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Reno River Festival: World's best compete at 2008 festival |
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Written by Submitted to the World
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Monday, 05 May 2008 |
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Deemed the best in the world, kayaking’s most accomplished paddlers are preparing for the 2008 Reno River Festival. Top kayakers from Australia, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Costa Rica and the United States are set to compete at the Truckee River Whitewater Park this May for the title of Reno River Festival champion.
Current world freestyle kayak champion Eric Jackson returns to the Reno River Festival to compete for the men’s freestyle championship – a title he held in 2005 and 2006. Jackson is up against current Reno River Festival champion and local favorite Jay Kincaid. Kincaid’s training at the Truckee River Whitewater Park has helped him go on to win pro events around the world. Challenging Jackson and Kincaid is another freestyle winner and current U.S. national champion Stephen Wright of Washington D.C., as well as Bryan Kirk of Charlottesville, Va. and Ben Guska of Glenwood Springs, Colo.
 The action heats up even more in the women’s division. Current World Freestyle Champion, Ruth Gordon, said she is looking forward to the 2008 event. She is challenged by 2005, 2006 and 2007 women’s freestyle champion, Tanya Faux of Australia, New Zealand native Nikki Kelley and current junior freestyle champion and 2nd place Reno River Festival women’s finisher, 18-year-old Emily Jackson.
“The Reno River Festival is one of those events that you go into unsure of how people are going to do. You can never analyze the competition because you never know what high-score move they’re going to pull out,” said Emily Jackson. “The Whitewater Park allows us to do a lot of everything, and for that reason I’m really looking forward to the Reno River Festival - it has a great feature and an awesome community!“
The juniors competition presents a battle of best friends as Reno native Jason Craig, and Dane Jackson, son of Eric Jackson, go head-to-head. Now 14-years-old, Dane was named to the U.S. Freestyle Kayak Team when he was just 11-years-old.
Photo: Ruth Gordon in the Truckee River Whitewater Park earlier this year. (Photo by Keith Sheffield/Tahoe World)
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