August Championships Bring Wildwater Racing to the Potomac

Racers competed in the 2025 USA Wildwater National Championships on the Potomac Aug. 30 and 31, the first time that this event has been held on the nation's river. The American Canoe Association's USA Wildwater Committee organized sprint and longer ("classic") downriver races with CCA assistance.

The classic race ran for approximately 2 miles from below Great Falls, MD, to the Anglers Inn river access, and the 600-meter sprint from the Maryland Chute to Anglers. Winners from the field of 18 racers were:

Senior (up to 35 years old)

K-1 Men - Garet Strouse

K-1 Women - Ava Harchak

C-1 Men - Alden Henrie

C-1 Women - Emma Eckert

C-2 Men - Bob Bofinger/Garet Strouse

C-2 Women - Emma Eckert/Ava Harchak

Masters (35 and above):

K-1 Men - Trevor Wagner

K-1 Women - Dana Mann Beňuš

C-1 Men - Bob Bofinger

C-2 Men - Trevor Wagner/Graeme Biggin

Junior (under 23)

K-1 M - Alan McCracken

K-1 W - Ava Harchak

C-1 W - Emma Eckert

C-2 M - Alan McCracken/Lincoln Meiser-Rioux

C-2 W - Emma Eckert/Ava Harchak

Under USA wildwater rules, winners are determined by a calculation that takes both sprint and classic times into account. Under-23 paddlers can compete in the up-to-35 division too; Ava Harchak and Emma Eckert were winners as both junior and senior paddlers.

The races also served as trials for the awarding of some of the slots for the 2026 USA Wildwater World Championships and World Cups Team. Wildwater teams for international competition are made up of three competitors in the same class. Another race, to be held next March on Red Moshannon Creek in Pennsylvania, will fill additional slots for those USA teams. The 2026 international championships will be held next May in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The initial plan had been for the downriver race to extend to Carderock (about 4 miles), but it was changed two weeks before the race due to low water (the level ended up being about 2.8 feet on the Little Falls gage). The concern for running below Anglers was that hitting or scraping over shallow rocks would have thrown off racers' times and damaged boats, which typically are made from lightweight composite materials.

USA Wildwater Committee Chair Bob Bofinger, also a winner in the races on the Potomac, says that more than 30 CCA volunteers helped with planning and with such tasks as timing, measuring and weighing, safety, and providing refreshments. "Without CCA's help, there's no way we could have pulled this off," he says.

The races on the Potomac provided good exposure for wildwater paddling, Bofinger says, noting too that all the activity prompted questions from members of the general public.

For More Information

ACA Wildwater Site, including announcement of results of the international team trials

"Potomac Slated for Wildwater National Championships," Cruiser, May-June 2025

"Plans Proceed Apace for Wildwater Championships Here," Cruiser, July-August 2025

Photos of the solo boating winners, below:

• Garet Strouse, Bib #8 (photo by Malgorzata Klosek)

• Ava Harchak, Bib #3 (photo by Karen Goldman)

• Alden Henrie, #9 (shown here in kayak, but won for canoe) (photo by Karen Goldman)

• Emma Eckert, #2 (photo by Malgorzata Klosek)