Cathy Hearn (USA)
2007 Class | Champion
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.
She has always been extremely competitive in all types of whitewater including C-1 (her first whitewater boating experience) and C-2, and in wildwater in addition to slalom. She was a Gold Medalist in the 1979 World Championship, a Silver Medalist in the 1981 World Championship, and a two-time Bronze Medalist (1989 and 1997) at the World Championships. She was a two-time Bronze Overall Medalist, at the 1989 and 1997 World Cup. And a two-time Olympian, in 1992 and 1996.
Cathy has shared her knowledge during most of her career providing affordable and volunteer coaching nationally and internationally. She is the current U.S. National Coach, primarily working with the C-1 and C-2 national team athletes. Cathy is also a certified practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method which she has incorporated specifically for coaching of paddling technique.
Beyond her slalom racing accomplishments, she was an Outrigger Canoe World Championship Women’s team member (1993 and 1994), a National and Olympic Team coach for Italy in 2004, and a US National Team coach (2005-2007).
