I started paddling in 1998 when my childhood best friend brought me to try sprint kayak at the Calgary Canoe Club. I fell in love with being on the water, the camaraderie of the club, and the adventures of traveling for spring training camps to California and Florida (Canadian lakes are frozen October to May) and regattas all around Canada. The pinnacle of sprint kayak 'career' was medaling in a K2 6000m race with the same friend who introduced me to the sport at a national U18 competition in 2005. I also enjoyed coaching the youth sprint paddling groups for several summers. I was introduced to outrigger paddling in 2006 when our club entered a youth OC6 crew into the Length of the Lake, a 100km change race spanning the length of Lake Okanagan in BC. Later an internship opportunity moved me to Auckland, New Zealand where I bought a surf ski and expanded my paddling experience, learning how to paddle downwind and taking part in the summer race series there. What keeps me paddling are the connections I find on the water - to community, to nature, to my own body. When a career opportunity brought my partner and I to the Bay area in 2023 I joined Ho'okahi Pu'uwai, as I've learned over the years that paddling clubs are a 'cheat code' to finding great people and instant community. This has held true once again - I've enjoyed racing with HPOCC for two seasons and have found great training partners there too (shoutout @Lana Akimova & @Damon Prasad). I'm looking forward to using outrigger races as an excuse to explore more unique corners of the globe.