Tuckaseigee River as a near by
alternative. The Tuckaseigee Gorge has long been a favorite for wildwater paddlers. By
all accounts it is a much easier run than the Nantahala, but the abundance of rocks,
short cuts, turns and shallows, can make it a much more interesting, and technically
challenging run. The Jiffy Wildwater race, held on the first Sunday of December every year,
gives us a chance to get together and duke it out for medals on this lengthy classic course.
The 2004 Nantahala Racing Club Jiffy Wildwater race bought out 24 top contenders, 50% of
whom where juniors or cadets. The weather even cooperated with sunny conditions and temps
in the mid to upper 50's. Thanks go out to the Nantahala Racing Club's event
infrastructure, Duke Power for providing water, Dillsboro River Company and Tuckaseigee
Outfitters for allowing us to use their put-in and take-outs and finally a HUGE thank you to the support crew that did timing.
Special mentions should go to athletes Emily Stein (K1W-Jr) for setting a blistering time,
besting all others not only in her class but also the mens K1-JR & Cadet classes too;
Wayne Dickert (C1) for his presence, sense of humor and for making Pinyerd sweat a little;
Two time Olympian Joe Jacobi (K1-WH) for coming to race with us; Neil Davenport (K1-WH) for
taking home a medal to Johnson City after only 7 days in a Wavehopper; and finally to
Maurizio Tognacci (K1) of the Italian Federation for his endless enthusiasm, and for making me sweat a little also.
The next scheduled Nantahala Racing Club wildwater activity is January 15-16, 2005 in
Atlanta, GA. Saturday is a training camp with tons of video feedback and stroke analysis
while Sunday is a race down the Powers Ferry section of the Metro Hooch. Please contact
John Pinyerd (jpinyerd@cs.com) or myself
(hipgrave@usack.org) for details.
2004 Nantahala Racing Club Jiffy Wildwater Race
Sunday December 5th, 2004
Tuckaseigee Gorge, Dillsboro NC
K1W-JR |
| Emily Stein | 33.23 |
| Bailey O'Sullivan | 38.37 (WH) |
| Tierney O'Sullivan | 39.24 (WH) |
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K1-CADET |
| Elliot Poe | 36.14 (WH) |
| Caleb Bethea | 40.42 (SL) |
| Casey Jones | 41.20 (WH) |
| Michal Smolen | 44.58 (SL) |
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K1-JR |
| Austin Kieffer | 33.41 (WH) |
| Clay Wilder | 33.47 |
| Chandler Jones | 36.04 (WH) |
| Zach Bethea | 38.20 (SL) |
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C1 |
| John Pinyerd | 33.05 |
| Wayne Dickert | 34.03 |
| Jeffrey Poe (JR) | 35.49 |
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K1-WH |
| Joe Jacobi | 34.05 (WH) |
| Neil Davenport | 34.32 (WH) |
| Tod Bethea | 39.19 (SL) |
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K1 |
| Chris Hipgrave | 28.01 |
| Maurizio Tognacci | 28.58 (ITALY) |
| Pablo McCandless | 29.27 (CHILE) |
| Rob Murphy | 30.06 |
| Bern Collins | 32.45 |
| Rodney Rice | 32.46 |
| Lincoln Williams | 34.2 |
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