COLLEGIATE KAYAKERS CONQUER THE TRUCKEE
National Collegiate Whitewater Kayaking Competition in Reno
Kayaker challenges the Truckee River
It’s all captured for television
Last Saturday, I ventured to downtown Reno to catch the collegiate national whitewater kayaking championship, being held at the Truckee River Whitewater Park.
Despite the overcast skies, the event attracted a good crowd, all interested in seeing some of the best college kayakers in the country battle the Truckee’s waters. During the time I watched, it was the women’s freestyle qualifying matches, which featured the top college female paddlers.
The Truckee is running high at this time of year so there was plenty of water and a powerful current to challenge the kayakers. While I don’t pretend to know what the participants were required to do in the competition, I did see some stellar paddling and tight rolls. On the latter, the participants would paddle to the center of the course, where there’s a lot of roiling water and a kind of waterfall, and purposely flip their kayaks upside down, then right them, without losing control.
The whole time the competitors are going through their maneuvers, I found myself fascinated by this guy with a big television camera on a crane-like contraption that swung around over the heads of the paddlers. As the kayakers flipped upside down and fought against the current, the camera floated overhead, catching every bit of agony and exertion. He was there because the competition was being filmed by College Sports TV, which will plans to broadcast highlights of the competition in May.
In addition to the whitewater kayaking competition, the Collegiate Nationals, held throughout the Reno area on April 20-23, included the collegiate national wakeboard competition at the Sparks Marina, the national beach volleyball tournament at Harrah’s Plaza, a triathlon, and snowboarding championships at Northstar-At-Tahoe.
While I only watched the kayaking portion, I was rewarded with some dazzling paddle-work. And as I stood there taking it all in, I overheard a young guy in his mid-20s remark that he never thought he’d see the day when competitors from colleges from around the country would flock to Reno for kayaking.
Reno’s image is changing my friends.—-Richard Moreno
