SPORTS September 11, 2006 Issue

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING RAPIDS

KIM C. KORINEK

My husband and I spent many wonderful years whitewater kayaking, canoeing, and racing. In fact, we met through participation in paddling events. And we both found that the better we handled our own fear about an upcoming rapid, the more successful we were at running it, and the more fun we had.

One time, my husband and I were at the top of a whitewater slalom race course, ready to race our open boat (canoe) in tandem. He leaned forward to me and said, "Let's do this for the love of the game!" We were captivated by paddling whitewater and by the rivers we were running. As we powered forward that day to run the course fast and clean, we realized that this uninhibited love certainly removed any fear.

These fundamental lessons about overcoming fear, learned over the years of running rapids, became the basis for our progress not only in this sport, but in other challenges we have faced.

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