What does the Front Range Paddling Association have that sets it apart from anywhere else in the country? No where else can you find the same synergy of the very best people working to make whitewater paddling more accessible to everyone.
FRPA has a nucleus of people from Olympic athletes and coaches to engineers,
and business leaders that love whitewater! Chris Weigand has created
this exciting and evolving organization by bringing in all of these amazing
people to achieve the highest levels of excellence. In so doing Chris
has remained true to his fundamental guiding principle of making the sport accessible
to everyone from kids just looking for something fun to do to Olympic athletes
looking to survive the challenges that life brings, from disabled veterans to
elite athletes. The Front Range Paddling Association has successfully
supported a developemental program that includes instruction, training camps,
events, and trips to competitions all over the country and the world.
What could be more fun than learning to kayak from people like the members of
the Front Range Paddling Association who love the sport so much that they don't
just do the sport they live it? Come join the fun, but be forewarned it
could be a life changing experience. . .
Just ask Cathy Hearn
who has won more medals than any other woman at a single World Championships
back in 1979, and is now the National Team Coach for the US Canoe Team.
Cathy has been an active member of the Front Range Paddling Association since
she moved to Colorado in 2001, and was back again last weekend to take the FRPA
to a whole new level. She conducted coach's training for all of FRPA's
top coaches and instructors. In so doing she provided a living example
of how to achieve excellence in this sport because she was not just tweaking
esoteric subtleties of the Olympians, and former US Team members of the FRPA
she gave time an attention to paddlers who were just getting started in the
sport as well. In fact she took split times on every single competitor
in the competition hosted by FRPA this past weekend! That is a mathematical
feat that few could possibly achieve, and one that most elite coaches and world
class athletes would hardly even consider. That is simply the nature of
the sport of whitewater though. Since you compete against time, and the
elements in an evironment that requires attention to a dynamic medium the camraderie
in this sport is like nothing else I have ever experienced. The Front
Range Paddling Association epitomizes this quality of camraderie in this adventurous
sport by giving everyone access to the most experienced instructors, coaches
and fellow athletes in the sport of whitewater paddling.
Thank you Chris, and
the whole team at the FRPA for providing such a high quality program, and in
so doing creating such an inspiration to the rest of the country!
Enjoy! - Ben Kvanli, 1996 Olympian in whitewater kayak
