Golden – In the wintertime, they often break the ice off their kayaking skirts before exiting their boats. Sometimes their drytops are simply too icy to remove. Their hands freeze in a grip on their paddles.
That’s part of the training for 17-year-old Nick “Fuzzy” Chanin and 15-year-old Tad Morin. Several years of 250-plus days on the river has pushed the Colorado phenom paddlers to the top of their sport, and they will represent the U.S. in the junior world championships in Slovenia in July.
The pair took gold in this month’s Slalom Junior Team Trails in Wisconsin, securing their berth on the national junior team at the world championships. It’s the first time in seven years the U.S. has fielded a junior two-man paddling team, known as C-2, in the world championships. And considering their recent dominance, it’s likely Chanin, a Kent Denver student, and Morin, of Fort Collins, will bring home a world medal, further floating hopes for Colorado Olympic paddling glory in 2008 and 2012.
Glory and ribboned metal is nothing new for Chanin and Morin’s Front Range Paddle Association. The paddling club has grown from a few kids in 2002 to more than 30. The team last year traveled more than 50,000 miles together in 150 days on the road, earning junior Olympic gold, top honors at the North American Whitewater Championships and the best overall team title in both international competitions. Last year the team won 83 medals in 19 races, delivering head coach and founder Chris Wiegand the development coach of the year nod from paddlesports’ governing body, USA Canoe/Kayak.
The medals are only part of the reward for Wiegand, who is aiming for the U.S. C-2 2008 Olympic team himself along with former student Nic Borst. Wiegand’s primary goal is to use whitewater paddling to sculpt solid kids while elevating the attraction of all paddlesports across all demographics.
“There’s a misconception that paddling is a white-bread, rich-man’s sport. Or that it’s an adrenaline sport. Really, it’s neither,” said Wiegand, as he urges his paddling flock to push harder during the recent high school slalom kayaking championships at Golden’s whitewater course. “This sport forces character development. It helps kids find internally what they need for positive character development. They carry the ethics the river teaches – commitment, self-confidence, a never-quit approach and discipline – into everyday life.”
The success of the team impresses former Olympic slalom kayaker Scott Shipley, who today engineers whitewater playparks for Boulder’s Recreational Engineering and Planning.
“It’s amazing because Colorado is probably the worst training state,” Shipley said. “Their success shows tremendous commitment. They have some really good kids putting everything they have into it.”
Chanin – whose unruly mop earned him the nickname Fuzzy on his first day with the club two years ago – is the rear paddler in the two-person kayak. The pair work together like a motor, their opposite side strokes synchronized like churning pistons. Chanin has mastered impressive back-deck navigation skills, while Morin muscles the boat downriver with adept maneuvering. Their ability to finesse a two-person kayak through dangling gates in raging whitewater is one of the rarest of athletic skill sets.
Training year-round in Colorado is what puts them at an advantage over warm-weather paddlers, Chanin said.
“We have to train in flatwater a lot and that gives us lots of time to work on our technique,” he said. “And the weather can be harsh. Really harsh.”
Chanin and Morin see slalom kayaking on the cusp of a revival. The sport has languished in the shadow of flashy playboating and daring downriver paddling.
“I wouldn’t say we are bringing it back, but we are spreading the word,” said Morin, who jokes that he and Chanin soon will pioneer two-man freestyle moves.
Wiegand, who this summer begins coaching China’s national paddling team, said his Front Range Paddle Association is aiming to field half of the U.S. paddle team in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He says there’s a good chance the team will field the entire 2012 London paddling team.
Olympic dreams and international acclaim is nice, but the real reward is the growth John Chanin has seen in his son’s teenage years.
“This group has made all the difference for him. He’s mature, he’s disciplined, he’s committed,” said John Chanin, noting how his son manages to stay abreast of schoolwork while traveling or paddling six days a week. “I don’t actually know when he sleeps. I do know I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have found Chris. His impact on this team and Fuzzy is enormous.”
Follow the Front Range Paddle Association’s competitions this summer at www.whitewaterracing.org.
Staff writer Jason Blevins can be reached at 303-820-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com.
