Learning on the Ottawa River. By Nate O’Connor

Since the beginning of this Keener session, I have struggled to acclimate to the size of the Ottawa River.  In Nevada, I have never faced higher volume rivers.  I usually paddle the American River, where the water gets to about 3000 cfs.  This has made it fairly difficult for me to adjust my boating style to the larger rapids.  I feel that every activity that we have done at Keeners has helped me become a better kayaker and understand how to manage the enormous force of the Ottawa River.

     Flat water warm up drills really benefit me in getting ready for the day and preparing me for any physically strenuous activities.  Although they are effective for this, they also improve technique.  Learning the proper and powerful forward stroke enables you to travel through the water effectively and have the ability to move out of the way if a dangerous situation arises.  This is extremely important on the Ottawa because of its size.  Without the proper stroke it can be very difficult to navigate through this river and may even result in injury. Flat water warm ups may seem like a boring waste of time, but they are very important for every kayaker.

     Although Big Water Bacon Beat Down Thursday may seem like an excuse for coaches to punish the keeners by sending them into big holes, it is not what it seems.  Beat Down Thursday is actually created to allow keeners to be ready for big water.  Dropping into a very large hole is not only very scary and can help with desensitizing to big water.  Believe it or not, after surfing every hole in McCoy’s rapid, it’s a lot less scary to look at the rest of the Ottawa.  This is essential to learning on this river since it can be challenging to learn while fighting fear.  Big water beat down Thursday is one of the most important leaning opportunities at keeners, plus it’s super fun.

    Race day is a very beneficial activity, because it trains you to look for the fastest way down rapids.  But race day allows you to think about the safest line compared to the fastest line.  With this in mind it enables you to pick apart a rapid and find the best line through.  With this skill it makes it exponentially easier to navigate the Ottawa River.  Race day also teaches us to deal with the nervous feelings that races give.  At the beginning of a race it can be crucial to keep cool.  Allowing yourself to say, this is only a competition, nothing will happen if I can’t win, can mean the difference between winning and losing.

    The Keener program equips it’s students with skills that will help in future kayaking, along with specific skills to use on the Ottawa.  Although the methods of teaching may seem strange, these methods are the best and most fun way of learning these essential skills.