The last days of June saw another upslope weather pattern, on top of the already saturated mountains. This led to 170 cm/s of flow, the second highest water level since 1975 (as far back as records are accessible). Pictured above is widowmaker June 29th. 

Quick actions saved the slalom course, and the 2024 rebuild ensured many features in the river survived in-full or in-part. Emergency repairs to the pathways by Able Demolition meant that our busy summer of events on the Kan could continue. Some herculean hand efforts helped a couple other features come back to life. Able also fixed up the raft put-in to ensure our commercial friends could have a successful season.

Further repairs to the in-stream features are in early planning stages.

The weekend of July 16th to 19th, we had the pleasure of supporting Kanfest 2026, a celebration of paddling and an overall fantastic opportunity for the community to get together. Events ranged from Stand-up Paddleboard Slalom, to the Inflatable Rodeo, to the much anticipated Ball Race! While all paddlers were fantastic, we’re giving a special shoutout to JD for winning the ball race for an unprecedented 6th time, congratulations!

With a 2-day turnaround we headed north for the 2026 Alberta Summer Games in Strathcona County. Kicking off the 5 days was a team building polo tournament and slalom training camp. The opening ceremony was a highlight ahead of the three days of HOT competition at Rundle Park! 

Anna Holroyd, Cadence Coward, and Josephine Cameron traded off wins in the women's events, while Erik Holroyd and Jayden Beuerlein stood on the top of the podium in the men's. 

A huge thank you to our Technical Officials, Coaches and Chaperones for making this a wonderful event. This will be most athletes' only multi-sport games before the Olympics! Haley Daniels 202One Olympian was an ASG alumni.

Immediately after wrapping up the Pan-American Championships, we jumped straight into events for the 2026 Canadian National Whitewater Championships. In this competition we had a variety of athletes in different boats, ranging from Downriver racing, to Freestyle, to the Development, Cadet, Junior, Senior, and Masters categories in Slalom, and finally the Kootenay PDL SUP race!

Overall an amazing nationals, with all participating provinces giving it their best. Ontario came out as the top Province in the Brian Creer Cup, but Alberta is closing the gap once again.

National Champions from Alberta include: Jessica Groeneveld (K1W masters), Paul Manning-Hunter (SL K1 masters), Anna Holroyd (SL K1W cadet), Cadence Coward (SL C1W cadet), Cadence Coward (Kayak Cross cadet), Eric Bissel (FS K1M), Ruby Spranza (FS U23W), Jordy Munro (FS K1MJr), Sarah Whalen (FS K1WJr), Cadence Coward (FS K1Wcad), Stephen Patsch (FS C1M), Josh Cardinal (FS K1Mcad), Cadence Coward (DR K1Wcad), Josephine Cameron (DR C1Wjr), Ruby Spranza (DR K1W).

It is clear that the work that Head Coach Simon Coward and others are putting in with the Alberta athletes is paying off!

After a busy two weeks, we hope that all athletes, coaches, and officials got the rest they deserved.

The National Freestyle competition also served as the selection event for the 2027 Freestyle World Championships in Sort, Spain. Alberta dominated and had numerous athletes invited to the National Team: Jordy Munro, Bennett Whalen (above), Eric Bissel, Scott Feindel, Stephen Patsch, Cadence Coward, & Sarah Whalen. It is great to see the efforts of the Alberta Playboaters League in developing the next generation of athletes.

This all would not have been possible without the aforementioned hurculean effort by Darrell Wiebe and others to clear the eddy at Chubbies after the June/July floods. Thank you all!

Canada is returning to the Canoe Polo World Championships for the first time since 2018. The Men's Team and Women's U21 Team will be competing in Pozdam, Germany from September 15th to 20th.

It's not too late to support these dedicated athletes as they rebuild the National programs following the Covid pool shutdowns.

Provincial Whitewater Championships! - September 5-7

Provincials is open to all! Cadets, Juniors, Masters, Novice or Experienced. There will be Freestyle, Kayak Cross and Slalom events 

Harvie Fall Classic - September 19

The final slalom and freestyle of the season. Enjoy the warm water of late summer paddling at Harvie Passage

Pool Sessions

Many clubs have already had to lock in their pool dates for the season. Keep an eye out for your local offerings, whether it is a beginner, stroke improvement, or roll course, or local canoe polo games

New this year is optional Accident Insurance.

For just $20 per year you can have coverage in the event of an accident on any AWA/Club sanctioned club trip, program, or event within Canada. A little peace of mind while you play.

If you have any articles to publish or topics you'd like to see in the newsletter, please let us know!