YMCA and kayaking camps at Montgomery Whitewater help introduce youths to sport in same place bronze medal winner Evy Leibfarth qualified for Team USA in the Paris Olympics.
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Drops of Olympic glory mingle in the clear flowing rapids of Montgomery Whitewater.
“We know we’ve got Olympians living in Montgomery, Alabama,” said Megan McKenzie, chief marketing officer for the 120-acre park that boasts recirculating artificial whitewater river channels.
Thanks to a couple of camps, groups of young people have been training and having fun in the same waters that helped guide North Carolina canoer and kayaker Evy Leibfarth to a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 20-year-old earned Team USA’s first medal in canoe slalom in 20 years.
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“It’s a lot of just kind of being aware of your surroundings, aware of where the other girls are and you’ve got to really want it cause I mean, it’s kind of a contact sport so you’ve got to be fricking going for it,” Leibfarth told USA Today after winning her medal.
In April, Leibfarth took top place in women’s canoe during U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Montgomery Whitewater.
“It’s so incredible to me because I know there was a time when I was that young girl watching kayaking and dreaming of going to the Olympics one day,” Leibfarth told the Advertiser in April.
A YMCA camp funded by a donation from the Alabama Power Foundation to the Montgomery Whitewater Foundation and a separate kayak camp took place at Montgomery Whitewater over the summer.
“Montgomery Whitewater is one of three places in the U.S. that is able to train kids where Olympians train and where they compete,” McKenzie said. “That’s like having baseball practice at Wrigley Field.”
Access to the facility is also a benefit to young people and their families who are interested in getting out and learning more about the facility. Admission and parking are free at Montgomery Whitewater, 1100 Maxwell Blvd. That includes major events like the Olympic Trials. If seeing the action inspires a desire to get out on the water, rafting trips can be booked on site or online at montgomerywhitewater.com.
Kayaking for kids
Paul Belle Isle, Montgomery Whitewater’s kayak and rafting manager, said the kayak camp he led introduced 55 kids to slalom on the whitewater in a fun, non-competitive way.
“I think Montgomery Whitewater is going to be a pivotal part of the growth of this sport in this region because of the accessibility of it,” Isle said. “We have a consistent low-risk environment that you really won’t find anywhere else on a natural river. It’s a great place to introduce youths and adults to the sport of whitewater.”
This fall, Isle said they’ll offer a beginner kayak program that will meet once a week, and an intermediate program that meets twice a week.
“Everybody has to start somewhere, and the possibility that Paul has an Olympian in his class this year is super high,” McKenzie said.
New experiences and teamwork for YMCA kids
“For the YMCA, rafting and whitewater is a very new experience,” Wilson Calhoun, land sports manager for Montgomery Whitewater.
Calhoun’s campers ranged from ages 9 to 15. So far there’s been 139 of them, out of a larger group of 435 scheduled to have completed the camp by next season.
Calhoun said it was a huge experience on and off the water for the the kids to learn about whitewater and themselves, and the plan is to make these kind of camps available all year.
“We were really excited for these (YMCA) camps that came. We developed lots of different programs for them,” Calhoun said. “We wanted them to go rafting, but we also wanted to expose them to a little bit more of what Montgomery Whitewater has to offer.”
In addition to getting on the water, the kids learned about each other through ice-breaker activities and learned about the environment.
“We played a game about deer population that got the kids running around and having fun,” Calhoun said.
The teamwork exercises helped them come together once groups of them were out on rafts.
“These kids who were in Wilson’s camp, next year we can open up kayak camp to them,” McKenzie said. “It’s a really exciting thing to watch.”
More to come at Montgomery Whitewater
In addition to the whitewater courses, Montgomery Whitewater’s facilities are expanding to include rope courses and trails, a kids water area set up as a mini version of the water courses, access to the Alabama River, a hotel and a distillery on the property. The facility was recently named by Time as one of the world’s 100 greatest places to be in 2024.
The facility has an outdoor concert stage that will be put to use during Montgomery Whitewater’s Golden Hour Festival over Labor Day Weekend. On Sunday, Sept. 1, they have brunch at Eddy’s 11 a.m.-2 p.m., sunset rafting, kayak x and ducky x. The three acts planned include Symone French at 3 p.m., Lizzie No at 5 p.m. and Seratones at 7 p.m. The concerts are free to attend.
On Monday, Sept. 2, Montgomery Whitewater will host the Labor Day 5K and the Lil’ Tri Triathlon.
Learn more about the festival online at montgomerywhitewater.com/upcoming-events/golden-hour-festival
Montgomery Advertiser reporter Richard Silva and USA TODAY reporter Dave Birkett contributed this report.
Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at sheupel@gannett.com.
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Publish date : 2024-08-13 22:13:00
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