A Bradley County paddler improved his international ranking with his performance in his second straight World Championship competition earlier this month.
Ranked No. 1 in the country after winning the USA Time Trials this spring, recent Walker Valley High School graduate Bennett George moved up from No. 28 to 23rd in the world in extreme slalom with his performance in the 2024 ICF Junior World Championship in Kayak/Canoe Slalom in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia, July 2-7.
"We left June 16 and just got back yesterday (Wednesday, July 10)," he states of his and his father Chuck George's journey to south-central European country.
"It's a really an awesome place.
It's beautiful there. They have mountains, the Tatras, I think. I went hiking when I had some time off and the scenery was beautiful," George explained.
"The (Váh) river was feed off the mountain, so the water was cold, about 54 degrees (same as the Nantahala River in western North Carolina), and we were at about 2,000 feet above sea level. The mountain tops were around were 6,000 feet above season level."
One of 14 members of Team USA at the event, competing several divisions, George was the top American finisher in the kayak cross event, which is a head-to-head battle against another paddler, going through a total of seven gates.
"It's not a timed event, but whoever gets to the finish line first advances," he related.
There were three other Team USA members in the kayak cross competition, plus three total in the K1 Slalom, where he finished 50th among 87 competitors.
"I did well in the kayak cross, but didn't have my best day in the K1 Slalom," he commented. "It was still an amazing experience and having been to last year's competition (in Krakow, Poland) made it easier this year with the travel and everything."
All totaled over 500 competitors from 56 countries gathered for the event for the six-day event.