The whitewater kayaking course is a subdivision of the recently re-launched Northwood Outing Club (NOC), led by Bobby O’Connor and Matt Roy. With these two leading, you get a
This course starts very mildly, and Bobby does a great job of starting from a clean slate so that pretty much anyone can join, regardless of skill level. Bobby likes to joke about how cool it is to see how the group whittles down over the first few days. It tends to scare some students off between the cold water and the surprising amount of technique required to keep the boat going where you want it to. If you happen to be one of these students though, both Mr. Roy and Bobby encourage you to stick with it because those hardships are worth going through when the techniques finally click.
Alex Randall ’25 (Photo: Mr. Bobby O’Connor)
When first starting the course, we had a flatwater day out on Mirror Lake so Bobby could show the group all the basics of what it takes to succeed on moving water. We went over basic forward strokes to harder draw strokes that will help us dodge obstacles on the river. After that, we take a step up from that and go down to Saranac Lake Dam. There is a very mild amount of moving water there, and it is excellent for putting the skills learned on the first day to use in moving water. This is the day when most students realize if they want to continue because even though there is a small amount of moving water, it isn’t hard for beginners to tip the boat over accidentally. After the group gets a bit smaller, we make our way to the next level, which is a short stretch of faster-moving water again, so students aren’t taken from 0-60. After that, the students made their way to take on a 5-mile stretch of the Ausable East Branch. In this one Alex Randall ended up taking a swim so we got a great demonstration of what a river rescue is like. Anytime we are able to Bobby and Mr. Roy promote safety first when on the river. The very next day we went from the Wilmington dam to further down the Ausable West Branch. Through all these runs we have learned to identify river features and how to navigate certain obstacles when we are quite literally thrown into them. It has been a fantastic experience so far, and I know the others in the group would say they have had nothing but fun despite taking a few swims.
It is great to participate in such an amazing outdoor discipline, and in doing so, you get to connect with other students you might not usually talk with. I have nothing but great things to say about it, and I want to thank Bobby and Mr. Roy for being such great teachers to the group because we really appreciate the time and effort put into this. This is what has been happening so far in the Whitewater coco and we are excited to see what water the “Northwood Swim Team,” as Bobby likes to call us, takes on in the final weeks of the school year.