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Greetings all.
Everybody please make note – the 2008 USA Wildwater National Championships are now less than two months away. The week preceding this year's Nationals will also be replete with a variety of activities, clinics, and other interesting opportunities to race. The race organizers are pulling out all the stops to make the 2008 US Nationals the best ever.
I will be publishing a comprehensive and complete schedule of all activities during Nationals Week in the very near future. In today's posting, I'd like to introduce the major events that will comprise the 2008 Nationals Week.
The Races
There will be three distinct events. Competitors may enter as many or as few as match their interests. All three of the events will be organized by a race director and corresponding staff.
1) Sunday, July 27th. Nationals Warm-Up Event. This will take place on a 3-4 mile section on the "Gap" stretch of the Deerfield. In addition to the normal rack of wildwater boat classes, there will also be a class for cruiser boats, and a class for plastic downriver boats, like Wavehoppers. Even if you've never taken part in a downriver event, I encourage everybody who has a boat to give it a try. It's a fun course, and it's not terribly difficult.
2) Wednesday/Thursday, July 30th/31st. First inaugural Time Bomb Championship Event. Entrants in the Time Bomb Championship must compete in two different races, on two differing (Gap) stretches of the river. The first race will take place on Wednesday, and the second race will take place a day later. For each entrant, the times for the two races will be combined. The winner of the Time Bomb Championship will be the entrant most closely predicts his/her combined time. That means you do not have to be fast to win. And there will not be distinct boat classes. You can paddle, and possibly win, with whatever type of boat you'd care to use. Of course, entrants may not carry watches and stuff like that. The 2008 Time Bomb Champion will be named at an awards BBQ on Thursday evening.
3) Saturday/Sunday, August 2nd/3rd. The 2008 USA Wildwater National Championships. Entrants must compete in three races spanning both days, and these races will take place on the Dryway stretch of the Deerfield. Saturday's two sprint races will take place at Noon and 2:00PM, respectively. Sunday's classic race will begin at Noon. This event will not have distinct boat classes for cruiser and plastic boats. The winner of this event will be named the 2008 US Wildwater National Champion. That's a big honor.
Clinics and Training Sessions
Nationals Week will include 4 formal clinics which will be conducted by a set of Wildwater racing experts. Two of the clinics will be geared toward wildwater novices, and I am hoping to be able to provide wildwater boats and/or Wavehoppers for the clinic attendees. The other two clinics assume an audience experienced in wildwater racing. The exact dates and times will be published in my next posting. All of the clinics are open to anybody who cares to attend.
Additionally, current and past US Wildwater Team members will also be conducting informal training sessions on the river. These on-river training sessions provide an excellent opportunity to better understand what wildwater racers focus on when racing.
Other Stuff
I don't know how this is going to work, but Monday night will be movie night. Additionally, one of USA's first Olympic Whitewater Medalists, Jamie McEwan, will be hosting a reunion/nationals race dinner and social gathering on Saturday, August 2nd @ 6:30PM. Anticipated admission is likely to be $11.
A few other Things to Know
1) Anybody wishing to compete in any of the three events will need to fill out the appropriate registration form. And of course, each of the events has a modest entry fee. At the moment, only the registration form for the Nationals is accessible at 2008 Registration Form. Registration Forms for the other events should become available shortly. Of course, the same set of Registration Forms will be available at the race sites, too.
2) Please address your lodging/camping needs soon. Things are filling up quickly. Lodging and camping information has already been compiled, and can be found by clicking here: Lodging and Camping.
3) As schedules stabilize, and other information becomes available, I will be posting here on this site. This same information can also be accessed on the Zoar website at: Zoar 2008 US National Wildwater Championships. I'll make every possible effort both construct and adhere to rational schedules. But, stuff happens, so it's worth double-checking dates/times on occasion.
4) The 2008 Nationals Week will have many activities geared to several different audiences. Regrettably, I suspect it will sometimes be confusing. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions and/or comments.
Seth Eisner, USACK Wildwater Vice Chair
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