Kayaking competition begins in Columbia

The beer-and-cutoffs crowd that hangs out on the Saluda River will make way for a more cosmopolitan group this week as mostly European canoe and kayak racers descend on Columbia.

Athletes from powerhouse teams, including the Czech Republic and France, will race to the finish line at the 2007 Junior Wildwater World Championships, starting Tuesday. However, Columbia can win simply by showcasing its potential as a whitewater tourism destination.

"It's the start of making the rivers known outside of Columbia," said Scott Powers, director of the Columbia Regional Sports Council. "Very few places have what we have here naturally." The Saluda River, from where it passes under I-26 until it merges with the Broad River at the GervaisStreet bridge, rumples over several rocky shoals. Pump enough water in the river -- SCE&G agreed to release 5,500 cubic feet per second of water from the Lake Murray dam for this event -- and those shoals turn into exciting whitewater rapids that flow past Riverbanks Zoo.

The Saluda rapids impressed members of the USA Canoe and Kayak when they visited Columbia three years ago while searching for a site for their headquarters. The organization ended up settling in Charlotte, in part because of the manmade U.S. National Whitewater Center there.

When it was time for the U.S. group to host the world junior championships, it wanted to stage the event in Charlotte. But the event features both sprint and classic races. The man-made facility, while ideal for the short sprints, isn't large enough to hold the long-distance classic races.

The organizers remembered their trip to Columbia and thought "this would be a great opportunity to showcase two cities," said David Mason, the U.S. representative on the International Canoe Federation site selection committee in 2005.

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'GOING TO SEE SOME CARNAGE'

Columbia actually gets the better end of the deal. Events are spread out over five days in Columbia and three in Charlotte.

Paddling teams have reserved about 100 room nights at the Columbia host hotel, the Embassy Suites, according to Cindy Beckham, the hotel's director of sales.

About 85 of the world's best canoe and kayak racers ages 15-18 will be chugging through the Saluda's whitewater waves. Athletes started arriving in Columbia Sunday and will practice on the river today. The competition starts Tuesday and concludes its Columbia portion Thursday. Then, the racers move on to Charlotte for the sprint races, with the event ending Saturday.

Organizers expect the top competitors to power their sleek boats through the three-mile course from just north of the zoo to Gervais Street in about 20 minutes. By contrast, on a lazy weekend when the river level reaches summer lows of less than 500 cubic feet per second, a floater in an inner tube can drink a six pack while covering that distance. Without chugging.

Race officials hope the competitors won't have to dodge tubers. The time trials Tuesday morning and the races Wednesday and Thursday mornings should be finished before the sometimes rowdy crowd makes it to the river.

Many a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, the sound of NASCAR racing broadcasts blare from radios on the riverbanks. For those NASCAR fans, there is one similarity between watching an auto race and a Wildwater race: It can be a little boring if there aren't any wrecks.

If spectators want to see "wrecks" this week, they should hang out at Turn 1 -- better known at the Millrace Rapids. The expert paddlers should have little trouble with most of the course, but the large rocks at Millrace create difficult waves.

"You're going to see some carnage there," Mason said.

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WHERE TO VIEW; WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Spectators flock to canoe and kayak events in Europe, where summertime competitive paddling on alpine streams takes the place of snow skiing in the winter. Thousands lined the River Noce course for the 2005 Junior Worlds in Mezzano, Italy. According to media reports, the Swiss contingent made quite a ruckus with their cowbells.

Columbia officials don't expect a crush of spectators. No grandstands will be set up. Fans will have to find comfortable spots to plop down on the river's banks.

Columbia had hoped to finish the portion of the Three Rivers Greenway around the zoo in time for the race, but that stretch hit financial bumps and hasn't been started. That means spectators will have to walk dirt paths and climb over rocks to get a view of Millrace. (Visitors who pay for entry to the zoo could use binoculars from its river bridge.)

The other top spot for spectators should be the West Columbia Riverwalk section north of the Gervais Street bridge. Competitors will be digging in for the finish line in that section.

The Riverwalk's amphitheater will be the event's out-of-water focal point, with an opening ceremony at 2 p.m. Tuesday and awards ceremonies at 1 p.m. Wednesday and 11:15 a.m. Thursday.

U.S. officials acknowledge an American would have to put on an incredible performance to beat out the dominant Europeans for a medal.

"I tell them if you get passed by a European, jump in their wake," said John Pinyerd, a veteran international racer from Atlanta who coaches some of the U.S. juniors.

"It's a very big sport in France, Italy, the Czech Republic," Pinyerd said. "Those sections of the world are in Alpine regions. Sports like skiing, mountain biking, cycling and kayaking, they put a lot of time and money into it, and they're very good at it."

Twelve of the 15 countries sending teams to Columbia are from Europe, where major events are televised and draw major media coverage. The U.S. organization couldn't afford to set up television coverage for this year's event, and Powers said he hasn't been overwhelmed with requests for media credentials.

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THE SALUDA -- A TOURIST DESTINATION?

The Europeans have been warned Columbia isn't an Alpine village. At the world championships last year in the Czech Republic, Mason and a group of international competitors visited a hot springs.

"We sat down there sweating and I said, 'This is what Columbia, S.C. will be like in July,'" said Mason, who lives in only slightly cooler Savannah.

But all that really matters for the racers is the conditions on the river, and the water in the Saluda -- coming from the bottom of Lake Murray -- stays cool in the summer.

"They're going to enjoy the river, and I think if we can pull this off, we have to possibility of hosting bigger events," Mason said.

Local leaders hope to take it the next step. In the current re-licensing for the operation of the Lake Murray dam, they're pressing for scheduled releases of water for recreational purposes.

If SCE&G and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission agree to those requests, extra water could be released from the dam several weekends a year. That would allow recreational kayakers throughout the Southeast and commercial rafting outfitters to plan ahead for trips.

"The Saluda could become a tourist destination," Powers said.

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Reach Holleman at (803) 771-8366