With the world championships for whitewater slalom less than two weeks away, I reckon I'd better post a photo or two of this fascinating paddlesport discipline. Most of my slalom racing took place in the 1990s, and one of the world's top racers of that era was the man pictured here, Scott Shipley of the United States. Shipley won three world cup series titles and was a three-time silver medalist at the world championships. The scene in this photo, taken by yours truly, is actually a long way from the international limelight. It's a relatively rinky-dink event on the White Salmon River at the tiny hamlet of Husum, Washington, in the summer of 1998. Shipley held off a challenge from another elite racer, Eric Jackson, to win that day.
Shipley's boat here is four meters long, the minimum length back then. After the 2004 Olympics, the International Canoe Federation shortened the minimum length to three and a half meters.
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