All 59
Bill Mason
Bill Mason developed a great passion for canoeing and the wilderness very early in life. As a renowned, award winning Canadian naturalist, author, artist, filmmaker and conservationist Bill Mason is widely considered a Canadian Canoeing Legend.
Bill Masters
Bill Masters is the Steve Jobs of the modern whitewater kayak industry. He took kayaking from the club days of fiberglass boats being manufactured in limited numbers and designs in the backyards and garages of America to the worldwide exposure it enjoys today.
Bob McNair
Bob’s Basic River Canoeing was THE manual in the 1970’s and 1980’s for basic whitewater techniques used by many to learn and teach whitewater canoeing.
Bryce Whitmore
Bunny Johns
Bunny Johns stands out for her sport-changing facilitation of how the process, technique, and safety of whitewater paddling instruction was taught and shared across the USA.
Carl Luther
Carl Luther, known as “CIL,” was an ardent kayaker and through his writing and photography introduced the public to kayak touring which included all levels of kayaking, including whitewater.
Cathy Hearn
Cathy began her two-decade winning career in international competition with an unprecedented three gold medals (1979 World Championship) in slalom, slalom team, and wildwater team events.
Charlie Walbridge
Approachable, humble, and always friendly, Charlie has probably contributed more than any other single person to promote river safety and develop standards and rescuer techniques.
Chris Hawkesworth
Through his decades of camerawork and film-making alone, Chris made a remarkable and pioneering contribution to interest in, and enthusiasm for, whitewater canoeing, kayaking and rafting.
Dave Manby
As an Advocate, Dave Manby has spent fifty years at the center of the international river running scene, inspiring others to paddle rivers around the world.
Davey Hearn
Davey Hearn dominated the top levels of canoe slalom for over a decade. He was instrumental in collaboration with other top racers, in designing the Max series of canoes that revolutionized slalom racing.
Eric Jackson
Eric Jackson is considered by many to be the best kayaker in the world. No one has excelled at as many different aspects of the sport as Jackson has.
Genevieve and Bernard de Colmont and Antoine de Seynes
The French Trio brought the latest technology of whitewater kayaking to America in 1938, while becoming the first to take kayaks down the mighty Green and Colorado rivers.
Gilles Zok
Gilles Zok dominated wildwater canoeing through most of the 1980’s and was often described as “a monster to which was grafted a canoe and a paddle.”
Gisela Grothaus-Steigerwald
Gisela's six wildwater world medals makes her the most successful female whitewater kayaker in German history.
Graham Mackereth
Graham has been a major contributor to the success of the whitewater paddlesports industry worldwide and involved in designing and building kayaks commercially for more than 40 years. Pyranha’s motto “For Enthusiasts, By Enthusiasts” sums up the essence of the company.
Helen Brownlee
Helen Brownlee has dedicated her life to the sport of canoeing and has been involved in shaping its progress internationally and at home in Australia for well over thirty years.
Herbert Rittlinger
Herbert was an explorer, pioneer and advocate for whitewater as well as paddlesports in general.
Hermann and Christa Kerckhoff
Carving out a unique learning program, entrepreneurs and national whitewater champions Hermann and Christa Kerckhoff were pioneers in their field by opening the first commercial whitewater school in the world.
Holger Machatschek
Have you ever wondered where large cockpits, bulkhead footrests, the throw bag, and life jackets came from? No other has influenced the "Alpine whitewater sport" more than Holger Machatschek, for several decades.
Isamu Tatsuno
Jamie McEwan
Jean-Pierre Burny
Jean-Pierre is often considered one of the greatest whitewater downriver paddlers of all times. He was the dominant force in K1 downriver racing in the 1970’s winning four world championships over a ten-year timeframe, from 1969 to 1979.
Jim Snyder
For over forty years, Jim Snyder has never hesitated to create his own “charc,” building boats and paddles that barely resemble whatever the rest of the whitewater world is currently using, but will be in the future.
Joe Puliam
Joe Pulliam’s life has been dedicated to whitewater, beginning with a strong love of rivers and the people he paddled with and guided by what became the whitewater industry.
Jon Lugbill
Jon is generally considered as the best paddler to ever compete in whitewater canoeing dominating the top levels of canoe slalom for over a decade
Julie Munger
Julie has been a big part of the rafting world for over 30 years, she was a huge part of breaking down barriers for women in the sport and her accomplishments at the time were as big or larger than many of the things men were doing.
Kent Ford
Kent Ford’s unique background includes more than twenty years of teaching, paddling, coaching and international whitewater racing. His twenty plus videos and books on paddlesports have influenced the education of a half million paddlers and have made him one of the most recognized paddlers in whitewater worldwide.
Klaus Lettmann
Lettmann’s kayak designs and their materials construction set the standard for the early whitewater industry throughout the world and was the basis for what we know today.
Lars Holbek
Lars Holbek was one of the most accomplished whitewater explorers of all time. Futaleufu, Stikine, Fantasy Falls, Golden Gate, Hospital Rock; these titles conjure some of the world’s most difficult, top-quality whitewater, and Lars was the first to paddle all of them.
Manfred Vogt
Martin Litton
A major part of Martin’s life has been spent fighting to protect and preserve the integrity of many of the West’s beautiful places.
Michal Martikan
Michal Martikan has firmly established himself as one of the best C-1 paddlers of all time beginning with his arrival on the international scene at 16 as the youngest winner of a World Cup slalom canoeing event.
Mick Hopkinson
Mick Hopkinson began his whitewater career with ten years of training for slalom competition, developing and honing his technical skills before completing benchmark first descents of the most difficult stretches in the world.
Mike Jones
Mikey Abbott
Mikey Abbott is paddling’s first truly global adventurer. Few have gone as far as he who has opened up whole regions and inspired so many to find their passport and seek new adventures.
Mikhail Kolchevnikov
Kolchevnikov founded a number of national rafting competitions in Russia and was also a pioneering river runner compiling an impressive list of First Descents on Class V and VI Rivers.
Milo Duffek
Milo Duffek was one of the first paddlers to escape communist Czechoslovakia for the west, setting the pattern of frequent international migration that is central to the paddlesport community. Historian Bill Endicott writes: “Duffek never won a gold medal. In Merano Italy at the Worlds he won something even more precious: His Freedom.”
Nikki Kelly
Nikki’s achievements are an inspiration to all paddlers, but in particular to women paddlers who have seen her achieve greatness in a discipline that has been male-dominated.
Oliver Cock
Oliver J. Cock’s contributions to whitewater kayaking became an integral part of the foundations of the British Canoe Union (BCU). His whitewater films, many from the 1940’s and 1950’s provide a valuable documentation and history of early whitewater paddling and training.
Pavol and Peter Hochschorner
Pavol Hochschorner and Peter Hochschorner are the best Slalom C2 team ever. Anyone who has been a fan of Slalom racing has heard of the Hochschorner twins from Slovakia.
Payson Kennedy
Payson Kennedy co-founded the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) in Wesser, NC in 1972 with Horace Holden and developed it to become a world-class facility.
Pete Skinner
Peter Knowles
Peter (a.k.a. Slime) has dedicated his life to white water, conducting expeditions around the world since his earliest big river experience on the Grand Canyon in 1973.
Ramone Eaton
Ramone (Ray) Eaton was an outstanding leader of networking among paddlers from the 1950’s through the 1970’s. As Vice President of the American Red Cross, his knowledge and expertise in whitewater instruction and safety influenced ARC’s role and involvement in whitewater canoeing and safety.
Richard Bangs
Richard Bangs has been the preeminent whitewater rafting explorer of the last forty years. His always inquisitive mind and spirit of adventure has led him and his Sobek teammates to pioneer whitewater rafting on rivers throughout the world.
Richard Fox
Richard Fox is a decorated slalom paddler, and the innovator of smooth slalom techniques emulated by many and was the first to use a double torque kayak paddle during the ’89 World Championships.
Risa Shimoda
Risa Shimoda has been one of the most prolific river stewardship organizers for grassroots advocacy, freestyle paddling, and whitewater park promotion in the history of kayaking in the United States.
Rob Lesser
Rob set the standard for big water exploratory Class V kayaking in the 1970s, ‘80s & ‘90s.
Scott Lindgren
Scott Lindgren is one of the most luminary explorers of global rivers of his generation; seamlessly blending complex logistics with beautiful filmmaking to capture the spirit of adventure like few others have.
Scott Shipley
Scott is a three-time Olympian and three-time World Champion in slalom kayak among the many other outstanding medal performances and contributions.
Stepanka Hilgertova
Stepanka Hilgertova started to compete in whitewater slalom in 1980 at the age of 12. Since that time she has competed in five straight Olympic Games.
Theo Bock
Theo Bock was renowned in his day as Germany’s first river explorer, an accomplished racer, and the organizer of the first German National Championships.
Tom Johnson
Tom was the first kayak designer to make the leap from fiberglass to plastic with the River Chaser manufactured by Hollowform.
Tony Estanguet
Tony Estanguet is three-time European champion, three-time world champion and three-time Olympic champion.
Tony Prijon, Sr.
Tony’s touch as a designer has impacted more than 45 years of the world of whitewater as few others have. Given his and the sport’s focus on competition, much of the efforts of his company revolved around slalom and wildwater.
Walt Blackadar
Walt changed the face of kayaking in the 1970s from a conservative slalom philosophy in the U.S. to a “go get it” whitewater attitude. Not only did he develop a U.S. style and technique for big whitewater, but he created the hype and popularity becoming the basis for today’s whitewater stars.
William (Bill) T. Endicott
Bill Endicott vastly influenced whitewater slalom in the U.S. and internationally for thirty years.
William Nealy
William Nearly, heralded as “Whitewater’s Poet Laureate,” was one of the best known ambassadors of the sport. He brought a self-deprecating sense of humor and wealth of practical knowledge to all of his work.
Bill Mason
Bill Mason developed a great passion for canoeing and the wilderness very early in life. As a renowned, award winning Canadian naturalist, author, artist, filmmaker and conservationist Bill Mason is widely considered a Canadian Canoeing Legend.
Bill Masters
Bill Masters is the Steve Jobs of the modern whitewater kayak industry. He took kayaking from the club days of fiberglass boats being manufactured in limited numbers and designs in the backyards and garages of America to the worldwide exposure it enjoys today.
Bob McNair
Bob’s Basic River Canoeing was THE manual in the 1970’s and 1980’s for basic whitewater techniques used by many to learn and teach whitewater canoeing.
Bryce Whitmore
Bunny Johns
Bunny Johns stands out for her sport-changing facilitation of how the process, technique, and safety of whitewater paddling instruction was taught and shared across the USA.
Carl Luther
Carl Luther, known as “CIL,” was an ardent kayaker and through his writing and photography introduced the public to kayak touring which included all levels of kayaking, including whitewater.
Cathy Hearn
Cathy began her two-decade winning career in international competition with an unprecedented three gold medals (1979 World Championship) in slalom, slalom team, and wildwater team events.
Charlie Walbridge
Approachable, humble, and always friendly, Charlie has probably contributed more than any other single person to promote river safety and develop standards and rescuer techniques.
Chris Hawkesworth
Through his decades of camerawork and film-making alone, Chris made a remarkable and pioneering contribution to interest in, and enthusiasm for, whitewater canoeing, kayaking and rafting.
Dave Manby
As an Advocate, Dave Manby has spent fifty years at the center of the international river running scene, inspiring others to paddle rivers around the world.
Davey Hearn
Davey Hearn dominated the top levels of canoe slalom for over a decade. He was instrumental in collaboration with other top racers, in designing the Max series of canoes that revolutionized slalom racing.
Eric Jackson
Eric Jackson is considered by many to be the best kayaker in the world. No one has excelled at as many different aspects of the sport as Jackson has.
Genevieve and Bernard de Colmont and Antoine de Seynes
The French Trio brought the latest technology of whitewater kayaking to America in 1938, while becoming the first to take kayaks down the mighty Green and Colorado rivers.
Gilles Zok
Gilles Zok dominated wildwater canoeing through most of the 1980’s and was often described as “a monster to which was grafted a canoe and a paddle.”
Gisela Grothaus-Steigerwald
Gisela's six wildwater world medals makes her the most successful female whitewater kayaker in German history.
Graham Mackereth
Graham has been a major contributor to the success of the whitewater paddlesports industry worldwide and involved in designing and building kayaks commercially for more than 40 years. Pyranha’s motto “For Enthusiasts, By Enthusiasts” sums up the essence of the company.
Helen Brownlee
Helen Brownlee has dedicated her life to the sport of canoeing and has been involved in shaping its progress internationally and at home in Australia for well over thirty years.
Herbert Rittlinger
Herbert was an explorer, pioneer and advocate for whitewater as well as paddlesports in general.
Hermann and Christa Kerckhoff
Carving out a unique learning program, entrepreneurs and national whitewater champions Hermann and Christa Kerckhoff were pioneers in their field by opening the first commercial whitewater school in the world.
Holger Machatschek
Have you ever wondered where large cockpits, bulkhead footrests, the throw bag, and life jackets came from? No other has influenced the "Alpine whitewater sport" more than Holger Machatschek, for several decades.
Isamu Tatsuno
Jamie McEwan
Jean-Pierre Burny
Jean-Pierre is often considered one of the greatest whitewater downriver paddlers of all times. He was the dominant force in K1 downriver racing in the 1970’s winning four world championships over a ten-year timeframe, from 1969 to 1979.
Jim Snyder
For over forty years, Jim Snyder has never hesitated to create his own “charc,” building boats and paddles that barely resemble whatever the rest of the whitewater world is currently using, but will be in the future.
Joe Puliam
Joe Pulliam’s life has been dedicated to whitewater, beginning with a strong love of rivers and the people he paddled with and guided by what became the whitewater industry.
Jon Lugbill
Jon is generally considered as the best paddler to ever compete in whitewater canoeing dominating the top levels of canoe slalom for over a decade
Julie Munger
Julie has been a big part of the rafting world for over 30 years, she was a huge part of breaking down barriers for women in the sport and her accomplishments at the time were as big or larger than many of the things men were doing.
Kent Ford
Kent Ford’s unique background includes more than twenty years of teaching, paddling, coaching and international whitewater racing. His twenty plus videos and books on paddlesports have influenced the education of a half million paddlers and have made him one of the most recognized paddlers in whitewater worldwide.
Klaus Lettmann
Lettmann’s kayak designs and their materials construction set the standard for the early whitewater industry throughout the world and was the basis for what we know today.
Lars Holbek
Lars Holbek was one of the most accomplished whitewater explorers of all time. Futaleufu, Stikine, Fantasy Falls, Golden Gate, Hospital Rock; these titles conjure some of the world’s most difficult, top-quality whitewater, and Lars was the first to paddle all of them.
Manfred Vogt
Martin Litton
A major part of Martin’s life has been spent fighting to protect and preserve the integrity of many of the West’s beautiful places.
Michal Martikan
Michal Martikan has firmly established himself as one of the best C-1 paddlers of all time beginning with his arrival on the international scene at 16 as the youngest winner of a World Cup slalom canoeing event.
Mick Hopkinson
Mick Hopkinson began his whitewater career with ten years of training for slalom competition, developing and honing his technical skills before completing benchmark first descents of the most difficult stretches in the world.
Mike Jones
Mikey Abbott
Mikey Abbott is paddling’s first truly global adventurer. Few have gone as far as he who has opened up whole regions and inspired so many to find their passport and seek new adventures.
Mikhail Kolchevnikov
Kolchevnikov founded a number of national rafting competitions in Russia and was also a pioneering river runner compiling an impressive list of First Descents on Class V and VI Rivers.
Milo Duffek
Milo Duffek was one of the first paddlers to escape communist Czechoslovakia for the west, setting the pattern of frequent international migration that is central to the paddlesport community. Historian Bill Endicott writes: “Duffek never won a gold medal. In Merano Italy at the Worlds he won something even more precious: His Freedom.”
Nikki Kelly
Nikki’s achievements are an inspiration to all paddlers, but in particular to women paddlers who have seen her achieve greatness in a discipline that has been male-dominated.
Oliver Cock
Oliver J. Cock’s contributions to whitewater kayaking became an integral part of the foundations of the British Canoe Union (BCU). His whitewater films, many from the 1940’s and 1950’s provide a valuable documentation and history of early whitewater paddling and training.
Pavol and Peter Hochschorner
Pavol Hochschorner and Peter Hochschorner are the best Slalom C2 team ever. Anyone who has been a fan of Slalom racing has heard of the Hochschorner twins from Slovakia.
Payson Kennedy
Payson Kennedy co-founded the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) in Wesser, NC in 1972 with Horace Holden and developed it to become a world-class facility.
Pete Skinner
Peter Knowles
Peter (a.k.a. Slime) has dedicated his life to white water, conducting expeditions around the world since his earliest big river experience on the Grand Canyon in 1973.
Ramone Eaton
Ramone (Ray) Eaton was an outstanding leader of networking among paddlers from the 1950’s through the 1970’s. As Vice President of the American Red Cross, his knowledge and expertise in whitewater instruction and safety influenced ARC’s role and involvement in whitewater canoeing and safety.
Richard Bangs
Richard Bangs has been the preeminent whitewater rafting explorer of the last forty years. His always inquisitive mind and spirit of adventure has led him and his Sobek teammates to pioneer whitewater rafting on rivers throughout the world.
Richard Fox
Richard Fox is a decorated slalom paddler, and the innovator of smooth slalom techniques emulated by many and was the first to use a double torque kayak paddle during the ’89 World Championships.
Risa Shimoda
Risa Shimoda has been one of the most prolific river stewardship organizers for grassroots advocacy, freestyle paddling, and whitewater park promotion in the history of kayaking in the United States.
Rob Lesser
Rob set the standard for big water exploratory Class V kayaking in the 1970s, ‘80s & ‘90s.
Scott Lindgren
Scott Lindgren is one of the most luminary explorers of global rivers of his generation; seamlessly blending complex logistics with beautiful filmmaking to capture the spirit of adventure like few others have.
Scott Shipley
Scott is a three-time Olympian and three-time World Champion in slalom kayak among the many other outstanding medal performances and contributions.
Stepanka Hilgertova
Stepanka Hilgertova started to compete in whitewater slalom in 1980 at the age of 12. Since that time she has competed in five straight Olympic Games.
Theo Bock
Theo Bock was renowned in his day as Germany’s first river explorer, an accomplished racer, and the organizer of the first German National Championships.
Tom Johnson
Tom was the first kayak designer to make the leap from fiberglass to plastic with the River Chaser manufactured by Hollowform.
Tony Estanguet
Tony Estanguet is three-time European champion, three-time world champion and three-time Olympic champion.
Tony Prijon, Sr.
Tony’s touch as a designer has impacted more than 45 years of the world of whitewater as few others have. Given his and the sport’s focus on competition, much of the efforts of his company revolved around slalom and wildwater.
Walt Blackadar
Walt changed the face of kayaking in the 1970s from a conservative slalom philosophy in the U.S. to a “go get it” whitewater attitude. Not only did he develop a U.S. style and technique for big whitewater, but he created the hype and popularity becoming the basis for today’s whitewater stars.
William (Bill) T. Endicott
Bill Endicott vastly influenced whitewater slalom in the U.S. and internationally for thirty years.
William Nealy
William Nearly, heralded as “Whitewater’s Poet Laureate,” was one of the best known ambassadors of the sport. He brought a self-deprecating sense of humor and wealth of practical knowledge to all of his work.