The 70th running of the CCA Annual Potomac Downriver race took place Saturday, May 10, under sunny skies at a river level of 4.15 feet on the Little Falls gage. Competing were 61 paddlers in solo wildwater kayaks, solo and tandem short and long kayaks, solo and tandem open canoes, stand-up paddle boards, and an inflatable.
Racing from a group start, the overall winner was wildwater paddler Patrick Khaghani, with a time of 0:54:32.5 for the full 7½-mile course from below Great Falls to Sycamore Island. Placing second and third were Mark Burns (also wildwater, 0:56:07.8) and tandem canoeists Tyler Westfall and Jonah Goldman (0:57:13.1). The last paddler clocked in at 1:53:52.5 in a short kayak.
Various race classes are formed through consideration of boat types, numbers of paddlers, gender, and age. For purposes of awards for placing first, second, and third, the general practice has been to combine classes with fewer than three entrants, but this year K2 and inflatables (with two and one entrants respectively) were placed in separate race classes because there was no close configuration, Race Chair Risa Shimoda explained.
Among the notable finishes were the OC2 second-place finish of the father and 7-year-old son team of John and Luca Mein, and a result so close that it had to be measured in milliseconds—in the long kayak men's junior/senior class, David Beck (fifth with a time of 1:05:37.6) and Joe Lambiotte (sixth with a time of 1:05:37.9)!
The CCA website reports full results overall and by class.
Photos from the top down
• Mark Burns (left), second place in the race overall, congratulates first place winner Patrick Khaghani (photo by Lien James)
• David Beck (left) and Joe Lambiotte battle to the end (photo by Tim White)
• John Mein and 7-year-old son Luca Mein take OC-2 second place (photo by Tim White)
• Women's short kayak winners represent three generations—Barb Brown, first (center), Milla Iwaki, second (left), Pam White, third (right) (photo by Lien James)
• Teen volunteers show their muscle (photo by Grace Hassler)
More photos elsewhere in this issue—see race history article, and Enders