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!!

Co-ordinators Report Week 2!

Rush Sturges and Ben Marr show Keeners how
it is done at Garb. Photos Galen
Volckhausen. 

It has been a fun-filled second week here at Keenerville. Our usual coaching staff of Tyler Curtis,  Joel Kowalski, and Tino Specht was supplemented by guest coaches Ben Marr and Rush Sturges.

Monday dawned sweltering hot- temperatures have been in the 40s all week- (That is around 95 degrees to those of us on the Fahrenheit plan) leading to loads of sunscreen and, lucky for us, inspiration to spend lots of time on the water.

Tuesday was a movie trip to Pembroke, where all the Keeners discovered the joys of Wal-Mart- especially the candy section! New friends were made- notably the chipmunks that have discovered all the treats Keeners brought home with them. This has led to a new off river activity of chasing chipmunks out of the cabins. I'm not sure who is more scared- the Keeners, or the chipmunks!

Race Day wednesday saw a several different styles of races- a boater cross down the Lorne rapid with 2 slalom gates, as well as a regular boater cross on Normans, and a time trial on Coliseum. Joey won 1st place for the boatercross, and Patrick dominated the time trial.

Race Day Wednesday saw tight competition. Here is a still from the boater cross at the Lorne. 

Levels are dropping quickly, but Corner Wave is still green, glassy and gorgeous. Babyface and Push Button have been great tools for Keeners trying out some of their first blunts, while Garb has been challenging some of the more advanced members of our group.

Keener Coach and Video Teacher Tino Specht gets huge air

on Garb. 

For Competition Friday, there were two comps: One at Garb- won with a 200 point ride by Joey. Quinton was close behind in second with a score of 155.  The competition was tight at Pushbutton, with Greyson, Otis and David tied for 1st.

The Keener Ramp: Ready and Waiting

One on river highlight for the week was Thys getting his first ever surfs on Babyface and Pushbutton- no small feat! Off-river highlights would be a morning warm-up game of Ultimate Frisbee, where we learned that Greyson has serious frisbee skills, as well as playing "Samurai", a game where one person is blindfolded, covered in clothespins, and given a pool noodle. The object of the game is for the other players to remove the clothespins without getting thwacked by the pool noodle. The Keeners got well into the game- with excellent Samurai performances by Otis, Joey, Hannah, Archie, Canon and Matt.

The upcoming week looks to be the best yet- Former Keener Rafa Ortiz will be joining the coaching staff for the week, the infamous Keener Ramp has been revamped and re-installed, and we are planning a trip to the Rouge river. I think everyone is hoping to make the most of their last week here.

That is all for now! For more updates and photos, check the Keener Facebook page: 


Anna

Today, Sunday July 8th was Hannah's 16th Birthday. Thanks Ruth for the delicious cake!