River Signals Winter Doodle
Illustration by Justin Bouwman Millgrove, ON
Polo Reacts, Polo Rocks As a whitewater kayaker and polo player, I
was offended by your kayak polo article (“Reactionary: Airing out Whitewater’s Dirty Secrets,” Rapid online, V5 I1). Kayak polo is huge in Europe and Australia. It is now on the rise in the U.S. and Canada. Most polo players are avid whitewater kayakers too. I know it is too late to get my subscription money back, but I assure you I will not renew next year. Next time do some investigation before you print such a one-sided article. Get someone else's opinion. It shows you have little respect for people who are trying to explore other ways to paddle in the off season. I would suggest you perhaps check out a kayak polo session and see for yourself that this is not a game for sissies.
Mark Muench Ottawa, ON
6
www.rapidmag.com
I’m sorry that I missed Ben Aylsworth when he conducted his interviews to unearth the dirty underbelly that is kayak polo. He never men- tions in his ranting diatribe why he was at the pool that night. I suspect a “real” whitewater machine like Ben was there to hone “real” river running skills like bow stalls and cartwheels. How does kayak polo help you in whitewa- ter? Kayak polo is where I met five of the people I spend most of my time on the river with. Two of these folks paddle with me at Champlain Bridge (Bates Island) during the winter. Had Ben not run home to watch Joe Millionaire that night, he might have also noticed that half the people playing were using river boats. With few excep- tions, we are not kayak polo players—we are whitewater paddlers who play kayak polo. We pad up our boats, crash into each other, push each other over, brace, roll and generally have a blast playing this co-ed contact sport. Nothing you do in still water is ever fully transferable to the moving mountain, but kayak polo is not
whitewater’s dirty secret. It’s just another way continued p9
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