Toms River Paddling Race 2021: From Evolution to Revolution
Sunday, July 25, 2021 marked the 48th Annual Toms River Paddling Race. After spending months of planning, preparing, and ultimately watching a dream unfold into reality, I can hardly believe that Sunday is now a memory, a memory of an event whose outcome was greater than anything I had envisioned, a memory that I am humbled to know is now part of local history. We deserve, in fact, to commemorate the history of the Toms River Race in the paddling community before we can fully appreciate the meaning of this year’s event.
What started as primarily a downriver race from a launch by the Route 70 bridge to a finish located downtown, the Toms River Race was established in 1972 by the former Monoco Canoe Club that sought to promote whitewater kayaking. The club members were wise to see ample opportunity in the stretch of the river that is mostly slow-moving water with meandering turns for canoeists and river kayakers to enjoy a challenge. When the club became defunct, the Toms River Race continued to live, thanks first to the Ocean County Parks and the famed leadership of Mickey Coen, and later to the Jersey Paddler, formerly the largest retailer of canoes, kayaks, and SUPs on the Jersey Shore. As faster boats were produced, the race organizers added open water courses destined for touring kayaks, surfskis, outrigger canoes, and SUPs. When the Jersey Paddler closed in the mid 2010’s, one of its managers Marty Stanley, who had been running the race, initiated the Toms River Racing Club whose members included George Grant, Fred Linkhart, and Craig Impens. By 2015, according to the advertisement still accessible on paddle guru, the Toms River Racing club members offered an 8.5-mile downriver course with a free shuttle and 4-and 6-mile open water courses that ran in loops in a sheltered area just beyond Huddy Park. As such the race remained with the exception of a Dash for Cash Sprint added in 2018 with 20 locals on the start list. As the lives of the Toms River Racing Club members evolved, the race was cancelled in 2019.
I was determined to bring the race back, despite my inexperience in the world of paddle racing and, in spite of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. But no matter my passion for racing, I never expected to attract interest in the single 7- mile out-and-back open water course I chose from more than 50 racers, including some of the best surfski, outrigger canoe, and SUP paddlers in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Having considered myself incredibly lucky in the unluckiest of years, I knew I would continue the Toms River Race in 2021. But this time, with the reopening of New Jersey, I wanted to offer an event to all those I felt compelled to turn down during the pandemic and to reunite paddlers in triumph over the hardships of 2020. But once again, I didn’t expect reality to exceed the loftiness of my dream…
The start list gradually filled with my wish list, i.e. Kayak Team New Jersey: Sean Brennan, who gave me tremendous help revising the open water course and re-establishing the sprint, John Costello, a sponsor of this year’s race, Bill Ruthrauff, an essential volunteer, Loukia Lilli, Andrii Monastyrskyi, and by July the fearsome twosome Craig Impens and Eric Costanzo on a tandem surfski. But when Greg Lesher registered, I didn’t know whether to congratulate myself on my powers of supplication (I had been pleading with my New England surfski friends to make the daunting car trip to NJ) or on my peace-making efforts between the great Northeast and the pesky clam-digging kayakers of New Jersey. As I expressed my elation to Greg, I quickly realized why he would be one of the first to cross the northeast equator (latitude unknown, though according to my theory, approximately at Norwalk Parks and Recreation) into the south: he wanted a taste of New Jersey glory. Was that possible? Yes, Greg was coming to defend his New England surfski title from victories won by New Jersyans, the most recent of which was Sean’s over Wesley’s team on the Sakonnet in June. So when Mary Beth Gangloff signed up for Toms River, I knew she would wage war on Loukia, newcomer crusher of the Narrow River Race in April.
But tensions on the kayak warfront grew in proportion to my jubilation each day of the last week of registration: first, Floridian Flavio Costa appeared on the list like magic (well, due to business in New York); then, Jan Lupinski, a veritable surfski terminator, having survived a harrowing experience at the recent World Championships in Lanzorate with undeterred focus, happened to be on vacation in New York from his paradise in Portugal; and finally, Olympian hopeful and lifeguard champion Nate Humberston delivered the most worrisome surprise to the worthiest of his rivals in the men’s open surfski division. The women’s surfski field also grew larger: Stephanie Schell, accomplished scientist and athlete rounded out the open division (read open as “stronger”) while the aged 40+ brave hearts who joined me were Sharon Adamski, a seasoned canoeist turned surfski paddler and Naomi Morton known for her winning speed in her sea kayak and feats of strength as a Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse paddle organizer with a nighttime circumnavigation of Manhattan as one of her most recent stunts. I was worried that Naomi took my advice to try a surfski.
Flavio getting ready to hunt down New Jerseyans. Photo by Lisa Mariano Elrick.
Sunday morning finally came with a total of 84 registrants representing outrigger canoes, SUPs, sea kayaks, and prone boards, besides surfskis. I was also pleasantly surprised to meet up with some first-time paddle racers, including my buddy Rich Koppel, former president of the Jersey Shore Sea Kayaking Association, and Serena Tsang, outrigger canoeist whom I first met on one of my winter racing sessions. Serena made in fact quite a paddling début by winning the women’s OC-1 open division. As for the conditions, everyone agreed that they were challenging without being threatening: overcast skies, air temperature in the mid 70s, SSW winds of 13mph, and a flood tide. With a record number of boats, I decided on three waves that were to start at 9am. For a race director, I discovered that the real race is against time before the race on the water is due to start: would I be able to have all racers pass the security check, be body-marked, and lined up by the start buoy on time? Although my goal is to finetune logistics in the future, I was relieved when the waves ran approximately on schedule, thanks to my professional timers and to Bill Ruthrauff.
As my wave took off, I remembered to enjoy my unique double role as racer and cheerleader with a singular goal of being fast enough to capture the action around me. Two main observations came to my mind as everyone dispersed: first, the surfski race became centered on several perfectly-matched dual combats; and second, the victors generally showed the advantage of their unique paddling specialties and experience. After I saw Rob and Flavio disappear while head-to-head, I tried to keep up with the ladies. Stephanie was so fast that I didn’t even see her, and Loukia and Mary Beth quickly surpassed the rest of us while they tried to see who would blink with the first waves on the river. I hoped in vain to ride Sharon’s wash but realized I was fortunate just to keep her about 30-50 feet ahead of me for almost the first half of the course. Since the wind caused me no concern of capsizing, I was content that I would finish the race even if without my full paddling strength.
Before I reached Long Point, I saw Nate smiling as he passed me on my port with seemingly hardly any effort on his return while Sean had taken a line that was yards away in the channel. But however fierce Sean’s strokes were, he remained just 23 seconds behind Nate at the finish. Thus, it took a 2021 Olympian hopeful to beat the former Olympian hopeful. But if Nate and Sean’s combat was exciting to witness, Rob and Flavio’s tête-à-tête proved extraordinary: Rob managed to keep Flavio behind him by as many as 10 strokes after they turned the midpoint buoy. For all the New Jersyan’s effort, however, Flavio cracked what would have been a perfect tie by crossing the finish line two seconds faster. At the awards ceremony, Flavio demonstrated sportsmanship as impressive as his paddling résumé when he asked to share the bronze with Rob. After the struggle for third place, local legends Craig Impens and Eric Costanzo made their force a win for the tandem teams.
For their part, the surfski sisters showed equal accomplishment and promise. Stephanie Schell proved to be the fastest female not only in the women’s open surfski division but also in the sprint. Undoubtedly, Stephanie, who has just two out of her five years of paddling on surfski will see her own future of untold victories. Amazingly, however, the overall winner of the female paddlers was Theresa Haught in the women’s 40+ OC-1 division. Next in line of female surfski stars was Mary Beth who took the silver and Loukia who took the bronze. After the first two miles of the race, Mary Beth commanded respect for her long experience of ocean racing over flatwater specialist Loukia, for whom the Toms River Race was her first open water experience. But the ambitious Greek-American is just warming up: we look forward to Loukia’s results at the USCA Nationals, and to her open water wins that I predict will occur as soon as she makes the ocean her new horizon. Sharon Adamski took the gold in our Masters+ division and Naomi the bronze, though I suspect that Naomi will easily snatch my silver once she has more experience on the surfski.
As breathless as we were after the 7-mile open water course, many of us rose to the challenge of the 100-meter sprint. As the sprint starter, Sean created the course inside the canal so that spectators in Huddy Park could gather to watch the complex alternating of paired rivals within each division in a knockout format: first men’s surfski, then SUP partners, then women’s surfski. Even when a few of us were quickly eliminated, we had so much fun watching the other sprinters while taking a much-needed rest. Unsurprisingly, Andrii Monastyrskyi gave us a glimpse of his sprint training for Tokyo with his win while Mark Lewin received the cash prize for SUP.
Andrii looking meteor-red after shooting to the first place at the finish line in the sprint. Photo by Lisa Mariano Elrick.
Although I concentrated on only the top winners in my surfski clan, the winners in all the paddling classes deserve much praise. With the fervent energy demonstrated on land and in the water, the future of the Toms River Paddling Race looks brighter than ever.
