2014 Team Trials Announced


June 30, 2013

by Tom Wier

The locations of team trials to select the 2014 USA Wildwater National Team have been determined! These races will select the racers who will represent the US at the 2014 World Championships in Valtellina, Italy, June 17-21, 2014.

This year, the format of team trials has changed- there will be a split team trials format, with one race in the east and one race in the west. The races have been spread apart to allow individuals to race in both if they wish to. See below for details about this new selection process.

2014 Eastern Team Trials

2014 Eastern Team Trials will be held on the Nantahala River, September 6-7, 2013. This race is held in conjunction with the 2013 National Championships and the ICF Freestyle World Championships. The classic will be on Friday, September 6th, and the sprint on Saturday, September 7th (the same day as the freestyle finals). Make sure you come out for this race- the venue will be spectacular, and there’ll be plenty of spectators for the finish of the sprint and classic races. Eastern junior team trials will also be held at this race. 2014 Western Team Trials

2014 Western Senior Team Trials will be held in Colorado in late April. The specific date and location will be determined soon. Western Junior Team Trials will also be held at this race.

2014 Team Selection Process Having a split team trials means we have a new selection process. Here are the highlights:

  • We can send up to 6 boats per class to the 2014 World Championships, 2 that race both classic and sprint, 2 that race classic only, and 2 that race sprint only.
  • If four or fewer individuals are selected for the team, all boats race classic and sprint.
  • The classes are: K-1 Men, K-1 Women, C-1 Men, C-1 Women, C-2 Men
  • 3 people will be selected for each class at Eastern Team Trials and 3 people in each class at Western Team Trials.
  • If fewer than three people want to be on the team at either location, the remaining spots automatically shift to the other location.
  • 2014 Team trials will consist of one sprint race and one classic race.
  • Selection occurs via the following process:
    • For each race, individuals are ranked in order of finish, from fastest to slowest.
    • Each racer receives points as follows: 0 points for 1st place, 1 point for 2nd place, 2 points for third place, and so on.
    • Points for the classic and sprint are added, and racers ranked from lowest point total to highest.
    • The racer with the lowest point total at each location is selected to race both classic and sprint at the world championships.
    • The racer with the lowest points for the sprint, excluding the person already selected, is selected to race the sprint at the world championships.
    • The racer with the lowest points for the classic, excluding the person already selected, is selected to race the classic at the world championships.

For a complete description of the selection rules, please see Amendment 7 of the WWC bylaws.