While on a rafting trip about 15 years ago, Eric (Wick) Southwick jumped into a kayak for the first time. Little did he know from that moment on, whitewater kayaking would dominate his life. Two years after this trip, he saved up enough money from mowing lawns to buy his first kayak, a blue Lazer.

At the age of 14, inspired by Olympic hopefuls such as John Brennan and Nancy Wiley, he began competing in slalom kayaking. Eric's rapid progression soon caught the eye of U.S. Junior Team Coach Fritz Haller, who saw the potential and determination in this talented youngster. With his sights on making the U.S. Olympic Junior Team, and with the support and encouragement of his parents, Eric left home at age 15 to train with Haller in Bryson City, North Carolina. Following two years of intense training, including frequent trips to Washington, D.C. to train with some of the best in the world like Kathy Hearn (U.S. Slalom Team member since 1976), Eric found himself on the podium as a silver medal winner in the 1992 Junior World Slalom Championships. During the next couple of years, Eric would climb the ranks in the U.S. National Slalom rankings. Unfortunately, slalom lacked the sponsorship support Eric needed in order to continue to train and go to college, so in 1996 he made the painful decision not to pursue his talents as a slalom boater.

A year later, while teaching kayaking on the Potomac River, Eric's best friend and former slalom teammate, Sam Drevo, introduced him to freestyle kayaking. The two friends developed an intense passion for freestyle kayaking. After working as teachers on the river each day, they would race to the local play spot to work on exciting new moves like cartwheels in the "hot" boat of the day, the Wave Sport Frankenstein.

The following summer Sam and Eric joined the Freestyle Kayaking Tour. This was possible because of the generous support of their long-time sponsor, Wave Sport, which had provided boats to the boys since they were 14. Sam and Eric both did very well on the tour. In 1997, Sam ranked second in the national standings and Eric was first. This set the stand for the future.

Fueled by his passion for kayaking, Eric set his sights on the World Championships in 1999. He wanted to pursue his long-time dream of becoming World Champion. He understood that such a goal meant a lot of training and dedication. He would have to compete against legendary boaters like Dan Gavere, Clay Wright, and Shane Benedict to make the U.S. Team. Even if he did make the team, he would still face formidable paddlers like former World Champion Ken Whiting, Simon Westgrath, Arnd Schaflen, and Corran Addison. It seemed an impossible dream!

Eric knew he had the strength, ability, and determination to win, however. Over the next two years, he trained hard and competed in various events around the world to get as much competition experience as possible. Along the way, he won the U.S. National Championship in 1997 and 1998, was silver medalist in the Japan Open in 1998, and won a silver medal in the European Cup in 1999.

Wick also earned a coveted spot on the 1999 U.S. Men's K-1 Team. This was an enormous achievement because of the sheer level and scope of talent and experience of the competitors at this level. Many of the men who did not make the team were themselves talented enough to be the next World Champion. So Eric felt truly honored to have been chosen from amongst this field of super talented boaters and friends to represent the United States and to compete at the World Championship in New Zealand in December, 1999.

Eric's strategy was to arrive in New Zealand a month ahead of the competition to practice and train on-site. The generous and enthusiastic support and encouragement from his principal sponsors, Wave Sport, and NET-tel Communications, made this possible. Once competition began, Wick was pitted against the top paddlers in the world, legendary boaters who are household names in the world of freestyle kayaking. Ever since he was a little kid practicing his moves at Ben's Hole, Wick had dreamed of this moment, and of the chance to compete in such an event.

Though he didn't share it with many people, Wick had also dared to dream of the possibility that on a good day, with everything working right for him, and with all his training and hard work brought to bear, he might, just might, be able to come out on top, at the top, amidst a field of world class boaters and friends!

On December 6, 1999, Wick made that dream come true. In his cool, low-key, friendly but focused way, Wick brought all that training, determination, and skill to bear. While friends and family anxiously followed the heats on the net, Wick advanced steadily through the pack. The initial field of 150 boaters narrowed to the top 40. Already, that group was an international who's who of freestyle kayakers! The next elimination round dropped the field to 10. The news flashed back to New Mexico – Wick was still in the running! You could feel the excitement level rise a notch as friend called friend with the news, and as e-mails crossed through the ether!

And then they were five! Wick was still in there! The tension was unbearable! It was Wick, Rusty Sage from California, Corran Addison and Steve Fisher, both from South Africa, and Alex Nicks from Great Britain. Now it was sudden death: one 30-second ride each, and then cringe in the eddy while the judges tallied the scores. If you heard your name announced, it meant you were out – dead and gone.

Slowly, agonizingly, those whose rides were not quite perfect were eliminated – Steve Fisher, Alex Nicks, and young, up-and-coming Rusty Sage; until finally only Wick and Corran Addison were left in the eddy. Corran went first and had an awesome, flawless, perfectly timed ride, while Wick sat in the eddy praying for the special mental calm and discipline, rehearsing in his head the moves he would make and how he would time them to squeeze everything into that precious, infinitely narrow, 30-second window of opportunity.

Now it was his turn. Wicks' ride was just as perfect as Corran's. To top it off, Wick managed a perfect splitwheel just before the buzzer. As he went past vertical and over, with the sound of the buzzer in his ears, Wick knew in his heart that it could be enough, just enough! And he was right! The name the judges called next was Corran Addison!

On that day, in that instant, Eric Southwick, that little boy from Ben's Hole, became Freestyle Kayaking champion of the world! He had made the dream come true! And with characteristic generosity, he shared it with us. In his victory speech, Wick thanked me for being there over the years, though I could imagine nowhere else I could ever want to be. He thanked all his friends for their support and encouragement over the years. And last but not least came the biggest thanks of all – Wick thanked his family, Bob and Celia Southwick, and his grandma, Marcia Southwick, for their love, support, patience, encouragement and the many, many river trips that had helped make his dream come true.

He asked me to write this article in part to also thank his club for the support of a truly terrific group of tight-knit boaters and friends. Each contributed in their own special way to the victory he won for all of us in New Zealand that day. He is as proud to call this home as we are that he is one of ours!

Tanya Shuman
January, 2000