International Whitewater Hall of Fame

(Silver Spring, MD) – The International Whitewater Hall of Fame has announced the beginning of its sixth march toward honoring the world’s most accomplished whitewater Pioneers, Explorers, Champions and Advocates as Inductees in the International Whitewater Hall of Fame. The 2010 IWHoF nomination forms, instructions, election procedure and timeline are now available on the IWHOF website Nominations Page.

Program manager Matthew Urdan looks forward to strong participation this year. “Based on the enthusiastic participation, endorsement from the International Canoe and Rafting Federations, and the great feedback from 2009, we look forward to hearing from paddlers around the world to nominate their whitewater champions through one of the affiliate organizations listed at www.iwhof.org,” he says.

Nominations will be accepted through April 30th, at which time a panel of screeners will review the submissions. The IWHoF electorate, comprised of whitewater experts from around the world will vote on the inductees. “Inductees aren’t honored randomly, but because someone nominated them,” says Risa Shimoda, IWHOF Board of Governors Chair. “We’re encouraging paddlers to put forward their favorite whitewater icon by utilizing this nomination procedure.”

Urdan adds that no further action is necessary on the part of the nominating individual or organization other than filling out the nomination form. But he adds that people should update their nominations each year for the life of the nomination. “Nominating individuals and organizations are asked to include as much published information with submissions as is possible,” he says. “This can include documents, articles, photographs, news clippings, DVDs, video footage, Websites, story links, blogs and more – basically any information that’s helpful in evaluating a nominee. Should the nominee be elected, this information will also be used in the production of the annual DVD highlighting the honoree’s achievements.”

During the nomination period, IWHoF will also be auctioning off a Jackson Kayak All Star signed by IWHOF Inductee Eric Jackson! Those interested are asked to send bids (starting at $600) to Risa Shimoda.

IWHoF encourage all honorees, electorate members and other interested parties to join the IWHoF Faceboook Page to start discussions, upload photos and video, receive IWHoF-related news and interact with others in the whitewater community. Send questions about nominations to Matt Urdan, IWHoF Project Manager or Risa Shimoda, or contact Risa Shimoda by phone at: 301-502-654.

The 2009 International Whitewater Hall of Fame Election Process is coming to a close. Our Screening committee has selected the following outstanding individuals in each category from our pool of nominees to appear on the 2009 Ballot. Clicking on each nominee’s name will bring up a PDF file of the nominee’s nomination form.

Voting by our electorate, which is made up of all living IWHOF Honorees and an international cross-section of outstanding representatives of every whitewater discipline and related industry will take place between May 4 and May 17, 2009. Formal announcement of those elected to the International Whitewater Hall of Fame will be made on June 1, 2009.

ADVOCATE CATEGORY:
An individual who has promoted whitewater pursuits vigorously through grassroots advocacy, environmental stewardship or by producing significant products or services; and has served the whitewater community in a leadership role for a period of twenty (20) years or more.

The nominees are:

Helen Brownlee, Australia
Oliver J. Cock, Great Britain
Rafael Gallo, Costa Rica
Dave Manby, Great Britain
Bill Mason, Canada
Risa Shimoda, United States

CHAMPION CATEGORY:
An individual or team who has been or was engaged in any competitive whitewater discipline for at least five (5) years; and has a distinguished record of achievement at the highest levels of competitive whitewater sport.

The nominees are:

J.P. Burny, Luxembourg
Dana Chladek, United States
Stepanka Hilgertova, Czech Republic
Pavol Hochschorner and Peter Hochschorner, Slovakia
Jamie McEwan, United States
Michal Martikan, Slovakia
Danielle Woodward, Australia

EXPLORER CATEGORY:
An individual who has been engaged in extensive exploration and investigation of unknown regions and areas of whitewater activity; and has exemplified superior feats in previously unchallenged whitewater: e.g. an adventurer, scientist or expedition leader.

The nominees are:

Mikey Abbott, New Zealand
Lars Holbek, Explorer, United States
Pete Winn, United States

PIONEER CATEGORY:
An individual who has made or was the first or among the earliest expert in one or more specific areas of whitewater accomplishment.

The nominees are:

Theo Bock, Germany
Bart Hauthaway, United States
Avinash C. Kohli, India
Mikhail Kolchevnikov, Russia

Best of luck to all of our outstanding nominees in the upcoming election!

The 2009 IWHOF Nomination Period Has Now Ended. We heartily thank those individuals and organizations who have submitted nominations. We received a total of 13 nominations in 2009. Each of these nominations will remain active for five election cycles, whether or not they make it through the screening process and end up on the ballot.

The Screening Process takes place now through May 2, 2009.

Voting by members of the IWHOF Electorate will take place between May 4 and May 17, 2009, and this year’s Class of Honorees will be announced on or about June 1, 2009.

The 2009 IWHoF Nomination Forms, Instructions, Election Procedure and Timeline are now available on our Nominations Page. There are two important changes for 2009:

1. All nominations are now valid for a full five years. While no further action is necessary on the part of the nominating individual or organization, nominating individuals and organizations are encouraged to update their nominations each year for the life of the nomination.

2. Nominating individuals and organizations are asked to include with all nomination submissions any and all published information, documents, articles and/or manuscripts, photographs, news clippings, DVDs and/or video footage, Website URLs and Links, blog information and any other info that will be helpful in evaluating your nominee. This information will also be used, should your nominee be elected to the Hall of Fame, in the production of the annual DVD highlighting the achievements of the new class of honorees.

If you have any questions about nominations or the nominating process, please contact Matt Urdan, IWHoF Project Manager at msurdan@iwhof.org.

(Silver Spring, MD) – The Paddlesports Industry Foundation has announced this year’s call for nominations to the International Whitewater Hall of Fame with the unveiling of its new communications hub at www.iwhof.org.

New Website Encourages Greater Participation as 2009 Nominations are Sought
“We could not be more proud of this new site that makes it easier to find information about the nomination process and IWHOF inductees,” notes Risa Shimoda, Board of Governors Chair. “It will be updated with announcements and event information more frequently than in the past, can be viewed in 42 languages and allows IWHOF to thank our sponsors more effectively.”

“We encourage nominations for this year’s induction until April 18,” notes Matt Urdan, IWHOF Program Manager. “These whitewater luminaries will be considered along with those nominated in past years (nominations remain in consideration for five years). Six new honorees will be elected by late May and inducted into the International Whitewater Hall of Fame (IWHoF) September 26th at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Bryson City, NC, USA.” (continue reading…)