Name: Rowan Stuart
Age: 17
Hometown: Stecoah, NC
Sponsors: Pyranha Kayaks, Astral Buoyancy, Immersion Research, Watershed Drybags, Rapid Straps, Terravida Thread.
 How many years have you been paddling? Competing?
I got my first kayak when I was in the 5th grade, which is seven years ago now, but I didnât actually like kayaking until at least three years later. My first competition was a Hometown Throwdown during GAF in 2010. I was bribed to compete with an energy drink, and my trick list consisted of flat spins.
What got you into freestyle kayaking?
My parents were a C2 team, back in the day, and my dad was a big C1-er. He bought me my first kayak, but I wasnât actually interested in it until middle school, when I was friends with a boy who really liked kayaking. From then on, my goal was to get better than him, so I started working more on my freestyle. For a summer and a half, all I would do was flat spin, but with some awesome peer pressure, I learned how to loop.
Youâre the local girl, howâs it feel to compete at your home feature?
Iâm excited! Everyone gets to come to my river! This is the first place that I did a loop, the feature that I perfected my flat spins on, and itâs going to be awesome.
How about home field advantage? Do you think you have a big leg up over other paddlers?
I feel like this feature takes a bit of time to get used to, and I hope that Iâll have more of an advantage because Iâm already used to it.
Do you think having it be your home feature adds any extra pressure?
Though I would like to pretend that it doesnât, I think thereâs definitely a little extra pressure. Lots of people have come up to me, telling me that they canât wait to see me win, and know that Iâll crush it because World Championships are here at my home river.
This is your first world championships, howâs it feel? Nervous, excited?
Hmm… I actually havenât been thinking much about the competition. Iâm very excited to see everyone, and Iâm ready to see how I hold up to the competition!
What have you been up to getting prepared for the worldâs?
Iâve been kayaking a lot! Thatâs about all there is to it. Iâve been trying to get two sessions at the Nantahala feature almost every day. Iâll spend a while working on my competition rides, but once I feel like Iâm getting tired, I just focus on having fun. My new strategy to forgetting about the pressure is practicing how many window shades I can do in a row. Iâm up to five right now.
Whatâs your competition day routine?
Whatever I feel like. I hadnât thought about it that much at all. Food first, of course, then some stretching early on in the morning, and then some coaching from the team? Right before the comp, is definitely the time for a pre-competition playlist to get in the zone, then paddle my best, do well, and celebrate.