paddlerprofile BillyHarris
If you clicked your way to Billy Harris’ team paddler profile at
Necky.com you’d find out that his first name is William, he’s 5’10" with brown hair and eyes. For the real Billy Harris we asked his girlfriend Tiffany Manchester for some insight.
Tiff’s Take: He’s the two-time Canadian Freestyle Champ and ranked 9th in the world. He goes through the motions of blunting while behind the wheel of a car. He doesn't care that he can't spell. He’ll help out anyone in the eddy because he loves to give a hand. If you snake him in line or catch a wave that he's surfing he'll blunt on your head. Billy grew up on a farm with lots of animals but won't let his girl- friend have a dog. Has lost his wallet so many times he doesn't bother with one anymore. He finally finished the deodorant stick he bought 5 years ago. Loves life, and is genuinely the happy guy you always see on the river. Formerly known as Billy ‘Big Balls’ Harris but he’s trying to escape that nickname as he matures. His dream car is a Hum-v, which I plan to win on Wheel of Fortune. Hates hard candy but o.d.'s on just about every other form of junk food. He’s 28 going on 17. Goes snap- happy with the camera but never gets a clear shot. His drink: rum and coke. Goes jogging and comes back 3 minutes later. Loves his girl- friend more than anything else in the world, but she's still waiting for him to pop the question.
Bill, you’re a small town kid who should, by asso- ciation, be limbing trees or training horses, how did you get yourself into the paddling world? I did train horses, I did work in Muskoka limb- ing trees and almost missed out on the life I lead now. My girlfriend at the time was mess- ing around on me and a buddy of mine Shawn “Flex” Cottrel called me up, “Wanna work at River Run Paddling Centre for the summer?” My answer was, Hell yes! I packed my bags and ended up working there for five great years. River Run was one of the best choices of my life. I learned how to handle a
small town hickster to national team huckster
raft and worked my butt off learning to be a good kayaker. I am still living on the Ottawa River today.
When I first met you eight years ago you were paddling a yellow Perception Whip-It with a broom stuck in your helmet, you looked like Marvin the Martian from Bugs Bunny. People at the time thought you’d either be really good or kill yourself, what do you have to say to them now? I damn near killed myself a couple of times, but in the end it seems that my skills caught up to my enthusiasm. I really love to kayak; a lot of people thought I was reckless but I real- ly just learned quickly because I paddled a lot more than the weekend boater. I would say to them now; our own fear holds us from what we really want in life.
At last years Ottawa River Rodeo you had spec- tacular rides; rides including front and back loops that were both crowd pleasing and risky. Nonetheless you lost to Jay Kincaid who got in there and threw flurries of cartwheels. Have you changed your style? I really feel that to keep interest in the sport those bigger tricks are mandatory. The facts are clear; cartwheels like Jay’s win but the big, risky moves are crowd pleasers. Hopefully the scoring system will change to make it worthwhile to attempt these moves, but I will never alter my style. I love to do the hard tricks and will always go for it even if that means losing. Yes I will fall, but I will never hold back or say, I should have…
I’m not sure you are exactly known as a choker,
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www.rapidmag.com
photo > Robert Faubert
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