“Sprint! Sprint! Sprint!” yells our assistant coach Neal as we round the final buoy and head towards the finish line. The sounds of the churning whitewater behind us and the cheers and screams from the riverbank all melt away as I put my head down and paddle with all my might. We are in the lead of the men’s Raft Cross (RX) finals at the 2026 US whitewater rafting national championship. We have just bumped our opponents off their line, and find ourselves ahead as we come into the final stretch. As we cross the finish line I can hear our teammates cheering loudly from the riverbank.

It’s the third and final day of Nationals on the South Fork of the American River in El Dorado County, California, and the vibes are immaculate. Everyone is happy to be out on the river and boating, regardless of whether they’re winning or not. I am a member of the Redwood Rafters, a youth rafting team from Humboldt County. The Redwood Rafters have been training all year to prepare for this competition. Part of our training is practicing on all of the amazing rivers in our Six Rivers region of Northern California such as the Trinity, Smith, Salmon, Klamath, Mad, Van Duzen, etc.

We love any opportunity to practice and race on different rivers. Last year, a group of Redwood Rafters competed at the World Rafting Championships in Pau, France.

“Competing in France has really changed the way I race. I came back understanding that not every course is the same.” said Ender Guthrie, a member of the Under-19 Women’s boat that competed in France.

“Being super-fast isn’t enough because the river always makes the final decision. You have to recover quickly and communicate last-second decisions in case your run doesn’t go as planned. At nationals, I felt like I trusted myself more, especially in my guiding, because I knew whatever happened on the course, I’d be prepared for it.” Guthrie is a freshman at NPA high school, and beyond competing internationally she has raced in three National Championships.

Another important element of our team’s training is going to smaller regional events, such as BoatSmith on the Smith River near Gasquet. Many of these competitions wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for a remarkable and dedicated raft manufacturing business from Southern Oregon, called SOTAR. SOTAR is run by a regular at these competitions, Jeremiah Lewman, and provides the boats and buoys at many of the regional events. Jeremiah is a ridiculously skilled rafter and understands all the ins and outs of the river. He radiates kindness and love for rafting and he’s always smiling, often competing under the team name “Serious Fun.” At this year’s nationals Jeremiah and his 12-year-old son competed in the two-person (R2) category under the team name “The Hobbits.”

Raft racing is traditionally done in boats of four people (R4), although there is a two-person (R2) category as well. At this year’s Nationals there were three sets of races: sprint, slalom, and RX. The Sprint race is a quick timed run down one rapid, taking about one minute. The Slalom races require maneuvering through multiple gates along a river course.

On Day Two of Nationals, we arrived at the river at 8 a.m., and the slalom gates had already been hung from steel cables strung across the river. The teams spanned out along the banks of the river inspecting the course and strategizing to find the fastest line. Touching a gate is a two-second penalty, but missing an entire gate is 50 seconds added to your final time. Adding to the challenge, there are always a few upstream gates, meaning you have to go around them and paddle back upstream against the current to pass through the gate. Each team was allowed two runs, meaning everyone got a chance to improve and to see other strategies.

Finally, there’s the RX race on day three. RX is a “head-to-head” style race where two teams are pitted against each other and must try to clear certain buoys and cross the finish line first. This race is often the most chaotic, given that many teams will try to bump each other into obstacles and gain an advantage. It is also the most exciting to watch!

Every morning before the races started there was a captains’ meeting to deal with the logistics. There is a set of internationally trained judges who are certified in raft racing rules. There was a senior judge, Stephan, who was present and able to explain the rules and scoring very concisely at all the captains meetings. Stephan has experience judging many competitions, including the most recent world championships in Pau. If a boat wants to contest a judging call after a race they can submit a formal protest with video evidence to Stephan within 10 minutes of the end of the race. If the protest is accepted, penalties can be rescinded or a rerun can be called.

Although we have always raced for fun, we’re also very serious about the risks of whitewater. This past May our team got grants from Humboldt Area Foundation, Wild Rivers Community Foundation and Soroptimist International of Humboldt Bay to participate in a weekend-long swiftwater rescue course. This not only allowed us to be safer on the river, but also helped our communication. “Team communication and making a plan beforehand goes a long way,” said Jameson Wolf, a Redwood Rafter team member.

Most of the Redwood Rafters compete in multiple categories. I was in an open (any age) men’s boat, an R2 (only two people per boat) and an open mixed-gender boat. At big national events like this, there are always some very strong adult teams that come from all over. One example of this was Riff Raft from Colorado. This year, Riff Raft fielded an extremely strong mixed-gender team, which ended up winning the entire category with a perfect score. The Redwood Rafters mixed boat that I was in ended up going against Riff Raft in the finals for RX (the head to head style race). We were so excited that we made it to the finals and we were able to go against these amazing racers.

“When I was 12 years old at a raft race, I remember seeing these older people (Riff Raft) who were so cool and doing exactly what I wanted to do. It’s like when a little kid sees a firefighter and thinks ‘I’m going to be a firefighter!’ ” said Amaya Teraoka, one of the older and more experienced Redwood Rafters. “I’ve been idolizing them since I was really little and meeting them in a race was a total full-circle moment”

It’s the evening after day three, the final awards ceremony. Multiple rafts and buoys have been inflated and are being used as impromptu benches as everyone gathers around for the final results. I watch as the captain of the Under 19 Women’s boat, Ender Guthrie, waits with bated breath for her boat’s results.

“And in first place for U19 women: Redwood Rafters!!!”

The five girls rush up to the podium smiling, and accept their award.

“We’ve been training since we were little, and for a long time we were always the younger kids racing people who were bigger and more experienced.” Said Kiera Mclver, right stern paddler of the winning women’s boat. “Winning nationals felt like all those years of practice finally showed up at once.”

After the girls went up and received their award the photographer stepped forward to take a photo of all the boats that reached the podium in that category, but before he could take the shot, one of the Riff Raft racers yelled “Interlink!”.

The photographer waited as all of the members shuffled around, until no two members of the same team were next to each other. This became a sort of motto for the racers and for every group photo there were chants of “Interlink! Interlink! Interlink!” Later that evening when everyone was sharing food and mingling, I could hear dozens of stories being recounted by different boaters from different rivers. Stories of waterfalls and sunsets, rapids and sketchy shuttles. And as the swell of conversation grew I couldn’t help but notice we were all interlinked, in our love for the river.