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< May/June 2001
	Paddle People
Five Top Guns of C-1

If you visited the Nantahala River's Quarry Rapid on Tuesday, Feb. 13, you would've seen a flurry of four blades turning every head around. They belonged to C-1 guns Allen Braswell, Brian Miller, Barry Kennon and Chris Manderson, and they left what kayakers were present quivering. The group represents the cream of the crop of the country's single-blade freestyle paddlers, and they're out to prove that the slogan "Half the paddle, twice the man," really does hold water. Though still considered outcasts by many for showing up at rodeos a blade short of a full deck, they shrug it off and proceed to rip up on any two-bladed counterpart willing to stick around. To pay tribute to these hold-outs from the sport's Voyageur, fur-trading days, we offer the following look at Five Top Guns of C-1.

ALLEN BRASWELL
At the opening time trial event of October's inaugural Zambezi Big Water Invitational, C-1er Allen Braswell proved he was twice the man by besting the field of kayakers. Though accidental surfs and poundings played a bigger role than stroke cadences, the event did prove that Braswell can hold his own against any two-bladed boater. "I was pretty excited afterward," says Braswell, 28. "But it was all about just getting lucky and riding the surge."

Skill, of course, also entered the picture. And as the 1993 and '95 World Rodeo C-1 Champion and this year's National Champion at the U.S. team trials on the Ocoee, Braswell packs plenty. It also wasn't the first time this year Braswell whooped-up on a field of kayakers. At Germany's national championships in Augsburg, Braswell took fourth in the kayak class while paddling with one blade. "C-1ing definitely makes you step up to the plate more," he says. "Especially when you're surrounded by a bunch of kayakers. But we don’t get a lot of exposure because there's only a handful of people who are really good."

He's doing his best to work on the exposure part. Though Braswell and Perception recently parted ways, he put in several years as a full-time "play specialist" for the company, living the paddling lifestyle all year long by visiting dealers and serving as an ambassador to the sport. Last year he road-tripped to more than 40 paddling events, racking up a whopping 40,000 miles in Perception’s decked-out RV. As ringleader of the tour, he got the top bunk in the bedroom and, like a father figure, he drove most of the time (usually with one arm on the wheel and the other resting on the window). Since November 1998, he's put nearly 100,000 miles on the rig and says he's only spent 11 days at home.

Braswell's canoeing history runs as long as his road miles. He got his start at age 7 in Atlanta, canoeing with his parents. "My stepfather was a firefighter, and his group got into canoeing," he says. "Pretty soon the kids got to go along." He got his first C-1, a Hydra Centaur, at age 11 and was brought into the Perception family in 1993 by boat designer Bob McDonough. Though he's by no means resting on his one-armed laurels, he plans to slowly move away from competition and focus on marketing and being a tech-rep. "I feel like I've accomplished pretty much everything I've wanted to," says Braswell, now paddling for Liquid Logic. Still, with his recent results against kayakers, the chances are slim he'll be changing his one-bladed ways. "I can survive in a kayak," he says, "but not in big water. I'm a Class II-III kayaker."

BRIAN MILLER
Though presently studying for his MBA at the University of North Carolina in Asheville, Brian Miller, 27, is by no means letting his single-bladed ways stagnate. In fact, just before enrolling he finished first in C-1 and OC-1 at the Pre World Championships in Sort, Spain, and took home the 2000 OC-1 National Championship title.

The finishes aren't surprising when you consider that he grew up in Charlotte, N.C., and literally slept with the first canoe he ever got--a Dagger Impulse, which he received for his 20th birthday. "I was miserable in it," he says after now kneeling in more fine-tuned designs. "But I used it all the time." He received the life-changing gift when he was in college at Western Carolina University, living on the Tuckasegee River. He took it out every chance he got, before, after and even during class. "I lived in a rather large apartment complex and would get friends to drop me off at the put-in and leave my truck at my riverside apartment," he says. "And I actually slept with my canoe."

Currently living in the paddling hotbed of Asheville, N.C., Miller still finds time to frequent his favorite playspot at Rock Island, Tenn., and make runs on his favorite river, North Carolina's Green. And despite his studies, he also finds time to revel in what he and other open boaters have brought to the sport. "What I'm most proud of--and what I believe to be the C-1 story of the year--is that myself and other high-end C-1ers have changed the way people view the sport," he says. "Once it was believed that C-1ers could do only half of what kayakers were doing, but with new designs and the evolution of the sport we can do more. In fact, NOWR had to re-state its 2001 rules to keep C-1ers out of the K-1 class, which limited our earning potential per event."

Like many struggling students (and paddlers), Miller's studies don’t let him put caviar on the table. But his line-up of sponsors--including Dagger, Harmony, Lidds, Palm, 5.10 and Robson--are ensuring he stays on the water, and in the limelight, as much as possible. And in the back of his mind during this spring's final exams is a shot at June's World Championship title. His final words to his two-bladed brethren: "We're proud about kicking the K-1ers asses."

BARRY KENNON
As a member of the U.S. Whitewater Slalom Team from 1993-'96, including countless World Cup showings and even a World Championship appearance, Dillsboro, N.C.'s Barry Kennon, 30, has what many modern freestyle C-1ers don't: the precision edge that comes from racing gates. He's taken that slalom upbringing and applied it quite nicely, thank you, to today's rodeo circuit, with top showings at events throughout the country. "The slalom background makes me a little more attack-oriented and aggressive," he says from the deck of his house overlooking the Tuckasegee River. "It's a more Lugbill-type technique."

Kennon, who owns a few rental properties as well as trademarked logo company aptly named Nattyshred, grew up in Baton Rogue, La., before starting C-1 at age 12 at Camp Mondamin. He later went on to teach at the same camp that introduced him to the sport, skipping out teaching duties only enough to secure national C-1 squirt champion titles in 1992 and '94 (with a silver in '97). Perhaps inspiration for his dizzying moves came from time spinning CDs as a DJ at Radio WWCU in Cullowhee, N.C. Then again, perhaps it's just innate ability coupled with a whole lot of training. "I'm definitely training hard this year," says Kennon, who's sponsored by Wave Sport, Robson, Watershed, Shred Ready and Lotus Designs. "I feel like I have a really good chance at this year's Worlds."

For Kennon, training means doing two-a-days on the water, from 8 to 10 a.m. at a little rodeo hole by his house and then later in the day at the Quarry hole on the Nantahala. "The hole by my house is like a slow-motion rodeo treadmill that lets you go through all the motions," he says. "Then in the afternoon I go to Quarry, which is a really fast spot and not really a good early-morning hole." Afterward, he returns to his deck overlooking the Tuckasegee. If he still has any energy left, he then heads out to the home-strung slalom gates in front of his house--going back to the roots that help him rip in freestyle.

ELI HELBERT
The only thing more impressive than Eli Helbert's rodeo and race resume is his Web site. Call it up at www.paddlelink.com and you'll find categories ranging from News and Views and Programs and Speaking Engagements to Sponsors, Wallpaper and Results. There's even one titled "Helbert's Groundhog Bash 2001 Provoked Only Two Visits from Police," touting an annual guitar-picking bonfire party at his Broadway, Va., home. It goes so far as to even list GPS coordinates for the bash: N 38.5823, W 78.7224.

Such attention to detail shows through on the water as well as the Web. And it's his "Results" button that secures his stature among one-bladed boaters, highlighting 20 first-place finishes in solo open canoe in the past three years, from first at the Green River Narrows race in 1997 to winning the 1999 OC-1 Rodeo World Championship and 2000 NOWR OC-1 point series titles. And unlike most of his C- and K-1 contemporaries attending his annual Groundhog bash, he's racked up these wins without a sprayskirt. "Eli's the best open canoeist I know," sums up long-time open boater and canoe designer Frankie Hubbard. Case closed.

A native of Harrisonburg, Va., Helbert, 23, has plenty of waterways in which to ply his trade. And he's been doing so since he was 8 years old on Virginia's Shenandoah River. "Folks think Eli came out of nowhere," says his dad, Paul. "But they don’t know about his 15-year apprenticeship." Helbert began training as a raft guide at 14 in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, but admits he "didn't legally work until age 17." Paddling so consumed him that it dictated his studies after high school; he enrolled in Asheville, N.C.'s Warren Wilson College for its boating program. "Eli came to us with the most ability of any canoeist I've ever seen," says his college whitewater coach John Griffith.

After competing inter-collegiately in slalom--and winning the school's coveted most valuable paddler trophy his senior year--Helbert set his sights on rodeo. "I'm now entering my first year of a five-year, post-college plan to see how far I can take my paddling," he says, eyeing this summer's World Rodeo Championships in Spain. Even when he's in the water, he's standing on firm ground; last year he placed first or second in every rodeo he entered.

As well as an uncanny natural ability, his secret lies in his attitude. "It's been said that smiling relaxes the body," says Helbert, who's sponsored by Watershed, Lotus Designs, OS Systems and "over 500" friends. "So that's the last thing I do before I start--put on a big smile." That smile gets reflected on the faces of everyone from judges to fellow competitors as soon as they see him work his magic. Says long-time freestyle paddler Eric Jackson: "Eli's not-so-good rides are better than most competitors' best rides."

CHRIS MANDERSON
For Asheville, N.C.'s Chris Manderson, NOWR's 2000 C-1 champion, single-blade boating is more than a pastime. "It's an addiction I've had since I was 14," he says. "I haven't been able to kick it."

He has, however, been able to kick back on the victory podium. He racked up 10 wins in 18 rodeos in the past two years and took third at last year's Pre Worlds in Sort, Spain. Top this with a silver-medal performance at the ’93 Worlds on the Ocoee and you have a C-1er of world-caliber status. Of course, such showings don’t leave much room for a social life. Now 32, Manderson remains single, spending any time he has off the river with Jake the Dog, a blue heeler/Aussie shepherd who routinely beats him to the take-out.

Manderson has been kneeling since 1983, getting his start at Camp Mondamin before moving onto the competition circuit. And he feels C-1ers are starting to stand out in the world of paddling. "Like it or not, you better learn to love it because it's the best thing going today," he says, quoting pro wrestler Rick Flair. "A few seasons back, kayaks were way ahead of us and their scores at rodeos would lap us, sometimes more than once. In ’99 we closed the gap and in 2000 the top C-1s usually had scores matching or bettering the kayaks. The kayakers are nervous for 2001; the referee has counted to two already, the pin is near..."

Manderson, sponsored by Perception, Mitchell Paddles, Lotus Designs and Shred Ready, is carrying this XFL attitude into this year's Worlds. "Why am I going to win the Worlds in ’01?" he asks ever so humbly. "My Perception Amp and I are the perfect meeting of man and machine. I'll be at an advantage in the water."