April 23, 2002

Contact: Jennifer Gunby, Concrete Canoe Club, (785) 864-7767; Tim Aziere Jr., Concrete Canoe Club, (785) 842-6362.

KU Concrete Canoe Club prepares for competition

LAWRENCE -- The University of Kansas Concrete Canoe Club plans to make waves April 25 to 27 in Norman, Okla.

The club, consisting mainly of engineering students, will take part in the regional Concrete Canoe Competition, to be held at the Mid-Continent Regional Conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The multifaceted competition requires students to create a seaworthy canoe whose primary building component is Portland cement.

Preparing a canoe for the regional competition has been a yearlong process for the students, said Jennifer Gunby, club treasurer.

"As we were leaving regionals last April, we realized some of the things we had done wrong," Gunby said. The club finished out of contention in what is considered by some to be one of the tougher regional competitions in the country. A top placing would have given the club an opportunity to participate in the national competition. Instead, the trip home included some discussion of what to do differently this year. In September, the team, which counts about 40 members, started writing down ideas in earnest, she said.

"They change the rules every year, so you can't do the same thing as last year," Gunby said of the competition. Sometimes the organizers will require a different concrete mix or a new hull design. In addition, the construction of the seaworthy canoe is only a portion of the competition. Students must write a technical paper about the canoe and the construction process. They must create a display that incorporates the team's theme; this year the KU team's theme is "Revenge." Students also must prepare an oral presentation for the judges.

"You try to be as technical as you can while you're still trying to be entertaining," said Gunby, a senior in civil engineering and business administration from Roeland Park. After the presentation, the judges can ask team members anything they want about the project and use the responses to help determine the score.

Then there's the racing, which accounts for 30 percent of a team's score. The competition includes five races: a two-woman slalom endurance race, a two-man slalom endurance race, a two-woman sprint race, a two-man sprint race and a sprint race with two male and two female paddlers.

Club members had to try out for paddling positions. The club began paddling practice the first week in March after Clinton Lake thawed. Paddlers were selected based on speed, steering ability, overall stamina and sense of responsibility. Seniors on the team were given extra consideration, Gunby said. Eight paddlers were selected and two alternates were designated. About 20 club members will make the trip to Norman.

Fifteen teams from major central-states universities are expected to compete at Norman. A top finish at regionals would give the KU club a shot at the national competition in late June at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

For more information about the canoe or the event, contact Jennifer Gunby, (785) 864-7767, or Tim Aziere Jr., Concrete Canoe Club chair, at (785) 842-6362.