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A C A I NS T RUC TOR PR OFI LE Jennifer Saranzak
How long have you been in paddlesports? I have been a paddler for about three years. In that time I have become an unofficial canoe instructor at an environmental camp and a certified ACA instructor. Both instructorships are used to educate youth about team building, recreational sports and the love of the outdoors.
What is your favorite paddlesport? Kayaking! In fact, I just discovered that I can stand in my kayak to sight fish and even hooked up briefly with a black drum! I also love tarpon and shark fishing from a kayak—there is nothing better than a 45-minute fight with a giant minnow!
How did you get into paddlesports? I love the water and the outdoors and jumped at the opportunity to instruct youth about my passion. Kayaking came about when I moved to a small island in Florida where shore fishing isn’t easily accessible—I needed to be on the water in order to catch fish.
What is your favorite boat? What about the boat made it your favorite? Anything that floats. I really enjoy my Trophy Beach 126 kayak which is a sit-inside. It’s incredibly stable, easy to snorkel for scallops out of and light enough that I can carry it myself.
Tell me a little about one of your favorite places to paddle? Anywhere on the ocean, but paddling through red mangrove prop roots is peaceful and a particularly enjoyable natural experience.
Who has influenced you most in your paddling career? My father and grandmother were the most influential in teaching me to fish from an early age and eventually bought me a kayak so that I could experience fishing in different ways.
What drew you to become an ACA Instructor? Through my job in recreational angling education, I needed to be able to instruct youth and adults the basics of paddling as well as fishing and provide a safe, enjoyable experience on the water.
Where is one place you still aspire to paddle? Any place on earth where I could whale watch from a kayak.
2012 OLYMPICS
Seven lucky U.S. paddlers will be heading to London in late July for the 2012 Olympic Games. The canoe and kayak athletes will compete in two disciplines—whitewater slalom and flatwater sprint. Sprint racing is head-to-head, much like track, and its held in the same venue as rowing. The addition of 200m sprint races to the Olympic program should provide spectators and the television audience with some exciting finishes. Olympic slalom racers must zig-zag through gates while handling man-made rapids at the course north of London. The U.S. has not yet named its 2012 Olympic team. Among the possible participants are a
pair of two-time Olympians hoping the third time’s a charm—sprint kayaker Carrie Johnson and slalom kayaker Scott Parsons—plus two young athletes looking to begin their Olympic legacies—slalom kayaker Caroline Queen, 20, and sprint kayaker Ryan Dolan, 22. Visit
www.usack.org to follow their journeys to London.
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