Headwinds and high waters didn’t stop Adam Van Grack from finishing first overall in the 55th Potomac Downriver race on May 22.
“I think everybody agreed that everyone’s times were slower,” he said. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
“The race went very well,” added Van Grack, who was profiled last month on the Personal Best page. “The weather was good, the water level was pretty solid, so I think … [the] turnout was good.”
The 33-year-old Bethesda resident has been leaving other boaters in his wake recently. He took first place overall in the Cheat Canyon Downriver race in West Virginia in April. The Cheat is the largest whitewater race in the country.
Now, though, as spring moves into summer, temperatures rise and rivers tend to dry up, which can affect kayakers’ and boaters’ training, he said.
Stable or somewhat declining water levels can limit opportunities for different kinds of training, which can make kayaking more monotonous, he said. Most whitewater racers prefer training in the springtime, he added.
Regardless, Van Grack will compete in a slalom race at the Feeder Canal in Bethesda this weekend — his first slalom of the year.
Slalom kayaking is similar to slalom skiing, except kayakers are penalized for touching the gates as well as for missing the gates. Some gates require racers to paddle upstream.
Van Grack said he “almost certainly” would be racing at the U.S. National Slalom Championships in September.
With the whole summer to train — notwithstanding the water levels — it should be a great opportunity, he said.
