The snub-nosed yellow kayak plunged over a waterfall and into the swirling white water below Saturday, a raucous section of the Cuyahoga River unleashed three years ago when two century-old dams were destroyed.
“See that tuft of water there?” Gayle Piros asked, pointing to the top of one of the natural waterfalls wedged between the Sheraton Suites in Cuyahoga Falls and state Route 8. “That’s what they’re aiming for, to follow that down into the water stream.”
Piros and her husband, Ken, met in 1983 when they worked as white-water adventure guides at Ohiopyle State Park in Pennsylvania. They live in North Olmsted now and on Saturday at the Cuyahoga Falls Kayak Race, their three sons, a nephew and Gayle Piros’ brother were among about 30 kayakers trying to clock the fastest time through the falls that gave Cuyahoga Falls its name.
“Go Tommy! Go Tommy! Straight lines! Straight lines!” Gayle Piros screamed toward her 17-year-old son as he seemed to effortlessly lean and paddle his way through churning water that could kill someone without training or skill.
“This,” she said, lifting a flew strands of her brown and copper hair, “this hair is not natural. These boys have made me go gray.”
Tommy Piros and his cousin Adam Homberg, 16, of Oakland, Md., tied for first place in the race.
White-water kayaking, often part of a wilderness adventure, www.youtube.com="">www.youtube.com/watch?v=CATTHE9GPZE">is taking root in this Akron suburb.
Race organizers promoted Saturday’s event by saying the half-mile course had multiple stretches of Class II white water (only basic paddling skills required) to Class V waterfalls (only experts should attempt).
“This is changing our whole community,” said Heather Shaw, a Cuyahoga Falls resident standing with about 100 people watching the race from the outdoor observation decks at the Sheraton. “It’s intense.”
Shaw was there with the family and friends of her neighbor, John Banach, who was also racing. Banach, she said, practices rolling his kayak in his backyard in-ground pool so he can turn safely upside down in white water and resurface without getting banged up on rocks or dragged by water.
Until three years ago, white-water kayaking would have been unlikely here.
Two dams — the nearly 10-foot-tall Sheraton Mill Dam near Broad Boulevard and the 11-foot LeFever Powerhouse Dam north of Portage Trail — trapped the Cuyahoga River’s water upstream from the hotel, making parts of it nearly stagnant.
www.youtube.com="">www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdrClOtpKq0">When the dams were destroyed — and sediment and surprises, like 220 tons of sunken bicycle tires, were removed — the tamed river began to roam free again, finding its wild white-water character.
Nic Williams, 23, who helped organize Saturday’s race, said there’s even better white water hidden nearby underneath the 57-foot-high Gorge Dam between Cuyahoga Falls and Akron.
State environmental officials want to remove that dam, too, to help clean the Cuyahoga River. But demolishing the dam — estimated price tag $12.5 million — isn’t nearly as costly as removing and disposing of the contaminated sediment behind it, which will cost about $57.5 million.
Officials hope to secure federal funding to remove the Gorge Dam in 2019.
Williams said century-old photos show white water where the dam is now. If the water reclaims the space, Williams said it could add another mile of white water, enough for rafting companies to join kayakers finding adventure on this stretch of the crooked river.
Enthusiasts already share a Facebook page — www.facebook.com="">www.facebook.com/Cuyahoga-Falls-Whitewater-143121835863393/?fref=ts">Cuyahoga Falls Whitewater — to find kayaking partners because, most agree, this can be a dangerous sport and shouldn’t be done alone.
After the race was over Saturday, Williams and the other kayakers took turns showing off their tricks in a freestyle competition. Kayakers, like surfers or skateboarders, pride themselves on their moves, like a kick flip — 360-degree barrel roll in the air while coming off the ledge of a waterfall.
Williams, who grew up in Cuyahoga Falls and Tallmadge, said he never knew waterfalls or white water was nearby until he took a kayaking class at the University of Akron and met www.youtube.com="">www.youtube.com/watch?v=nee8BP8ntuQ">local kayakers.
Now, when he’s not working at Winking Lizard or as a white-water guide in Pennsylvania or Maryland, Williams said he’s in a kayak, often in the white water behind the Sheraton, working on his technique.
“I’m consumed by it,” Williams said.
Amanda Garrett can be reached at 330-996-3725 or agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com.