Young FRPA Travel Team takes on Appalachia
by Nick "Fuzzy" Chanin
Tuesday April 26, the FRPA athletes Alex Dodge, Michael Turvey, Tyler “Peewee” Hinton, Nick “Fuzzy” Chanin and Coach Chris set out for yet another trip, this time to compete for a spot on the Jr. National Team. What a great day for Coach Chris to celebrate his birthday with a group of unseasoned travelers to the hot, wet south.
They packed their bags and paddles and hopped on a plane to Atlanta. After landing at the Atlanta airport it was a mad dash to the rental car, especially the front seat, then an hour long drive out of Atlanta. On the way to the hotel the athletes got their first taste of the south, the glorious shining, and yellow beacon of the Waffle House! They counted 7 in 28 miles of driving. A late night stop at the W.H. closest to their hotel then finally to bed (at 12:30). An early start got the team three hours north, deep into the heart of Appalachia and into the Nantahala Gorge.
On Wednesday the team met their boats, graciously driven out by Coach Dennis Adams with Lisa Adams and Iris Gardener. The next three days were filled with intense training on the swift and technical water of the Nantahala. The team trained up to six hours a day and quickly adjusted to the relatively warm weather and difficult whitewater, while making huge leaps towards becoming seriously competitive with the nation's top kayakers.
Saturday brought the first day of racing. The results were full of 50's (missed gates), even amongst the top racers, and some disappointing runs (in the case of FRPA's C-2 team, two swims).
Sunday proved to be a tougher course but the team, after some encouraging words from Coach Chris, handled it with ease, putting together a much more productive day than Saturday. By the end of the day it was clear that the team would fail to qualify a boat (or even place one in the top ten) for the USA Whitewater Slalom Junior National Team. But this can be expected of a young team after graduating four of some of the best whitewater slalom racers in the US. Despite some disappointing finishes it was evident that the FRPA athletes would be back again in a year to offer some serious competition against the rest of the national racers. But as the saying goes, there is no rest for the weary, and the team, with Coach Chris at the wheel headed back through Appalachia to Atlanta for a flight home.
Tired and dirty, they met their baggage and parents at DIA almost an hour behind schedule. Fuzzy and his dad headed home but the other paddlers were not so lucky. The airline gods had something more for FRPA. Upon claiming our paddle bag, Chris found that every single paddle was broken, blades and shafts, all crushed beyond repair.
Well, maybe it would have been weird if there had been a FRPA trip without some minor catastrophe.