Whitewater Iowa Games offer thrills and spills

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Dave Hillman is one with the water.

One might even go as far as to call them kindred spirits.

It’s that admiration and respect that makes it clear he’s found a home here in Charles City.

Hillman and other whitewater enthusiasts hit the water on Saturday during the Iowa Summer Games.

The local focal point of that competition is of course, the Cedar River. Competitors on kayaks, canoes or even paddleboards or rafts attempt to tame the river’s fast flowing features.

Hillman, who has been involved with whitewater in some shape or form for the last 41 years, remembers when Iowa did not offer the excitement and challenge that towns like Charles City bring to the table.

“We traveled everywhere. Now we have our home water,” said Hillman, who is from Cedar Rapids and is co-commissioner of the Iowa Summer Whitewater Games alongside Piper Wall.

The bond between the river and its inhabitants is something Hillman strives for everyone to rekindle.

“Charles City’s figured out a way. This is us. This is part of our DNA,” said Hillman.

Call it a competition if you will, but it’s more a small fraternity of people who love the water and the challenges it brings. Entrants also just so happen to get medals after they place in events like downriver sprint or paddle swim. But the medals aren’t necessarily high on the list of priorities for anybody who competes in this summer games, according to Wall.

“Everyone involved in whitewater has given or received a rescue. You’ve been a swimmer or you’ve rescued a swimmer and many of us, both,” said Wall.

Wall, who is from Ames, founded the Iowa State University Canoe and Kayak Club back when she was a student in 1983. She explained what the heart of whitewater is really all about.

“It’s not a huge sport. A non-huge sport in which you help somebody or received help from somebody and it could be a stranger. That creates a bond,” said Wall.

Wall and Hillman are advocates of the sport. Hillman takes trips down to North Carolina where “park and play” experiences on the rivers are all about good times and cherished memories with friends.

Iowa now has three whitewater parks including Charles City. Manchester and Elkader each built their parks in the last five years. Hillman said there have been talks about adding three more parks in Des Moines, Waterloo and Central City. Popularity of the sport is growing in the state, but there is the perception outside of Iowa that’s it’s all cornfields and nothing else.

“We’re still fighting that a little bit. We go to North Carolina every year. It used to be ‘you have whitewater in Iowa?’ Now it’s ‘tell me about the Charles City park,’” said Hillman.

It’s a surefire fact that Charles City and other towns that offer the thrills, chills and spills of whitewater have been put on the map.

“The nation knows where we are,” said Hillman.

Wall said, “This is such a great place to come. This is the only race I’ve ever been at where your boat gets hauled up.”

Wall said the river flow on Saturday was the second strongest she’s experienced at the games in Charles City. The games were first held here in 2012, the year after the whitewater park opened.

There are positives and negatives that come with the increased flow according to Wall. Once the river’s speed picks up, time is lost in order to sort things out. When the river slows down, you gain time. But there’s drawbacks to that as well.

“You have to provide more of the go-down river power,” said Wall.

Max Wellhouse, from Cedar Falls, has been to every Iowa Summer Games in Charles City except last year. His nickname on the river is “Bullwinkle,” courtesy of the moose on the back of his kevlar helmet.

“It’s taken its share of licks,” said Wellhouse of his headgear.

He said all three river parks in Iowa have their own “mission,” but Charles City is near the top of his list.

“Are you kidding me? What’s not to like?,” said Wellhouse. “This was the charter course.”

This coming weekend the Charles City Whitewater Challenge will also take to the Cedar River. The event was rescheduled after being postponed on its original date of June 23.