Freestyle Championships

by John Bartos

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The 2003 ACA Interpretive Canoeing National Championships were held on October 11,in Sugar Land, Texas. In the opinion of many, it was the best presentation and best paddling ever. Everyone who performed is to be congratulated.

The winners were:

• Tandem
        1st place: Bob & Elaine Mravetz, Sharon Center, Ohio
        2nd place: Roy and Peg Ivey, Anderson, South Carolina
• Men's Solo
        1st place: Ray Halt, Erie, Pennsylvania
        2nd place: Jonathan Hammond, Clayton, New York
        3rd place: Tom Jenkins, Hughes Springs, Texas
• Women's Solo
        1st place: Lillian Tigard, Sugar Land, Texas
        2nd place: (Tie)
            Jill Aaron, Ashland, Massachusetts
            Elaine Mravetz, Sharon Center, Ohio
        3rd Kim McMillan, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Other competitors and exhibitors were:

• Elise Windus (Sugar Land, Texas)
  
• Donna Hammond (Alexandria Bay, NY)
  
• Karen Knight (Sugar Land, Texas)
  
• Bob Foote (Sugar Land, Texas)
  
• Tom Fink (Slidell, Louisiana).

The performances were under the lights, aided by a nearly full moon and a pleasant evening with virtually no wind. Ray Halt paddled to a song of his own composition called "Thank You For Freestyle".

Jonathan Hammond recovered from a swim and wowed the crowd with his tenacity.

And he is eleven years old.

The crowd liked the diversity of interesting music and paddling styles.

Tom Fink was able to identify the variety of Mayfly hatch during his excellent routine.

Judges were Tom MacKenzie and Anne Lindabury. They stayed up all night working on the evaluations of the routines.

Thanks much to the ACA Freestyle Committee, the ACA, the Houston Canoe Club and mostly to Lillian and Chet Tigard who put on a fine Freestyle Event. There was further support in the form of premiums for winners from Bell Canoe, Chacos, NRS and others.

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