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Neighbors: Danny Medina – Racing for the Triple Crown

Note: This story originally ran in 2016.

By Ann Rowland

GRAYLING – To say that Danny Medina of Roscommon, MI loves canoe racing is an understatement. Just 22 years old, Danny has paddled the AuSable River Canoe Marathon six times, finishing every time.

But the AuSable race is just one of the big races he’ paddled. 2016 marked the first year he has completed the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing, which begins on Memorial Day with the General Clinton Regatta, a one-day race of ‘only’ 70 miles; from Cooperstown to Bainbridge, NY and ending with La Classique International de Canots de La Maurice, another 120 mile race, one that begins in La Tuque and ends in Trois-Riviere. The Quebec race is completed in three stages on Labor Day weekend. The AuSable race runs right between the two, on the last Saturday of July.14348705_10207601899147589_1671588711_n

He said that the New York race is similar to the AuSable Marathon in that the river is relatively narrow, and it is paddled all in a day. ‘It starts at 8 am and you’re finished in about 7 hours, so there is no dark time racing in that one. I hope to do it again next year. It’ a fun race.’

The Quebec race, on the other hand, is entirely different and holds a unique set of challenges for paddlers. ‘It’ Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, but the second day is the hardest one. It’ the longest time on the river, and there’ a big portage at the end. You get out where the river comes into the town of Shawinigan, at Broadway Blvd. All the fans are there; thousands of people, which is pretty cool. You run, carrying your canoe, about -+ mile, then put back into the water, race down and around a buoy, and then you’re done for the day. The start of the Grayling race, with the Lemans start, is pretty crazy, but running at the end of the day, when you’re already tired, is hard.’ He also noted that spectators are required to purchase a ticket to watch the portage on Broadway. ‘Everybody loves to watch it.’

His teammate for the race was 19-year-old Rosalee Frigon, from Quebec. ‘I met her when she was here in July for the Marathon, and we went out paddling once. We paddled well together and got along great. She asked me to do the Classique with her, and I thought it would be fun because I had never raced ‘mixed’ before. We finished 3rd of 5 mixed teams and 32nd overall. I am really happy with how we did.’
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He said he arrived in Quebec on Wednesday prior to the race so he and Rosalee could paddle together one more time, on Thursday, before the race. ‘I was really happy to paddle with her. She’ great. On Day 2 of the race she was really sickGǪthrowing up and everythingGǪafter about 5 hours on the river It was such a hot day. I think she was tired from Day 1, and maybe a little dehydrated. We still had about an hour and a half to go, but she toughed it out. On day 3, she was a rock star! I’d consider paddling the AuSable race with her.’

If the AuSable River race is challenging because the river is sometimes narrow and traversing it in the dark is tricky, the Classique is, in a way, the opposite. ‘The St. Maurice is really wide. There are places where it is as wide as Higgins Lake. So it’ like paddling in a lake, which would seem easier, except when it is windy. And it’ windy a lot. And it’ slow moving, so you’re working super hard all the time. But there is this one section of rapidsGǪthere’ this one section that has standing 4-foot waves. It is, actually, horrifying. Really, all you have to do there is survive.’

He said the biggest challenge for him as a racer is the time commitment to training. ‘I’m a 22-year-old guy. I miss a lot of things, you know? But I’d rather be doing what I’m doing than tearing it up at a bar somewhere.’ Danny stays in shape by working out at the gym ‘and I start getting on the river in February a couple of times a week, then more as the weather gets warmer.’

He is thankful to his sponsor, Jerry Brabant, the friends who gave him a place to stay in Quebec, and his feeder, fellow Marathon racer Ryan Harris. When he’ not paddling his Corbin-built canoe, he’ a student, studying to be a teacher.



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