For IMMEDIATE Release

August 27, 2005 Kernville, Calif.

Jeff Larimer (Marietta, Ga.) won the men’s canoe class at the Whitewater Slalom Pan American Championships on Saturday. Larimer’s raw times were so fast through the course that even a 2 second penalty on his first run of the day could not cost him the gold medal.

Larimer was second after Friday’s qualifier to James Cartwright (Canada), but a costly error cost Cartwright several seconds on his second run and he won the silver medal in the competition. Finishing with the bronze was Cassio Ramon Petry (Brazil). The other US boats of Ryan Bahn (Bethesda, Md.) and Erik Amason (Arlington, Va.) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

At the Pan American Championships, the medals are awarded to the top paddler from the top three finishing countries. Each country is only eligible for one medal, regardless of whether they have two or more boats finishing in the top three.

Zuzanna Vanha (Dillsboro, N.C.) was the other top-finishing US boat, as she won the women’s kayak class with two superb runs. Vanha showed the heart of a champion, not letting a couple two second penalties get in the way of her victory. Sarah Boudens (Canada) finished fourth in the competition and won the silver medal, and Maria Marques Cotrem finished eighth and took home the bronze for Brazil.

The other US boats in the women’s kayak class finished as follows: Jamie Tidmore (Bryson City, N.C.) – second. Paris Robinson (Atlanta, Ga.) – third. Jessica Subido (Rocklin, Calif.) – sixth. Michelle Clements (San Marcos, Texas) – seventh. Notably absent from the women’s kayak class is 2004 Olympic silver medalist Rebecca Giddens (San Diego, Calif.), who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury earlier this year.

In the Men’s Kayak class, Brett Heyl (Bethesda, Md.) paddled two amazing runs, both without a single penalty. Heyl had been locked in a battle for first with David Ford (Canada) since the competition began, and Ford escaped with the gold on Saturday. Heyl proudly took home the silver for the US with a second place finish. Pablo McCandless (Chile) finished ninth and claimed the bronze.

Other US boats in the men’s kayak class finished as follows: Scott Parsons (Bethesda, Md.) – fourth. Danny Stock (Potomac, Md.) – eighth. Eric Hurd (Atlanta, Ga.) – tenth. Eric Giddens (San Diego, Calif.) – eleventh. Rick Powell (Parkesburg, Pa.) – fourteenth.

The men’s double canoe class was won by the clear standout boat of Francois Letourneau and Benoit Gauthier (Canada). Finishing four seconds back of the Canadian boat was the US boat of Mark Poindexter (Austin, Texas) and Ben Kvanli (San Marcos, Texas) who took home the silver. The team of Ricardo Dias Pacheco and Alan Annibal Schmidt (Brazil) finished sixth and won bronze.

The other US double canoes finished as follows: Bryant Grigsby (Mount Hamilton, Calif.) and Aaron Sarver (San Francisco Calif.) – third. Chris Wiegand (Lafayette, Colo.) and Nic Borst (Boulder, Colo.) – fourth. James and Devin McEwan (Lakeville, Conn.) – fifth.

Full results are available on the USA Canoe/Kayak website at www.usack.org. The results of the Americas Slalom Open which is running concurrently are also available there.

USA Canoe/Kayak, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is the National Governing Body for nine canoe and kayak racing sports, and is a member of the US Olympic Committee and the International Canoe Federation. For more information, please contact Luke Dieker at (704) 348-4330, or visit our website http://www.usack.org.

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