Getting boats to the put-in at Sandy Beach, competitors once again had the boat-carrying assistance of some of the ask-me-to-do-anything Montgomery County SSL (Student Service Learning ) volunteers recruited by Race Committee member Miki Komlosh and supported by Marty Lizak.
Choosing a route to the start eddy may have been the subject of the greatest uncertainty: paddling the main channel through S-Turn at that level is tricky. It was chosen by the more confident racers and safety paddlers without incident, and the remainder chose the back channel along the Maryland side of the river to the Start Eddy below Rocky Island.
We were lucky to host a wide range of paddling styles and skills. Nearly the entire 2024 U.S. Wildwater Team participated this year: thank you guys and gals for showing us some great times! Across all classes, finishing first was team member Garet Strouse (Wildwater Kayak, WWK, from Frederick, now living in New Jersey). He was followed by Washington Canoe Club paddler Sam Rhodes (K1-Long); Graeme Biggin (WWK, visiting from Blue Bell, PA); hometown hero Sandrine Deglin (WWK); and Ethan Watt (WWK, visiting from Sharon, CT).
Huge thanks go to the Onwater Safety Team, ably led and organized by Jennifer Sass:
Alf Cooley, Bill MacFarland, Hildy Ferraiolo, Jill MacNeice, Juan Velasquez, Lisa Fallon, Marianne McNeil, Marilyn Jones, Megan O'Reilly, Michael Graham, Miki Komlosh, Nicholas Carson, Nikola Spatafora, Robert Goo, Rolo Arrieta, Peter Ryan, and Thierry Rosenheck. The race itself ran smoothly thanks to your preparedness!
Check-in veteran Kathleen Sengstock, flanked by Diane Whitaker, Beth Forward, and Dean Hawes, managed the process like pros: while we missed Susan, she met with Dean the night before the race for a quick tutorial to prepare him to handle data entry without breaking a sweat!
Nearly half of our finish crew members were new to the race, helping with the critical tasks of recording finish times, shooting stills and video at the finish line, and entering finish data. Thank you, Dean Hawes and Jackie Hoglund, Kathleen Sengstock, Francois Kroedel (who also helped us keep parked cars in order up on MacArthur Blvd), Pam and Tim White, and Chris Earp: we may not have done everything perfectly, but we did our best and have learned a few tips for 2025. Anna Normand lent an extra hand with the cleanup effort. Thanks go to Jackie for suggesting to Gary Quam that we reach out to CCA Trip Leaders, vetted, responsible folks: what better way for us to meet and welcome Tim, Pam, Anna, and Hildy as race volunteers!
The Sycamore Island on-water and hosting (including the yummy baked goods) role was generously shared by Vicki Judson, Cindy Bertaut, Jim Drew, Anne Waidmann, and our liaison and emeritus Race Chair Star Mitchell: thank you all (our good friend Jennifer Hearn, who stopped by to drop off dessert sweets, too)!
Of course, we thank the SSL Students Katie, Nyah, Liena, Nina, Adelaide, Charlotte, Sora, and Netta, and their ringleader and chaperone Marty. Thank you for carrying boats to the put-in and up from the Island; setting up and serving lunch; and running sheets bearing finish times from the finish line teams to Dean for data entry with smiles and patience!
Supporting the CCA Race enterprise are the team members who were poised to jump into planning mode as the new year began. Thank you, Lynn Miller, for planning our site readiness with Doug Dupin, the awesome Sycamore Island Caretaker, setting us up with a delicious lunch and offering the delightful support of your visiting sister, Beth: Susan Sherrod for managing and communicating registration and preparing awards with Ginny DeSeau; Miki Komlosh, our insurance expert (besides being our SSL Student recruiter and safety boater); Joan Goodbody, T-shirt production; and Cotton, who attended the planning meetings with support and willingness to reach out to others when helpful or necessary.
Photos below:
- Overall race winner Garet Strouse (#34) (photo by Tim White)
- Paddlers offer lessons on how to cross the finish line with panache (photos by Tim White): Mark Burns, Richard Winkler, David Williams, Michael Stringfellow, Jenna Lincoln, Stephanie Wolfle, Hildy Ferraiolo (upside down) with Lauren Williams (#17) and Allison Holliday, and James Powers
- Gregory Maassen, proud to bring up the rear at 2:03:03 in an inflatable kayak (photo by Jenn Sass)