C A N A D I A N N A T I O N A L
Fewer secrets. PHOTO RICK MATTHEWS
Whitewater Slalom and Downriver Championships
AUGUST 17–20, 2006
>> LOCATED on the Madawaska River, Barry’s Bay, Ontario at the Madawaska Kanu Centre (613) 756-3620
>> HOSTED by the Ottawa River Runners
www.ottawariverrunners.com
>> AGENDA
Thursday, August 17 Downriver (all classes)
Saturday, August 19 Slalom (cadets, juniors, masters)
Sunday, August 20 Slalom (seniors, team runs) Awards Banquet and MKC’s 35th Anniversary paddler celebration with band ‘Fireweed’ at the Ski Hill
video appearance (and a free paddle). As an upside, this new blood has changed
the way kayaking is taught. Shorter boats, play- boating attitudes, and a new view on danger means the progression is faster. The secrets are all laid out, and newbies are rolling, surfing and running rapids on day one. New instruc- tors (the aspiring ego-boaters) became good paddlers quickly, and this influences how they teach—the 45-year-old office worker learns quickly too. Instructors no longer hold paddlers back, but push them at a rapid pace. The door is open for new paddlers to quickly put some skills together, and dream of attaining full-time ego-boating mojo. Alas, kayak instructors have been relegated
to the status of grade school teachers: vital for the basics, an intrinsic part of the culture, and definitely not sexy. Instructors, whether they know it or not, are
there to open a door and share the under- standing that the river is there for everyone to tap into. Fun and play are key—two things egoboaters know better than anyone—and new paddlers quickly grasp that the secrets are not as mysterious as they once believed them to be. Done well, teaching gets people excited
about learning, even if they don’t get the an- swer right. Paddling instruction, when done well, gets people excited about paddling. And here lies the irony. If mojo is defined
as cool status and the living of a vaunted life- style, then the instructor is passé. If mojo really does have more to do with reproductive prow- ess—the ability to make more paddlers—then instructors still have it. —Jeff Jackson has been teaching kayaking since boats were long and eddy turns were nervous. And yes, he used to be cool.
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RAPID
PHOTO: LISA UTRONKI PADDLER: JOHN HASTINGS
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