Ottawa Kayak School

Hello Everyone!!
Keener Mom Jackie signing in with the Keener Awards for the summer thus far. All the Keeners were/are required to fill out an awards sheet before departing from the program, and here are the results determined by them:

KEENER OF THE YEAR (ON RIVER): Jamie Rosenberger

KEENER OF THE YEAR (OFF RIVER): Craig Hull

SENIOR KEENER OF THE YEAR (ON RIVER): Jamie Rosenberger

SENIOR KEENER OF THE YEAR (OFF RIVER): Craig Hull

FAVOURITE GUEST INSTRUCTOR: Billy Harris

BIGGEST THRASHING: Paul Palmer

MOST IMPROVED: Finn Butcher and Max Rayner

MOST OBSESSED PADDLER: David Wild

LONGEST TIME UNDERWATER: Matt Hill “One Minute Matt”

BEST BODY SURF: Matt Hill

FAVOURITE MEAL (KEENERVILLE): Jackie’s Taco Dip and Cupcakes

FAVOURITE MEAL (WILDERNESS TOURS): Steak

BEST SPEECH GIVER: Craig Hull

BEST AT COLOUR COORDINATING BOAT AND GEAR: Jacob Slobodian

Great work everyone! You all certainly deserve this recognition for your hard work, originality, and creativity! Continue doing what you have been doing and you will continue to succeed. Good luck to our new arrivals, I wish you all the best in success and enjoyment here at Keenerville. I have no doubts or worries about any of you accomplishing your goals during your stay. Have fun, be safe, do your chores, and paddle hard!

With Love,
Mother Jackie.

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving, they make mistakes, but they don’t quit. The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.”

Hey everyone, it’s Dane Jackson checking in. I am from Rock Island TN and have been in and out of the keener program a little this summer, just hanging out with these guys a bit. So i figured i would do a blog for you. I got here the beginning of the month and there was a lot of new keeners and a couple from previous years. It was cool meeting the new kids, as well as seeing the kids from the other summers. The first days here paddling with the keeners was fun. I got to see how good all the kids were, and it was fun to see. There were a lot of kids from all over the place. We had some kids from Canada and the US of course but there were more kids from all over the world then i have ever seen. There were a few from New Zealand, Belgium, the UK, Mexico, etc. etc. They all were really good, there were some kids here that will be competing in the World Championships this fall. And that is the reason i am up here mainly this summer is to train for that, i will be going for Junior Mens and as C-1 as well. I am fired up for it. When i paddle with the keeners i usually ask the coaches to tell me if i am getting the tricks i am working on, so that way i can prepare myself for Worlds. There really is no place like the ottawa for whatever you’re doing, training, teaching, learning, rafting, just up for fun, the ottawa is ahhhhhmazing. I love coming up here every year, i am always so exited to get up here. I think that Wilderness Tours on the ottawa river should be on your list of things you have to do. Well, thanks for reading, i hope you enjoyed it,

Dane Jackson

Hey guys its paul, this is my 4th week staying at keeners. so far it has been a life time experience. I got to kayak high tension and numerous fetures on the otawwa river. last friday before all the keeners left we went to the fair as one group. it was so fun, we got to watch a demolition durby and see cars get destroyed. we now have a new group of keeners who are eager to go ou t and learn new tricks.

As i am not a new arrival and dont need to introduce myself in this blog i will be talking about the trip to the local fare that the keeners went on. Last friday night the keeners took a trip to the local fare, for many keeners it was their last day, it was good to spend some extra time with them before they had to leave the program. When we arrived at the fare we had time to look around and try some of the rides before the smash up derby. we were all very amused by cars smashing into cars and spent most of the night watching the derby. After the derby had finished as a group we hit the rides and got some cool film on the keener camera, escpecialy me and rory who got some footage of us siging on one of the rides. All in all it was a fun trip and i would like to thank jackie and sam for taking us.
Dave

Hey everybody, Jamie Rosenberger here. This week we have had some of the craziest water levels, ranging from 2-8.5, with play spots ranging from pushbutton to 7-8 hole. We have a great group of new keeners here, who seem like they will all be improving at a very fast rate. This is my 6th week here and one of the best things that comes out of this program is all the awesome people you meet (example; craig hull) and it is hard to watch them go, but just as awesome to have new keeners coming, knowing you will have tons of new friendds. Well im off to sleep after an awesome day on the water, catch ya on the flip side.

checking out of the best place in the world
-Jamie Rosenberger

Hey there,
I’m Taylor Cote and I live in Atlanta, Georgia. My other interests besides kayaking include mountain biking and mountaineering. But by far kayaking is my favorite of them all. This is my first time to ever attend the Keener program and so far I have had an amazing first couple of days. The Ottawa River alone is so impressive and has many play spots to pick from. It could be the perfect playboater heaven. There is no river in America I can even begin to compare it to. This is a big oppurtunity for me to be able to train on any playboating features especially ones of such quality for learning and perfecting tricks. Where I live there is really nothing like this unless you want to travel quite far away. My goals for my first week at Keeners is to figure out my new boat, the Project 45, and to possibly achieve a loop. When I arrived in “Keenerville” for the first time I was so full of excitement and it felt like I got swept right up into all of it. The first morning here we had our workouts, chores, and then a yummy breakfast of pancakes thanks to our Keener mom, Jackie. The workouts consist of a mile run and 21 gun one day then, a mile walk and stretches the next. Definitely the best way to help us reach amazing paddling shape. Chores are basically everything we’ve have been helping do at home just keeping things nice and tidy. Then its put our gear on and spend pretty much the rest of the day paddling. The only hard part of paddling is choosing which channel you would like to paddle for that day. However either one still equals a fun day on the water. So far I have absolutely loved my stay at Keeners and I can’t wait for what else is in store.

-Taylor Cote

Sup, my names danny k, since the icebreakers speech also dan-ah montana. This is total in contradiction to the fact that i live in connecticut, but whatever. Other than kayaking i like to skate, snowboard, run, swim, play the trumpet and play soccer. Along with the fact that i “surf” some totally gnarly swells according to nighthawk because I have the perfect surfer voice. My goals for my stay at keeners are to just be completely comfortable in any situation on the river and hopefully pick up some tricks on the way. Day to day keener life so far has been pretty sweet. We wake up, workout, eat, chores, PADDLE, eat, PADDLE, eat, hangout/PADDLE. The chores kind of suck, I had to sweep and clean the bathroom along with cleaning my room. But paddling has been great as i have ran the main and middle channels of the ottawa in the past two days for the first time. Tomorrows supposed to be race day, then SRT course all Thursday. So after that hopefully i’ll have some cool stories.
Peace…

Hello everyone, my name is Josh and I am from Santa Fe New Mexico. As you probably guessed, I love to kayak so I am really pumped to be at Keeners! When I am not at the river, you can find me shooting pictures with my camera or shredding up the slopes on my skis!
I think setting long or short time goals for yourself is really important. My goals for this week are to get my loop one hundred percent of the time, and to get better at double pumps in flat water. Learning how to mcnasty would be pretty awesome as well, but maybe that will come later.
My last two days were pretty amazing! When I first got here I was supper nervous, but now I am feeling a lot more confident. The first day started with chores. We have to clean our rooms and do a daily task like cleaning the bathrooms or sweeping the cabins. After our chores are done, we go for morning workouts like running or swimming. We also do 21 gun salute which is push ups and sit ups or stretches. I had a bit of trouble with the running since my knee was really hurting me but hopefully it will get better!
Next, we went paddling! I chose to go down the middle channel of the Ottawa river. It was sweet! First, we ran a rapid called Iron Ring! It has a small tongue of water that drops down into a medium sized hole. A short paddle away is the first of many play waves called S-bend. I really like S-bend because it is pretty small, and I can practice new tricks!
Being a Keener is pretty amazing! The first thing that hits you when you come to Keeners is how professional it is, this camp turns out the best paddlers in the entire world! It is really amazing to be apart of something like this!
As I said before, I love photography! I am just getting into it but I know that I really like it! When I shoot, I lean towards photojournalism.
That’s all for now, see you next week!
Josh

Hi this Nico Tonozzi from Glenwood Springs, Colorado. I just finished my second full day at the Keeners program. I arrived late on Sunday evening so i missed the orientation meeting and dinner. The next day we woke up at 7:45 and went on a short run. Afterwards we did a workout and then ate. Before kayaking we still had to do chores. I didn’t get a chore so i cleaned my room and everyone helped me after they finished their chores. Around 10:30 we got on the waters of the Ottowa River. This was where i first met all of my fellow keeners. I decided to do the middle channel of the ottawa. The playboating was nice and it was a incredible to work with Rush Sturges and Nick Troutman. We kayaked for a few miles and encountered a huge variety of holes and waves. The next day we had the same routine but I went down the main channel.
My goals for keener are to progress my freestyle skills to the point where I can compete next spring back in Colorado. I also want to improve my downriver skills.

Hi keener blog, my name is Keaton Strongman and this is my first blog of my stay. I am from Mississauga Ontario which is a 5 hour drive, but Keeners was worth it all the way! I love to kayak but when I’m not paddling I love biking, skiing, hockey and playing paintball. I came to Keeners to become a better person as well as paddler. I would like to fully solidify my whitewater roll as well as learn a back deck roll. My first days have been amazing, I was worried at the beginning of being one of the less experienced paddlers however the coaches have been very good with coaching me and helping me achieve my highest potential. The accommodations have been great, we live in fully equipped houses with kitchens and everything! Everyone pitches in to help clean and organise, our workout in the morning is hard but it will get us in shape quickly for paddling, I am really happy with my keener experience so far!