Elaine Campbell

Why do you Paddle? Paddling is incredible fun, an enduring challenge, and continuously brings me to amazing places that can't be reached otherwise. The tight-knit paddling community is a huge second family to myself and my husband; I've met most of my best friends on the river. And on a super-hot summer day, it beats the hell out of looking for a parking space at the mall!

How I started paddling whitewater:
I started whitewater kayaking when my older brother Mark signed both of us up for a two-week whitewater intro class with the Boston chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) for my 22nd birthday in June 2002. I met my husband the first weekend on the river and fell in love with kayaking and him. Favorite Waters: Has to be the Deerfield River in MA/VT. It's my home town river and where I learned how to kayak. There's a bunch of different sections from class II-V. My favorite section runs through my town the West Branch of the Deerfield class IV/V.

The class(es) you race: K-1W

Years on the U.S. Wildwater National Team: This is my first year

Other Paddling/Sports/Hobbies: I also enjoy sailing, water skiing, snowboarding, xc skiing, and watching lots of football.

Personal Information:

• Music: I have a wide variety of music that I like so here's a few such as Cake, Pearl Jam, Fleetwood Mac, Ryan Adams, Ice Cube, Florence and the Machines, Beast, 311, Outkast, Ray Lamontagne, and Sarah Mclachlan.