US Open - What a Great Weekend of Whitewater Racing
By John Pinyerd, USA Wildwater Chairman
The US Open yielded a great Wildwater race and it was also the final regional qualifier for the US Olympic Slalom trials. Howard Chambers and the Nantahala Racing Club put a world class event and both the Slalom and Wildwater events were flawlessly executed.
Our participation in the Wildwater events was cut in half because many of our athletes were racing to earn the right to race at the US Olympic Slalom Trails. We truly wish them the best. I must confess that I got “Olympic fever” in 1992 and did the same thing.
The Wildwater race consisted of two events. Saturday was a short sprint down the slalom course that utilized their electronic start and finish lines. Times ranged from a mere 42 seconds for a K-1 into the mid 50 second range for C-1’s. Get used to the idea as this could be the future of Wildwater Sprint in a multiple discipline whitewater venue. Sunday’s race was a short classic race from Ferebee to just below the Ledges.
The US Open was weekend of accomplishments for Wildwater:
- Geoff Calhoun turned in a stunning time on the classic course of 10:15 (which is rumored to be close to the PR of the local pro Chris Hipgrave)
- Erin Wilder was very motivated and turned out a very nice time in the classic.
- Zuzana Vanha borrowed a boat, raced the sprints, and showed us why she was one of our top racers a couple years ago. We look forward to more comebacks.
- Olympian and zillion-time Slalom World Champion, Scott Shipley, was seen purchasing a Wildwater boat. It is rumored that he is going to race.
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Bank of America 2004 Whitewater US Open - March 20-21 |
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WILDWATER COMBINED RESULTS |
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C1 |
SPRINT |
CLASSIC |
OVERALL % |
Place |
|
John Pinyerd |
103.39 |
746 |
200.00 |
1 |
|
Joel Abrahams |
120.58 |
905 |
237.94 |
2 |
|
Bob Bofinger |
109.35 |
DNS |
n/a |
3 |
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|
|
|
|
K1W |
|
|
|
|
|
Erin Wilder |
179.05 |
828 |
200.00 |
1 |
|
Zuzana Vanha |
100.35 |
DNS |
n/a |
2 |
|
Amy Walters |
DNS |
1031 |
n/a |
3 |
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|
|
|
|
|
K1 |
|
|
|
|
|
Geoff Calhoun |
86.08 |
615 |
200.00 |
1 |
|
Bern Collins |
98.55 |
740 |
234.81 |
2 |
|
Rob Murphy |
102.6 |
760 |
242.77 |
3 |
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Lincoln Williams |
102.48 |
763 |
243.12 |
4 |
|
Zach Bethea |
110.48 |
822 |
262.00 |
5 |
|
Caleb Bethea |
DNS |
950 |
n/a |
6 |
Class |
Bib# |
Name |
Sprint First Run |
Sprint Second Run |
Sprint Overall Total |
|
K1 Jr. |
182 |
Erin Wilder |
120 |
59.05 |
179.05 |
|
C1 Jr. |
183 |
Joel Abrahams |
60.57 |
60.01 |
120.58 |
|
C1 |
184 |
Bob Bofinger |
54.29 |
55.06 |
109.35 |
|
C1 |
186 |
John Pinyerd |
52.23 |
51.16 |
103.39 |
|
K1 Jr. |
187 |
Geoff Calhoun |
42.61 |
43.47 |
86.08 |
|
K1 Wavehopper |
188 |
Rob Murphy |
51.10 |
51.50 |
102.60 |
|
K1 Masters |
189 |
Bern Collins |
48.78 |
49.77 |
98.55 |
|
K1 |
190 |
Lincoln Williams |
51.20 |
51.28 |
102.48 |
|
K1 |
191 |
Zuzana Vanha |
49.70 |
50.65 |
100.35 |
|
K1 Cadet |
193 |
Zach Bethea |
55.28 |
55.20 |
110.48 |
