Whitewater hall of fame adds six new members
Six people were recently named by the International Whitewater Hall of Fame Board of Governors as 2008 honorees.
Inductees include Mick Hopkinson, the late Carl Luther, Eric Jackson, Gilles Zok, Klaus Lettmann and Kent Ford.
They were nominated by more than 20 affiliate organizations and voted in by 75 internationally recognized whitewater paddlers.
Formal induction of 2007 and 2008 hall of fame inductees will be Oct. 11 at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Bryson City, N. C.
Hopkinson was a slalom racer from Britain before putting his energy into exploration.
He operates New Zealand Kayak School, has been on first descents such as the River Inn in Switzerland and Austria, the Blue Nile in Ethiopia, and Dudh Kosi in Nepal.
Hopkinson was a member of Nepal Karnali expedition and the Taming of the Lion first descent team on the Indus River in Baltistan. More recently, his first descents were in the Wind River Range of Wyoming and the West Coast of New Zealand.
Luther was among the first Germans to actively promote the sport of whitewater. He organized canoe camps and orchestrated the general assembly of the German Canoe Federation in the 1920s.
An essayist, philosopher and accomplished skier and mountaineer, he wrote many articles for "Kanusport," and his 1923 book "Paddling and River Riding" was reprinted 10 times.
With few photos available during that era, his photographic skills were invaluable promoting the sport.
Eric Jackson has been involved in all aspects of whitewater from his 10-year membership on the U.S. Slalom Team - including his participation in the 1992 Olympics, where he was the highest U.S. finisher - to his 16-year tenure on the U.S. Freestyle Kayaking Team during which he has won five gold medals.
Jackson has designed boats that won the World Championships since 1999, has authored numerous instructional books and videos and founded of Jackson Kayak, the first manufacturer to produce kayaks for small children.
Gilles Zok is a six-time World Champion in Wildwater and is known as one of greatest downriver C1 racers in the world.
He was one of the competitor to beat for a decade with the following results: 1977 Spittal, Austria, gold team, silver individual; 1979, Desbiens, Quebec, Canada, gold team, silver individual; 1981, Bala, Wales, gold team and individual; 1983, Merano, Italy, gold team and individual; 1985, Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany, gold team and individual; 1987, Bourg St. Maurice, France, silver team and gold individual.
Klaus Lettmann is among the most famous boat builders, having designed more than 400 boat models, influencing more paddlers than perhaps any other designer in the world.
Many paddlers, especially before the era of rotationally molded boats, learned to paddle in a Lettman boat. Today his Lettmann family of high performance kayaks and paddles are present in nearly every competition category.
Kent Ford's background includes instruction, world championship titles, coaching the U.S. team, and working as a public address announcer at the last four Olympic games.
His instructional books and videos place him among the sport's most recognized paddlers.
A member of the U.S. Whitewater Slalom and Downriver Team between 1977 and 1995, he is a three-time U.S. National Champion and two-time world champion in C1 team competition and a member of the second team in history to win the team competition twice.
|
