Day two of the ICF World Freestyle Championship was an exciting day, with Men’s OC1 opening the day in what some were calling the most exciting display of OC1 paddling they have ever seen.
Jordan Poffenberger (USA), Dane Jackson (USA) blew everyone away, with Poffenberger scoring 386.66 points and Jackson with 306.66 points. Not far behind were Brad MacMillan (USA) and Andrew Hill (CAN) who tied for third place with 250 points, but McMillan narrowly pulled ahead as one of his rides scored slightly higher than Hill’s. Rounding out the top five to advance to Saturday’s final was Jonas Utenberg (GER), and special mention of the day goes to Jakob Hanoulle (BEL) for entering in the OC1 division at the last minute and getting the most epic face surf on Garb in a long boat.
In the Junior Women’s category, Sage Donnelly (USA) dominated the field with a score of 716 points— a score high enough to rank in with the senior women. Over 400 points behind her was Darby McAdams (USA) with 343 points, and Sophie McPeak (UK) with 218 points. The top 10 ladies will advance to the semi-finals which takes place Friday morning.
In the Junior Men’s K1 category, Scott Hugo (UK) took the top spot, with an impressive 1,378 points, followed by Alec Vorhees (USA) with 1,163 points and Ottawa River local Kalem Kenneday (CAN) with 1,110 points. The top 10 from this group also advance to semi-final on Friday afternoon.
In what is some consider the most exciting event of the competition, Men’s K1 premliminaries took to the water on Wednesday morning for an action-packed day. Leading the scoreboard early on with the score to beat was Bren Orton (UK) with an impressive 2,290 points, which set the bar extremely high for all the athletes. By the end of the day, Dane Jackson (USA) came out on top, with a stunning display of athleticism and finesse, earning him a whopping 3,113 point ride.
Hot on his heels was local hero, Nick Troutman (CAN) with 2,626 points. Troutman, hailing from Beachburg, Ontario has in the area for some time spending his days at the wave.
“For some reason, I was nervous when I didn’t need to be,” says Troutman, “I have been training hard and paddling well, I guess it’s just some early nerves.” Taking the rest of the top five spots were Bren Orton with his initial score of 2,290, Mathieu Dumoulin (FRA) with 2,225 points and Devyn Scott (CAN) with 1,966. All athletes from the Canadian team will advance to quarter finals on Friday, including Kalob Grady and Joel Kowalski who were immediately behind Scott, and Whitewater Grand Prix organizer Patrick Camblin, who ended in a respectable 15th.
When asked about who the biggest competition will be going into quarter-finals, it’s really no surprise, “Probably all the guys in the top 10,” says Troutman with a smile, “though honestly it is probably my brother-in-law Dane, he is always looking good.”
Thursday morning saw the women of whitewater take to Garb, with a field of 40, and only 10 will advance to the semi finals on Friday, followed by Men’s C1 in the afternoon. Stay tuned for more details.
