Race Preview: The General Clinton Canoe Regatta 70 miler with marathon canoe racer Rebecca Davis

70 miles from Cooperstown to Bainbridge in upstate New York, the General Clinton Canoe Regatta is the first race in the annual Triple Crown of Canoe Racing. On this special episode of Paddlecast, Rebecca Davis joins Betsy to talk about marathon canoe racing versus marathon canoe racing, and who are the top contenders to win this year’s Clinton on Sunday May 24th.Betsy will be live streaming the General Clinton Canoe Regatta on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtzgFtwJ4sE On Paddlecast, hosts Billy and Betsy usually talk about the marathon canoe racing discipline that’s most popular in Europe: mostly kayakers, mostly flat water, the type that you’d watch at the ICF Marathon World Championships. Not to say that’s an exclusive definition of this type of marathon canoe racing: there’s high kneel canoeists, sit-and-switch canoeists, ultra distance races, weirs in the UK and Ireland, rapids and dams in South Africa… And that type of marathon canoe racing exists in North America too, albeit at a much smaller scale. Although the US hosted the Marathon World Championships in 2014 in Oklahoma, the last time the US sent more than one paddler to race at Worlds was in 2018.But the General Clinton and the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing represent the elite, world-class side of another discipline of marathon canoe racing. “Sit-and-switch” is an accurate description because paddlers are seated in the canoe and switch sides (unlike high kneel canoeing, where paddlers are kneeling and do not switch sides). The pro class racers use carbon fibre canoes with a sort of diamond shape: narrow at the bow and stern for efficiency, but wide at the centre, creating “secondary stability” and drag that’s used to steer efficiently around tight corners in fast-flowing water. As Rebecca explains in the episode, the discipline is perfectly suited to the venue (the type of water in North America), and the section of the Susquehanna River that the 70 miler covers may be the best example of that.There’s no one better than Rebecca Davis to dive into the strengths of each of these crews, and what this year’s Clinton may hold for them. Rebecca is one of the most accomplished marathon canoe racers ever, and has consistently been the fastest woman (or at least one of the fastest) for more than 15 years. She holds the women’s record for the Ausable River Canoe Marathon (15:15:36 in 2019 with Edith MacHattie) and constantly pushes the limits of how highly women’s and mixed crews are expected to finish in the overall standings.Rebecca holds some of the most in-depth technical knowledge of marathon canoeing of any paddler. She shares some of that knowledge regularly as a host of the Canoe Race World Podcast (linked below), and on this episode of Paddlecast.00:10 What is the General Clinton Canoe Regatta00:49 Introducing Rebecca Barton Davis03:53 Marathon Canoe Racing versus Marathon Canoe Racing08:32 What makes the Clinton a great race10:06 Where does the Clinton fit in the context of the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing14:54 Race Preview: Women’s Race29:30 Race Preview: Mixed Race35:45 Race Preview: Men’s Race (Overall)50:01 A big change in the sport of marathon canoe racing - the introduction of drug testing and USADA compliance at the Ausable River Canoe MarathonListen to the Canoe Race World podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3sFReuwVE5aCzRunfyvW9a