7/25/2020

USCA Canoe And Kayak Ohio State Championships

Fairport Harbor, Ohio Grand River Landing.

Scott Orlando

5 Mile Race Unlimited Class

Finish Time:  50:26

Overall Place:  First Overall Single Male Kayak

Division Place:  First Place Unlimited Class.

Race Recap By Scott Orlando.

Conditions were near perfect in the water for this year’s USCA Ohio State Championships at the Grand River Landing in Fairport Harbor, Ohio.  For The 4th year in a row I chose to compete in the 5 mile race.   I wasn’t sure what class I was going to race in but finally decided on the unlimited class which is for kayaks longer then 18′.   I went with my Stellar SR Multisport.   Water conditions were very calm and flat making the upstream portions of the course a lot faster then previous years but then with little to no current the down stream second half of the race was slower so it evened out.   I had a nice clean start quickly finding my place just behind the faster tandem racing canoes and kayaks and 3-4 solo kayaks.   The course begins with a small loop through a marina area.   Exiting the marina area I got cut off by the lead pack of paddle board racers.  They were to the right so I stayed left exiting marina.  Suddenly the pack turned left right at me.  I was forced to slow to a stop to avoid contact with them.  I lost time to several lead kayaks and had to push hard to get back in position.   As the heat of the sun and fatigue set in with other racers I was able to gain position and pass a few kayaks and canoes.   A half mile or so from the finish I caught up to the kayak in 2nd place overall.  about a quarter mile from the finish we both were sprinting hard and fortunately I was able to pull ahead finishing 2nd overall by just 4 seconds.  The overall solo kayak in the 5 mile race was a woman in a K-1 racing boat who trains with the USA Olympic Development Team so I had no problem losing to her.  My finish time was 50:26 which was faster then last year so I am happy with my performance.   It was great to race against and with a lot of my paddler friends that came from all over Ohio, Pennsylvania, and even Florida.  Social distancing was maintained and they even had a contactless awards presentation.