Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - Blog on a Log

WAV Paddling Instructors Look to Defend Canadian Rafting Team Title

Tim Wintoniw (Speers road store manager and WAV paddling instructor) will be joining Canadian Rafting Team member Andy Hill (WAV paddling instructor) outside of Quebec City in the World Cup of Rafting this coming fall.

Tim is the newest member of the Petawawa Raft Team, which consists of river guides from the Ottawa River outside of Beachburg, Ontario. Gwyn Ashcroft, Graham Ball, Jon Booren, Andy Hill, Bill Leslie, and Lars Romeskie have all worked several summers managing and raft guiding at one of the rafting companies on the Ottawa River, and all share a strong passion for whitewater. Originally a team that competed only in races for fun on the Ottawa River between other rafting companies, they began training hard on a regular basis after hearing about the Canadian trials from a member of the national Chilean Team. The team trains at 6am every morning before going to work on the river for the day, focusing on clean lines through the whitewater (i.e. the most efficient route), hard paddling on the flat sections, and practicing proper slalom technique.

These intense early morning practices have paid off – in their first ever competition, the team placed second, only 2 seconds behind the then Canadian Team from Quebec. After such a close race, the team was more determined than ever to win. They kicked their training regime into high gear, training daily both on the water and off, sometimes even twice a day. In June of 2011, the team accomplished their goal, and beat out several other teams to claim the Canadian title. Now looking to defend the title, they have practiced for head-to-head races, sprints, slalom and down river portions of the race in preparation to face off against many of the world’s greatest whitewater paddlers.

Tim and Andy will be travelling to the Ottawa Valley at the end of August to join the other members of the team and to train and prepare for the event, which takes place September 20th to 24th. If you or someone you know is interested in sponsoring the team’s efforts, including anything from gas money to sponsors for new equipment, please contact info@petawawaraftteam.ca. For more information or to keep up to date on the team’s successes check out www.petawawaraftteam.ca.