Upandcomingpaddlershelpkeepoursportgrowingandevolving.
In thiscolumn,WorldClassAcademyPrincipalCapoRettiginterviews
new,youngtalentto explore themes of the whitewater scene.NEW WAV E
ByCapo Rettig
CapoRettigis theDirectorandPrincipalof WorldClassAcademy,analternativehighschoolwithanathleticfocusonwhitewaterkayaking.Theschooltravelstheworldin searchof thebestriverswhileprovidinga fullyaccreditedhighschool
experience,inadvertentlyproducingsomeof theworld’sbestkayakers.Underhisleadershiptheprogramhasexpandedto includeTheClimbingAcademyandWorld Class Kite Academy, programs for climbing and kiting that follow the World
Class model. Capo has paddled and travelled all over the world, notably spending time in Colombia, for which he wrote the first whitewater guidebook.EvyLiebfarthis abouttotaketheworldbystorm,if shehasn’talreadybythetimeyouread
this.Thissummer,Evybecametheyoungestcompetitorto earna medalat a WorldCupafter
placingthirdin thewomen’scanoecategoryat Ljublijana,Slovenia,in onlyhersecondWorld
Cupcompetition.Theweekendbeforein Bratislava she finished top 10 in both K1 and C1 in
herfirst.Notbadforjustturning15.TheBrysonCity,NorthCarolinaathletealreadyhada reputationattheU.S.Nationallevel,
havingpreviouslyqualifiedforboththeK1andC1women’snationalteams- twice.Despite
qualifyingin 2017and2018,herage(below the ICF’s cap of 15) kept her from being eligible
to compete.Butthatis allin thepast.Evy,howdidyoufirstgetintokayaking?
I startedkayakingwhenI wasfouryearsold,butI don’tremembermuch.Bothmyparentsare
paddlers,sokayakingseemsnatural!WhenI wasseven,myparentsandI weregoingtorun
theNantahalaRiverwhenI sawa smallslalomrace.I convincedmyparentstoletmeenter,
andI gotmyfirstslalomboatlessthan a year later. I immediately loved how fast it was and
havebeenhookedeversince.Whatmotivatesyouasa kayaker?
I havealwayslovedthewaykayaksmovethroughthewater;thewayspeedandprecisionare
usedtogetherto makeit downstream.Myloveforkayakingallowsmeto striveto bebetter,as
a passionforsomethingalwaysmakesit easierto bemotivated.I pushmyselfbecauseI want
to dobetter,notbecauseotherpeopleputpressureonmeto dowell.Self-motivationis a huge
partofbeinganeliteathlete.I getupearlyandtrainandgoashardasI caneveryworkout
forthesatisfactionof knowingI havedoneeverything I can to get better at the sport I love.Doyoudoanyothertypesof kayaking?
I loveallkindsof kayaking.I alwaystryto finda newcreekorriverto paddlewhenI’mhome.I
liketo usemyPyranhaRipper,soI canstilldosomeslalommoves!At someof theWorldCups,
I’vealsocompetedin ExtremeSlalom,whichis likeboatercross.Youlaunchfroma bridgein a
plasticboatandraceheadto headagainstthreeotherswhilenavigatinga fewgates.Recently there havebeen morecompetitors in extremekayak races from slalom
backgrounds.Doyouhaveanyinterestin pursuingthisstyleof competitionin thefuture?
Extremeslalomis gainingpopularity,andI’lldefinitelycontinuetopursueit. Eventhemore
extremeracesliketheNorthForkChampionshipscombinewhitewaterslalomskillswithbig
waterskills,soa slalombackgroundcanbea bigadvantage.I wouldloveto spendmoretimeon
bigwhitewaterin thehopesof competingin eventslikethisasa wayto round out my kayaking.Aremorejuniorsgettingintoslalomkayakingthesedays?
I believethesportis currentlygrowingin theU.S.Mylocalclub,theNantahalaRacingClub,has
aroundtenkidsstartingslalomrightnow.Thiskindofdepthin theprogramhasn’texistedfor
a while.Hopefully,astheygetolder,they’llwantto starttrainingseriously.Localpaddlingclubs
aretheonlywaymorejuniorswillgetintothesport.I thinka lotofteenswon’tstartkayaking
outof fear,butslalomis basicallyhardermoves on easier rivers. It can help build skills without
stepping too far out of a comfort zone.Howdoesthejuniorslalomcommunityin theU.S.comparewiththelargerworld?
I firsttraveledinternationallyforslalomwaswhenI was12,andI wasamazedat thenumberof
athletesat eachracesite.In theU.S.rightnow,a bigracehasabout 30 athletes,butat racesin
Europe,theycapentriesat 400juniors.I hopethatonedayslalom grows to that size in the U.S.Whatis yourmostmemorablecompetitionmoment?
The 2019 WorldCup#2in Sloveniawillprobablybemymostmemorableraceforever.In slalom,
yougettwoheatsruns- twotriesto makeit to semifinals.Afterthefirstheatsrun,the 20 fastest
racersadvance,andafterthesecondheatsrun,the 10 fastestadvance.Those 30 semifinalists
haveonerunto betop 10 andadvanceto finals.Mygoalwasto makeit to semifinals.OnceI
madeit, I puteverythingtowardsmakingit to finals,andI did.It wasa toughcourseonsome
ofthebiggestartificialwhitewaterin Europe,andI wasabletokeepfocusedthroughoutthe
race,evenwiththedistractionsoftheannouncersandthethoughtofresults.I wasreallylow
in thefirstup,butI pushedashardasI couldtherestof therun,andI placedthird.Earninga
WorldCupmedalin a fieldof somanyotheramazingathletes was incredible, and I will always
rememberthatfeelingof disbeliefwhenI medaled.Whatareyourgoalsfor2020?AnyOlympicaspirations?
BecominganOlympicmedalistis a long-termgoalof mine,andthefirststepis qualifyingan
Olympicboatat thisyear’sWorldChampionshipsin LaSeude’Urgell,Spain.NomatterhowI
doatthatevent,though,I wantto comeoutfeelinghappywithmyperformance.I’mtraining
hardforthatOlympicspot,butI knowI havea lotof yearsto make that dream happen.Doyouhaveanyrole-modelsor heroesin thesport?
Myall-timeheroin canoeslalomis JessicaFox,a wk1andwc1paddlerfromAustralia.Last
year,shewonalmosteveryWorldCup.Eventhoughshehasn’tthisyear,she’salwaysable
to learnfromherracingandothercompetitors.I reallylookupto herasanambassadorand
anathlete.Shehasa busytrainingschedule,andstill finds time to coach and help with the
younger kids and helps them pursue the sport.A BRIGHT LIGHT SHINING
FOR SLALOM
TECHNIQUE