|
January 29, 2008 -- Almond, NC
January 26th and 27th saw the annual "Chute the Hooch" wildwater camp in Atlanta, GA. The camp was open to everyone but
geared towards those interested in trying the sport of wildwater or simply fitness paddling. Due to its open and user
friendly nature, the camp is usually quite popular and this year was no disappointment with over 20 people attending
over the course of the weekend for this free, hands on opportunity.
Saturday was a flatwater based operation off of Azalea Drive in Roswell. After a quick review of boat outfitting,
equipment choice, correct posture and technique basics, we hopped in the water in three groups. Coaches John Pinyerd,
David Jones and Chris Hipgrave worked with the beginners, intermediates and advanced respectively. The morning session
built on the basic paddling technique and used video for immediate feedback. Thanks to videographer Tom O'Sullivan and
beached based coaching from Martin Bay. It was cold in Atlanta, so after a quick warm up lunch at Starbucks it was back
on the water. The afternoon sessions were up tempo workouts where we focused on the new technique skills we learned
from the morning. As expected, as people got tired they tended to revert to their bad habits, The afternoon really
enforced the need to practice, practice, practice. After a great spaghetti dinner at the Pinyerds house, we settled
in to warm up while watching videos from previous world cups and world championships, while also analyzing the video
we took from the day using the latest in video analyzation tools. Everyone walked away with a full stomach and a list
of things to work on the next day.
Sunday moved the clinic down to the whitewater in Atlanta. Due to the on going drought in the area, water levels were
very low, but there was still enough whitewater to work on our skills. In the morning we focused on one long rapid that
included converging currents, waves, boils and a flatwater run out to develop our moving water skills while incorporating
the technique skills learned the day before. The rapid allowed us to attain back up after running it, thereby allowing
us to also work on boat control and power delivery. We took more video which we reviewed in the parking lot
while we warmed up during lunch. That afternoon we held an impromptu sprint race, giving some attendees their first race
experience. The 3.5 minute race was fun for all and proved challenging for nearly everyone.
Thanks to all that attended and also to those who volunteered in order to make this event possible. The event
was a resounding success and we hope that everyone will participate in future races and clinics.
Video footage from the clinic is available at the YouTube downriver community ...
http://youtube.com/groups_videos?name=DRR.
Chuck Spornick's blog and pictures from the events are available at ...
worldkayakblogs.com/libcds/2008/01/28/chute-the-hooch-training-camp-chucks-intro-to-wildwater/.
Jennifer Green's Facebook page with pictures and commentary from the weekend is available at ...
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2070330&l=4959f&id=42211701.
Race results:
| 3:23 | | J.P.Bevilaqua |
| 3:39 | | Rob Murphy |
| 3:59 | | Casey Jones (JR) |
| 4:03 | | John Pinyerd (C1) |
| 4:07 | | Jeremy Rogers |
| 4:09 | | Lincoln Williams |
| 4:26 | | Zack Nichols (JR - Wavehopper) |
| 4:53 | | Kevin Miller (C1) |
| 5:34 | | Chuck Spornick (Speeder) |
| 6:25 | | Jennifer Green (K1W - Wavehopper) |
|
