USA Performs Well Internationally in 2010

USA Masters Three-peat with Medals,
Eight Athletes Qualify for Performance Funding

by John Pinyerd
USA Canoe/Kayak
Wildwater Committee Chairman
jpinyerd@usawildwater.com

July 25, 2010 -- Marietta, GA

When all is said and done, the USA Wildwater Team performed well in International Competition in 2010. If you have not had a chance to do so, check out the analysis that Chuck Brabec put together in his article entitled 2010 World Championships Wrap Up: www.usawildwater.com/news/2010/100622_Worlds.html.

Wow, what can I say about our Master's racers that has not already been said! We can stack up against any masters teams in the world. We three-peated with three more medals in the Worlds again this year. Jeannie Goldberg (K-1W) and Mike Harris (C-1) both won Gold, and David Jones (K-1) won Silver.

Our Master's program is so much more than a bunch of aging racers. They are actively involved in the sport and train like champions and win like champions! Take for example my training partner David Jones (K-1). David is in amazing shape for anyone at any age and does an incredible job of pushing a wildwater boat down the river. This year we trained specifically for the World's Masters event and David was as fast as he has been in a decade. David's goal was to see if he could perhaps overtake and beat Wolfgang Brick of Germany. This was no small undertaking as Brick is world renown as a phenomenal athlete in both wildwater and triathlon and has earned such nicknames around the world as "the Iron Grandfather" and the "Brick House". Ultimately, on race day, David gave it his best shot but finished second to Brick who has now won his third Gold at the Master's World's.

I'm also very proud of how well we stacked up at the Worlds in Senior competition. We had 8 racers qualify for a share of the Performance Fund "pie". Thanks to our donors/sponsors , USA Wildwater was able to continue onward with a "Performance Fund" of $2500 this year. The fund is for Team Members for outstanding performance at international events. This incentive program is based on the performance of the athlete at the World Championships and the World Cups. Each finish within the performance range buys the athlete a share of the "pie". No one athlete can receive more than half of the fund. A finish within 5% of the winner of a World Cup buys 3 shares (6 for Worlds); A finish within 9% of the winner of a World Cup buys 2 shares (4 for Worlds), A finish within 13% of the winner of a World Cup buys 1 share (2 for Worlds)

Tom Wier (C-1), has been our top performer over the past decade. This year he led the team with a 16th place finish in the "Classic" race and was just a mere 7.8% back off the World Champion. Tom also finished just 7.1% back in the "Sprint" race. These two strong finishes earned him more than a third of our "Performance Fund".

We also had several other athletes that raced well in the Sprint and most of them are Juniors!!!! Although he's still a Junior, Tyler Hinton (C-1) finished a blazing 9.1% back. The same is true for Haley Popp (K-1) who finished 12.7% back and Bryson/Colton Popp (C-2) who finished 11.3% back.

I'm also quite proud of our Men's K-1 Team who performed well in the Team Run. Led by our Junior Team Coach, Maurizio Tognacci, the team of Maurizio, Jeremy Rodgers (who is quickly becoming a veteran at this sport) and Mark Wendolowski finished 12.8% back.

Congratulations again to the 2010 USA Wildwater Team and those racers who performed well!

2010 World Championships Performance Funding

 
Classic
Sprint
Team Classic
Team Sprint
 
Name
Class
%
Shares
%
Shares
%
Shares
%
Shares
Total
Shares
% of
Funding
Performance
Funds Earned
Mike Harris
C-1
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
24.72
0
N/A
N/A
0
0.0%
$0.00
Tom Wier
C-1
7.77
4
7.06
4
24.72
0
N/A
N/A
8
36.4%
$909.09
Tyler Hinton
C-1
15.61
0
9.13
2
24.72
0
N/A
N/A
2
9.1%
$227.27
Bryson Popp
C-2
N/A
N/A
11.3
2
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
2
9.1%
$227.27
Colton Popp
C-2
N/A
N/A
11.3
2
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
2
9.1%
$227.27
David Jones
K-1
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
0
0.0%
$0.00
Jeremy Rodgers
K-1
N/A
N/A
17.29
0
N/A
N/A
12.84
2
2
9.1%
$227.27
Mark Wendolowski
K-1
N/A
N/A
23.59
0
N/A
N/A
12.84
2
2
9.1%
$227.27
Maurizio Tognacci
K-1
15.6
0
16.23
0
N/A
N/A
12.84
2
2
9.1%
$227.27
Haley Popp
K-1W
N/A
N/A
12.74
2
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
2
9.1%
$227.27
Jennie Goldberg
K-1W
131.68
0
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
0
0.0%
$0.00
Total 
22
100.0%
$2,500.00