2022 Pool Session

Submitted by Meredith Brezinski

March 9th was an exciting night at the North Clackamas Aquatic Center! The night began with an introduction of the stations from Matt Saucy. We then proceeded to learn a number of different skills to make a raft trip successful. We learned how to tie multiple safety knots with Bruce Ripley and the importance of knowing how to tie a few knots well versus knowing how to tie many knots poorly.  

We then proceeded to cat flipping with Steve Oslund where we practiced getting back into a flipped cat boat and how to secure a flip line and flip a boat both independently and with a partner. In this rotation we learned about how to get out of the way so your boat doesn’t bump your head or legs while it’s flipping.  

In our next station, Sam Devro taught us how to toss a throw bag and how to receive a throw bag as a swimmer. We learned about coiling ropes to re-toss if you miss your toss on the first try and got to practice with different sized throw bags to see how they affected our ability to toss for distance.  

Our last station was with Zach Collier in the wave pool where we practiced round boat raft flipping as a team. We were responsible for making sure our paddles didn’t get lost and even practiced flipping a boat with multiple people attached underneath to simulate a loaded cooler and dry box. This proved to be much harder than flipping an empty boat! 

This was a great night with a great turnout of like-minded folks who want to learn more about water safety and raft skills. It was wonderful to be able to practice these skills in a pool with still water in order to improve our skills for swift water. If you didn’t make it this year, join us next year for a night of fun in the pool! 

Photos by Zach Collier