The Power of the Paddle
When Josh Quintel and Griffin Williams first hopped into their canoe back in March, they had to learn to chip ice before they could learn to paddle on Wolf Lake.
"We were jumping up and down on the ice to make somewhere to paddle," Quintel said, pointing to the boat he and Williams used and laughing at the memory.
Now that the rivers and lakes have been free and clear for several months, Quintel, 14, and Williams, 15, have wasted no opportunities to be out on the water.
They were two of the first recruits for the newly formed Kalamazoo Canoe and Kayak Club, started up in March by long-time paddler and swim coach Dave Diget. And under his instruction, they've gotten the racing division of the club off to a good start.
After placing in two races earlier this summer, the duo is headed to Pennsylvania a week from today for the United States Canoe Association's Marathon Nationals, where they'll compete in sprint and marathon distances in several divisions.
"They're going to have about seven races," Diget said.
The Poerw of the Paddle
The Midtown Classic, part of Traverse City's National Cherry Festival at the beginning of June, was first up for Quintel and Williams, and they beat out about 10 other boats to take first place, covering five miles in 55 minutes and 10 seconds.
"That was the first race for them," said Diget. "Their first competition."
But rough water nearly ended the race before it began.
"The first thing I saw were waves, and we're in this little black skimpy racing boat that's not the most stable boat," said Quintel, who was racing a two-person canoe (C2) with Williams. "They sent off the C1 racers first and they looked like they were having a rough time. Three of them tipped over right off the start."
The only team in a racing boat, Quintel and Williams voted with the other racers to continue with the competition and quieted the skeptics with their win.
"They were all doubting that we could make it," Quintel said.
Both he and Williams come from swimming backgrounds -- they will compete in the sport this year for Kalamazoo Central, where Diget is a coach -- so the transition from the pool to the lake was remarkably smooth.
"I've found that it's so much easier to work with swimmers, to get them started in kayaking (and canoeing), but that doesn't mean that even though you're not a swimmer you can't be a kayaker," Diget said. "But you should be able to be a pretty good swimmer."
With the experience of one successful race to draw from, Quintel and Williams traveled to Wisconsin in July for the U.S. Aluminum Canoe Nationals, a 21-mile trip down the Wisconsin River.
This time, they took second, and with no boats directly ahead of them, had the chance to work on finding their own way on an unfamiliar river.
"We had to do a lot of portaging," Quintel said. "That was quite interesting. - We had to make our own decisions and find out where to go and try to pick the quickest route."
Though Williams and Quintel are fully immersed in their new sport, there are still some things that need to fall into place with the Kalamazoo Canoe and Kayak Club.
"Right now we don't have a real structure to the group," Diget said. "There's no president or vice-president or anything like that. I'm thinking that would be one of our next steps."
Diget's vision, however, is firmly in place.
With many other groups in the area like Kanoe the Kazoo, Black River Water Shed Project and the Great Lakes Adventure Club already in place, he is looking to open lines of communication between the similar groups.
"There's no one central clearing area where you can get information," he said. "My thought is if we could kind of umbrella everybody, each group would maintain their identity and work toward cleaning up the Kalamazoo River, or doing this project or whatever it is, but then there would be a sharing of ideas."
The Kalamazoo Canoe and Kayak Club is a four-part organization, with outlets for paddlers of all ages, abilities and interests. In addition to the racing division, Diget envisions an education division that would focus on teaching lessons and environmental issues, a recreational division that would enable participants to join up for canoe trips and other events and a white-water division.
Quintel is looking forward to continuing his new sport and like Diget, is anxious to get more people involved, either recreationally or competitively.
"It's quite fun," Quintel said. "I think if we get more people, It'll keep going."
For more information about the Kalamazoo Canoe and Kayak Club, contact Dave Diget at 668-2928.