Its great to be here! Starting a new year with new friends and some new rivers. We have had a great couple first day’s here living on the banks of possibly the safest most fun river in the world, the Ottawa River. For me the first day of the year is a time to get acquainted and get to know each other through team building exercises. So for our team building exercise as well as for everyone’s well being and safety we did an intensive safety class.
    After school, instead of going on the river, we all piled into Wilderness Tours Auditorium.  I gave a lecture covering such things as, trust on the river and how that is a fragile gift as well as how to maintain it, how to identify different safety situations on the river and fallowing the assessment how to react. We covered the fact that we are such a big group on the water that we need to constantly be watching out for each other on and off the water. I firmly believe building a strong happens as much off the water as on and that I expect people to treat each other with this in mind, even if there are personal conflicts. There were other subjects mixed into all of this but the last one we covered was how to use a very powerful tool on the river, a throw rope.
    After a long instructional on how and when to use a throw rope we went outside and spent the rest of the afternoon practicing the different types of throws. The Side Arm, Over Hand, and Under Hand. During this period we also practiced the rethrow, which will allow you to still get your rope to someone if you miss him or her on your first toss.
    So after this great intensive on safety, we’ve been paddling everyday and working on new moves. Its awesome to see everybody stepping up and really helping themselves progress as much as possible with the instruction from David Spiegel and I. The thing that really gets me excited is to see how safety conscious everyone is. Great decisions are being made on the water and people are so on top of looking out for each other that the other day I saw someone wait in line for 10 minutes to surf a wave but when he saw that someone was in the water swimming he paddled right out of the line with four other guys from the school to help their fellow class mate. Pretty awesome to see! Hope everyone back home having fun and getting some beautiful end of summer weather.

Paddle Hard,

Coach Tino Specht

Tino demonstrating how to pack a throw rope correctly

Emery and Tracy practicing their technique

    Hi, my name is Tracy d’Arbeloff. This year I am taking over Tyson’s blog, so his posts can be found after mind. Ok, here is a little bit of info about who I am. I am a student leader here at New River Academy. I keep around a 4.0 grade point average while kayaking around the world. I love being outdoors, whether it is hiking, swimming, or my personal favorite, whitewater kayaking, it does not matter as long as I can be in the wilderness. I got my start from Anna Levesque and Andrew Holcombe’s Girls At Play program when I was around 10 or 11. This past summer I got to spend three weeks at Ottawa Kayak School’s Keener Program where my instructors were world renowned pro-kayakers. Getting to paddle with the best of the best was an amazing experience. I am sponsored by Snap Dragon Skirts and  Still River Outfitters, which is a paddle shop in Massachusetts and Vermont. During the summers I often teach young kids in whitewater kayak camps through the shop. The other students at New River Academy are the up and coming best of the best, and getting to paddle with them is a learning experience for sure. They are all amazing river runners and playboaters. Not to mention all the kids are super cool. This year is off to an awesome start. Look for me on the river!

 NRA

David Gorski learning freestyle kayak moves on the Ottawa River.

David Gorski is an avid kayaker and senior student leader at New River Academy.  As the winner of the American Whitewater Academic Scholarship David is also student leader in public relations.  This past summer David worked with Bill Dvorak Expeditions and was previously a student there.

Keegan Grady is an athlete, an honor student, videographer, and is the winner of the Lunch Video Magazine Video Academic Scholarship at New River Academy. Keegan is an instructor with Ottawa Kayak School and paddles for Predator helmets, Mountain Surf, Zeal Optics, and Astral buoyancy. Keegan hails from LApasse, Ontario, and has been paddling for 8 years in all disciplines of whitewater kayaking, including downriver, slalom, and freestyle kayaking. Keegan is the Canadian Junior Freestyle Kayaking Champion and enjoys competing, running big water, surfing big waves, and hucking big drops. Keegan and his friends run a kayaking site and team called Airborn Athletics.   

David Gorski learning freestyle kayak moves on the Ottawa River.

David Gorski is an avid kayaker and senior student leader at New River Academy.  As the winner of the American Whitewater Academic Scholarship David is also student leader in public relations.  This past summer David worked with Bill Dvorak Expeditions and was previously a student there.

Hi my name is Emery Kate Tillman. I live in Middlebury, VT.
I love to whitewater kayak, and take pictures. In my spare time when I am not
kayaking I am a soccer goalie.  I
learned how to kayak with Nantahala Outdoor Center. I really got hooked on kayaking with the help of Anna Lévesque. This past
summer I was with the Keener Program. This year I am attending
New River Academy. With the school I will be going to New Zealand and
Chile. I paddle for Seals Skirts. I hope to let you see my
experience through whitewater kayaking pictures and writing.

Emery