麻豆社区

Whitehorse鈥檚 whitewater kayak community was out in full force last night.

Spectators crowded onto the Rotary Centennial Bridge to take in the tricks and talents of the Yukon Canoe and Kayak Club鈥檚 paddlers during the annual Whitewater Rodeo.

Kayakers of all ages and abilities performed their top tricks in the Yukon River鈥檚 famous spinwave, and also participated in a variety of races downriver 鈥� including the much-loved raft flip race.

In the winning raft were Rory Gibson, Emmalee Agnew, Will Rees, Will O鈥橞rien, Stew Dempsey and Connor Oliver-Beebe.

Brendan Zrum beat out the Brennan brothers 鈥� Lawrence and Joel 鈥� to win the advanced freestyle category.

Zrum鈥檚 first of three 30-second runs in the spin wave proved to be enough to win the division.

鈥淚t was smooth and had all the stuff in there all linked together,鈥� the 25-year-old explained. 鈥淚t just came together and afterwards I鈥坱hought 鈥楾hat might be it right there.鈥�

鈥淚鈥坵as able to link everything together, move from one trick to another and increase the difficulty. I鈥坰tarted off with a regular spin to a clean spin to a cartwheel to a loop to a Godzilla.鈥�

Having a large crowd on the bridge overlooking the wave gave the paddlers a jolt of energy, Zrum admitted.

鈥淲hen you hear people up there cheering and yelling, you鈥檙e like: 鈥極K, I鈥檓 going to stick something big.鈥� Having people around cheering and making noise 鈥� it makes all the difference.鈥�

Sean Stark was surprised to learn he won the intermediate freestyle division. The event organizer thought second-place finisher Derrick Law had him beat by a mile.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know. I鈥檇 have to look at the scoresheets and see how I actually did it, because I鈥坵as kind of surprised,鈥� the 43-year-old admitted.

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of an end-of-year thing,鈥� said Stark of the event, which he said dates back 22 years.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun get together. It鈥檚 not the Stanley Cup, so to speak. Everyone鈥檚 just in it to have fun.鈥�

Eleven-year-old Hunter Vincent earned victory in the beginner category. Vincent paddled for four years before entering his first rodeo.

鈥淭his is my first year going in the spin wave,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥坖ust find it really fun ... I think my win was just about the luck I had.鈥�

He said if third-place finisher Victor Thibeault would have been able to pull off a spin in the wave, he may have claimed the title.

Despite losing out to Zrum in the freestyle event, the Brennan brothers teamed up to win the downriver race in a tandem kayak.

The duo actually flipped in the rapids before emerging upright and continuing on to the win.

Younger brother Joel, 20, is a former national team member, competing at the junior world championships in Germany in 2011.

Now working in Fort McMurray, he isn鈥檛 out on the river near as much these days.

鈥淚t was good to get back in a kayak and play around a bit,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is one of the things I miss most of all about the Yukon.鈥�

Yukon Energy helped paddlers up the ante by allowing more water through the dam 鈥� reportedly rushing at a rate of 450 cubic metres per second. The weather also cooperated, with the clouds breaking for some rare sunshine while the water鈥檚 temperature measured in at 15 degrees.

罢翱笔鈥圧贰厂鲍尝罢厂

Boogie Board (Junior)

1. Luanda Pronovost
2. Emma Boyd
3. Anais Aildes

Boogie Board (Senior)

1. Malwina Bukszowana
2. Isabelle Gagnon

Beginner Kayak Freestyle

1. Hunter Vincent
2. Austin Shaw
3. Victor Thibeault

Intermediate Kayak Freestyle

1. Sean Stark
2. Derrick Law
3. Richard Zebrouck

Advanced Kayak Freestyle

1. Brendan Zrum 2. Lawrence Brennan
3. Joel Brennan

Downriver Race

1. Joel, Lawrence Brennan
2. Jason Zrum
3. Brendan Zrum

Raft Flip Race

1. Rory Gibson鈥檚 team
2. Kevin Daffe鈥檚 team
3. David Johnson鈥檚 team