About
Joe Potoczak is an editor at Paddling Magazine and is based in Oregon. He has nearly 30 years of paddling experience and has worked as an outdoor adventure journalist for print and digital publications since 2014.
Experience
Potoczak grew up canoeing, kayaking, and camping in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. At the age of 16, he began whitewater kayaking and borrowed an instructional book from the county library to teach himself how to roll. That summer, he became a safety boater and river guide for Whitewater Challengers, a rafting outfitter in Pennsylvania. He would go on to also train river guides, teach kayak clinics, and become part of the leadership team for the outfitter on one of the most visited rivers in the U.S. Potoczak also began competing in whitewater events at the age of 18, and has participated in numerous disciplines, including freestyle, slalom, steep creek, and downriver racing. In 2015, he represented the U.S. at the Wildwater World Championships in Vienna.
Beyond whitewater, Potoczak has spent his life paddling anything that floats, including canoeing, standup paddleboarding, and sea kayaking. He’s managed to combine his writing and outdoor experience and call it a profession.
Highlights
- Outdoor interests beyond paddling include: camping, surfing, fly fishing, skiing, trail running, and mountain biking
- Other publications include: Men’s Journal, Outside, Bend Magazine, The Inertia, InsideHook, Blue Ridge Outdoors, Canoe & Kayak, Kayak Session, Planet Canoe
- Has paddled rivers on four continents
- Favorite day trip: circumnavigating Manhattan
Fun Fact
Potoczak’s first kayak was a Mainstream Tropic II from Costco.
