Our first Hometown Throwdown went off great!
22 06 2008The first Hometown Throwdown in the Seaway Valley could not have gone off better!
On Saturday, June 21st, 10 People (many newer paddlers) signed up for the event and, after a short group meeting and explanation of the rules we headed down to the water.
The river has a several options for play (big and small) and so that everyone could play in their comfort zone Sylvie and I asked the competitors where they wanted to play. The answer was a friendly feature called “mini wave” which was well suited for the mostly newer paddlers.
The feature is a gentle wave (great for spins, enders, retendos) followed by a hole (some loop potential and great cartwheels) and a third wave below (spins, ends, wave wheels, rocket moves, etc). If you flushed off one you have the other features to play on.
With enthusiastic cheering from the Judges and a small group of spectators (parents of the paddlers) the paddlers showed our judges what they could do in their kayaks.
We saw many nice spins, a couple clean spins, cartwheels, an almost loop, entry moves, a couple wave wheels, huge smiles, laughter and a whole lot of firsts. Watching a bunch of young kids doing old school paddle twirls, tomahawks showing us their edge control, while maintain a smile was a hoot!
Highlights of the day:
Zachary Hakvoort (11 years old in the Junior Category), got on a wave and surfed for the first time ever!
Adam Hakvoort (16 years old in Mens K1-B) steeping up to compete for the first time and showing us a good surf, a ender and a special mention for the best crash and burn. Getting dragged through shallows upside down is never fun but going through and not getting out of your boat….. well that is determination.
Then we have Emily Zwanenburg (10 years old in Juniors). A nice back deck roll into her first surf and then the smiles It really is all about that. We will watch her down the road.
Matt (17 years old in Mens K1-B), Sean (15 years old in Mens K1-B) and Zachary Z (12 years old in Mens K1-B) pushed each other a bit more each ride and we watched as Matt and Zach pulled ahead with some some attempts at slightly more advanced moves. Matt took a shot at a loop and I am sure he will be nailing them consistently in no time. Zachary pulled of his first multiple end cartwheels and a wave wheel while Sean gave us a nice entry back deck, some spins and the tomahawk [I really do enjoy that:)].
On the women’s side (Womens K1):
Cheryl pulled ahead with lots of great spins and boat control. She even made us laugh by balancing her paddle on the beak of her helmet in a surf.
Tilly (16 years old) and one rally big smile, showed us a nice entry back deck and great surfs. Her sportsmanship was outstanding and worth the mention. She carried Emily’s kayak up the stairs and back to the put in after each ride.
Sylvie, got a break from judging and got to give it a go as well. Smiles and good boat control was the key for her.
Everyone tried something new, learned a bit more and enjoyed the atmosphere of friendly competition.
At the end of the day the scores were as follows:
Men’s K1-B:
Zachary Zwanenburg - 34 points
Matt Orton - 30 points
Sean Hakvoort - 10 points
Adam Hakvoort - 8 points
Women’s K1:
Cheryl MacGregor - 21 points
Tilly Martin - 13 points
Sylvie Lebel - 13 points
Junior:
Emily Zwanenburg - 10 points
Zachary Hakvoort - 7 points
Men’s K1-A:
Robert Zwanenburg - 41 points.
Everyone was really happy with their rides and with the prizes (Smith Optics, Kayak Session, Mountain Khakis as well as CReW, Level 6 and other local business) drawn at the end of the day.
As for myself: I watched a lot of happy kids (big and small) get out and do what they enjoy. What’s more, I got to reward them for their efforts!
We received a lot of comments at the end of the day from paddlers who were hesitant and did not sign up. They enjoyed what they saw and asked when we would hold the next event.
Will we be doing this again? You better believe it. Although the next scheduled event is in September (September 27th), CReW is out in Valleyfield every Friday night and we will be organizing small impromptu competitions throughout the rest of the summer.
Thanks to the folks at World Kayak for helping us make this possible.
See you on the river,
