North American Championships Finals underway at the Ottawa River! by Will Richardson | Sep 3, 2005 | Whitewater | 0 comments September 3, 2005 Photos Today was a picture perfect day on the Ottawa with 75 degrees, sunny, warm water, and awesome water levels for the Garberator! Today was prelims for all classes except junior women and C1’s which did their finals. In the women’s pro class- Emily Jackson busted out some sweet rides using all of her 45 seconds on one of them to take first in this round. Ruth Gordon also had a great round looking like she was at home at her home wave, getting second, and Tanya Faux was 3rd. The upset was Tanya Shuman missing the wave three times, losing her shot at the North American title for 2005. In the men’s pro class- Anthony Yapp from Australia (but local to the Ottawa each summer) had some sick rides to win the prelims, nailing his new favorite move for 2005 the McNasty in good form on one ride, and completely dialed into the clean blunts. Billy Harris, also a 582 local (the Ottawa river phone prefix of 90% of the best freestyle paddlers in Canada) was also in good form with awesome Pan Ams, clean aerial blunts, and backstabs. I was third in prelims with some work to do if I am going to stay undefeated in 2005 and beat the local boys Anthony and Billy. I didn’t get any practice on the wave at the competition level so I kept with the old standard moves until after my early morning session tomorrow. Andrew Holcomb had one incredible huge Pan Am that had the crowd on their feet along with his smooth style to take 4th place in prelims. Andrew and I are 1st and 2nd so far in the North American Cup. Also making it for Team Jackson Kayak was Clay Wright, Stephen Wright, and Brad Sutton. The big upset in the men’s class was Bryan Kirk who did so well in Watertown in the first event of the NAC (3rd) but didn’t make the next round after two times missing the wave in a row. In the Junior Women’s Class- Katie Kowalski tore it up to win her second weekend in a row! Great Job! In the Junior men’s class: Zach Miller won the junior men’s prelims with Nick Troutman in second, and Joel Kowalski in third. Dane made the next cut also. Keegan as well. Check out the photos! An important decision was made for USA athletes yesterday by the USFKA. Team Trials for the 2007 World Championships team will be held right here at the Garberator just before the World Cup next year! 🙂 EJ Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ