Co-ordinators Report, July 16th

Hello there!

It has been a quiet weekend at Keenerville, after a busy last week of session one. The highlight for the last week of session would have to be the Rouge trip- no surprise there if you have been following the previous blog posts! The Rouge River is a mere 3 hour drive from Keeners' Ottawa base, and is a great river to give the Keeners an introduction to creeking, and other styles of river than our big friendly Ottawa.

Otis Runs the "3rd Sister " while Anna and Tyler set Safety. 

Connor styling the Fourth sister

Coach Ben Marr gives the go sign as Joey Brown lines up the "6th" sister. 

The section of the Rouge we ran is known as "The Seven Sisters", named for a series of drops, or waterfalls. For the majority of the Keeners, this was there first waterfall, and there is hardly a better place to try one! The drops are all varied in style, with some good boof lines and a small slide. Everything was a little intimidating at first, especially to be using play boats! There were a few swims, and lots of chances to practice safety. All in all, everyone had a great day. The highlights of the day were definitely watching coach Rafa Ortiz get a beatdown in the 3rd sister, Archie's beatdown at the 6th sister, and going for a Quebec classic- Poutine!- post river.

We were all sad to see the first session Keeners go on Saturday, as well as say goodbye to Coaches Tyler Curtis and Ben Marr.

Session 2 Keeners put on the Water for the first day of warmups! 

A whole new group of Keeners arrived on Sunday to kick off Session 2. We have boaters from Scotland, Costa Rica, Canada, and the US: This session even has a record 3 Keeners from  New Mexico, and 8 female Keeners! It is great to see returning faces, as well as all the first time Keeners.  Sunday morning also brought back Keener Head Coach Stephen Wright for the remainder of the summer, as well as Keener Coach and Kayaking Legend Clay Wright. We are super excited to have them back on the water with us. 

Tonight will be speech night, I know I am looking forward to learning a little bit about each Keener, as well as hearing one of Stephen Wrights famous speeches. 

Stephen Wright gets ready to get on the Water

 Coaches for the week are Rafa Ortiz, Joel Kowalski, Stephen Wright, Clay Wright, and Tino Specht.

It should be an awesome week to start off session 2. The water levels are low, and Garb is green, but Corner Wave is still awesome, and Push Button just keeps getting better. It is hot out here, and lucky for us, there is no better time to be on the water! 

Rafa Ortiz brings the excitement! 

Hope to see you out there- check back for more updates soon! - And be sure to check the Facebook page for more photos and daily updates!!