". . . the International Whitewater Hall of Fame (IWHoF) has announced members of its Class of 2023. Six honorees join an amazing group of whitewater pioneers, explorers, champions, and advocates, joining 55 previously inducted leaders and legends."
paddlingmag.com
Two were canoeists. Manfred Vogt of Germany was a dominant whitewater slalom racer in the 1950s and 1960s.
Jamie McEwan (1952-2014), who lived much of his life in the northwest corner of Connecticut (where I am) and often paddled and raced on the Housatonic River, won the USA's first Olympic medal in whitewater C1 slalom in 1972. He also won many C1 and C2 world titles in the 1970s and 1980s, and took fourth place in C2 slalom in the 1992 Olympics with partner Lecky Haller.
In 1998, with his brother Tom, Roger Zbel and Doug Gordon, Jamie was a member of the tragic attempt to paddle the Tsangpo Gorge in Tibet—the first or second deepest gorge in the world and considered the "Mt. Everest of rivers"—which has a volume of 10,000-100,000 cubic feet per second, depending on rainfall, and drops steeply at a rate of 65 feet per mile over 140 miles. Doug Gordon died trying to run a waterfall in the swollen mid-river. After searching for his body for two or three days, Jamie McEwan and the other two paddlers hiked out of the gorge. Here are two newspaper accounts of the fatal expedition:
Washgingon Post: Tibet Expedition Turns Fatal
nypost.com
Here is a video of Jamie McEwan in 2012 giving a TEDx talk on Olympics "five ring fever":
International Whitewater Hall Of Fame Announces 2023 Honorees
Takoma Park, MD - The World River Centre, on behalf of its hallmark program, the International Whitewater Hall of Fame (IWHoF) has announced members of
paddlingmag.com
Two were canoeists. Manfred Vogt of Germany was a dominant whitewater slalom racer in the 1950s and 1960s.
Jamie McEwan (1952-2014), who lived much of his life in the northwest corner of Connecticut (where I am) and often paddled and raced on the Housatonic River, won the USA's first Olympic medal in whitewater C1 slalom in 1972. He also won many C1 and C2 world titles in the 1970s and 1980s, and took fourth place in C2 slalom in the 1992 Olympics with partner Lecky Haller.
In 1998, with his brother Tom, Roger Zbel and Doug Gordon, Jamie was a member of the tragic attempt to paddle the Tsangpo Gorge in Tibet—the first or second deepest gorge in the world and considered the "Mt. Everest of rivers"—which has a volume of 10,000-100,000 cubic feet per second, depending on rainfall, and drops steeply at a rate of 65 feet per mile over 140 miles. Doug Gordon died trying to run a waterfall in the swollen mid-river. After searching for his body for two or three days, Jamie McEwan and the other two paddlers hiked out of the gorge. Here are two newspaper accounts of the fatal expedition:
Washgingon Post: Tibet Expedition Turns Fatal
SHOOTING THE RAPIDS IN SHANGRI-LA
ALL the adventurers saw was their friend’s yellow helmet bobbing in the ferocious river as his kayak swirled into oblivion. They stood powerless on a stretch of one of the most remote and dan…
nypost.com
Here is a video of Jamie McEwan in 2012 giving a TEDx talk on Olympics "five ring fever":
