Category: canoe championships

Aug. 9, 2012
The Republican News

The Deep Creek Open and U.S. National Canoe & Kayak Championships will be held the weekend of Sept. 8 and 9, at the Adventure Sports Center International (ASCI). It is expected to once again draw the world’s best paddlers to western Maryland to compete at the unique mountain-top course in the ultimate event of slalom whitewater competition.

“A challenging course will be set on the world’s only mountaintop, self-contained, artificial whitewater channel that draws the senior international teams, including many of the competitors from the London Olympics, as well as the entire U.S. Olympic Team and the current U.S. national and junior teams,” said a spokesperson.

Competitors for both competitions will traverse the same course set-up but will be separated for judging. U.S. paddlers will have the opportunity to place in both the Deep Creek Open and Nationals.

“Combining both these events is sure to create an exceptional pool of talent for the competition,” said Joe Jacobi, CEO of USA Canoe Kayak and Olympic gold medalist in the sport. “ASCI’s facilities will provide both a challenging race environment for competitors, as well as a great experience for spectators. It is a critical opportunity for our athletes to compete on the channel that will be used for the ICF World Championships in 2014.”

The competition will welcome all spectators to the riverside, pedestrian pathways, and/or bridge overlooking the top of the course to watch whitewater racing with family and friends.

“I am really looking forward to returning to ASCI,” said Casey Eichfeld, a 2008 and 2012 Olympian and former ASCI guide and instructor. “It is going to be a good race and great to see everyone again. Plus it will be nice to have the home court advantage in competing against the international paddlers who will be here.”

Canoe slalom is a competitive sport in which either individuals or teams of two navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging gates in the fastest time possible. Canoers kneel in their boats and use a single blade paddle, while kayakers sit and use a double bladed paddle. It is one of the two kayaking and canoeing disciplines at the Summer Olympics, with the other being canoe sprint (which is held on flatwater). The color of the gates indicates which direction they must be navigated, upstream or downstream. Time penalties are added for touching gates or failing to navigate gates correctly.

ASCI has successfully hosted many notable whitewater races, from the U.S. Rafting Nationals in 2009 to the ACA’s Open Canoe Slalom Nationals and the North American Canoe Kayak Championships in 2010. ASCI will also have the honor of hosting the esteemed International Canoe Federation’s (ICF) Canoe Slalom World Championships in 2014.

“ASCI is honored to have been selected to host Worlds in 2014,” said Suzanne Nicolas, the Deep Creek 2014 events coordinator. “Hosting such a large scale event will give ASCI the opportunity to show the world all that [the facility] and Garrett County have to offer.”

This is only the second time in history that the Worlds have been held in the United States. The first time was in 1989, also in Garrett County on the Savage River.

ASCI is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that operates both a 15-acre site on top of Marsh Mountain, home to ASCI’s headquarters and the whitewater course, and a 550-acre nature preserve called Fork Run, home to many climbing routes on natural faces and over 10 miles of mountain bike trails. ASCI’s core programs include guided rafting adventures down the whitewater course, guided climbing trips at Fork Run rocks, and instructional courses in kayaking, river boarding, and climbing. ASCI also offers winter programming that includes cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

To learn more about the competitions, persons may contact Nicolas at 301-387-3250 or via e-mail at snicolas@deepcreek2014.com.

Those interested in serving a crucial role as a volunteer for the event can visit www.adventuresportscenter.com to complete a volunteer form.

More here.

Buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland? Call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues!

Deep Creek 2014 officials travel to Europe for event advice
For the Cumberland Times-News
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Sat Sep 17, 2011, 10:24 PM EDT

MCHENRY — When the 2014 World Championship Canoe and Kayak Slalom Races come to the Adventure Sports Center International in Garrett County, organizers will use experience from their travel to Slovakia to observe this year’s event.

ASCI, in conjunction with USA Canoe and Kayak, was awarded the winning bid to host the premier event for Olympic whitewater canoe and kayak races earlier this year. ASCI competed with Poland and Austria for this designation. Following the award, Deep Creek 2014­ LLC was created as a subsidiary of ASCI to act as the official host entity for the races.

Garrett County Commission Chairman Gregan Crawford will serve as co-chairman along with Terry Hasseltine of the Maryland Office of Sports Marketing, which recently helped organize the Grand Prix auto races in Baltimore. They were joined by Garrett County Economic Development Director Jim Hinebaugh, Susanne Nicolas of ASCI/Deep Creek 2014 and board member Bob Campbell of Whitewater Parks International of Boulder, Colo., on an eight-day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia, to observe the 2011 World Championship and Kayak Slalom Races.

The races in 2014 will mark 25 years since world championship canoe and kayak slalom races were held in the U.S. on Savage River near Bloomington.

Those races helped to generate more than $12 million economic benefit to the state and county. Throughout the event in Bratislava, the group’s credentials allowed for unprecedented access to all areas of the race venue including medical, judging, athlete village, video review, protest challenges, media sources and areas around the course typically off-limits to many event organizers. “This was quite a rewarding experience,” Crawford said.

The group representing Deep Creek 2014 had access to senior members of the International Canoe Federation, which sponsors the event, many of whom had participated in the 1989 World Championship. The ICF looks forward to expanding more into the U.S. marketplace and gaining greater exposure for its sport, and the county commissioners are willing to help them to achieve those goals when practical, according to County Administrator Monty Pagenhardt.

The commissioners are committed to building a long-term relationship with ICF as well as establishing new relationships with other paddle-sport disciplines such as sprint canoe and marathon canoe, Pagenhardt said in a news release. “The board is firmly committed to making the 2014 World Championship Canoe and Kayak Slalom Races a successful event.”

The county has appropriated $25,000 to Deep Creek 2014 to be administered by the Department of Economic Development. In addition, ASCI, Garrett County government and the state of Maryland will be placed on the international stage with such cities as Bratislava, Prague of the Czech Republic and London, which will play host of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

More here.

Buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland? Call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues!

Maryland Holds First State Paddling Match

POSTED: 10:12 pm EDT August 13, 2011

UPDATED: 10:17 pm EDT August 13, 2011

MCHENRY, Md. — Canoeists and kayakers are competing in Maryland’s first state paddling championships in McHenry.

Organizers of the event at Adventure Sports Center International overlooking Deep Creek Lake said the slalom races were held on the upper section of the center’s whitewater course. The mountaintop sports center is hosting the International Canoe Federation’s canoe slalom world championships in 2014.

Read more: http://www.wbaltv.com/entertainment/28858911/detail.html#ixzz1VCTjO5zv

Buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland? Call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues!

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The Adventure Sports Center International, home of the world’s only mountaintop whitewater course, is set to host Maryland’s first Canoe and Kayak Championships on Saturday, Aug. 13. Competitors from around the region are expected to compete in that event. The state championship is a precursor to the upcoming Deep Creek 2014, the official name given to the 2014 Canoe Slalom World Championships by the International Canoe Federation. In the photo above, Dr. Jay Ditty of Morgantown, W.Va., navigates the whitewater of ASCI in a recent slalom canoe event.

More here.

Buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland? Call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues!