For a race director, the competition ends at the start line and begins the moment s/he scrambles to find the perfect date on the paddling calendar, a date that is so remote from all other similar events that paddlers far and near, whether out of boredom or desperation, feel compelled to honor, even at the cost of missing their only chance for an exotic vacation. I thus began 2022 with delusions of grandeur for the turnout of the 49th Annual Toms River Paddling Race, given the large numbers of dedicated athletes who graced Toms River with some of their best paddling in the previous two years. Ironically, however, the worst of times (i.e. those marked by the pandemic) were the best of times for the few race directors who persisted in having a law-abiding event that drew (socially distant) crowds of appreciative paddlers.

But any Icarian goals I might have harbored quickly landed back on earth as I tried in vain not to conflict with other paddling races this year, which has proven to be a year of comeback events. I first thought, “I’ll choose the 23rd of July, one week after the Blackburn and one week or so before the Hudson River Cup.” Wrong! The Cape Ann Rowing Club had postponed the Blackburn to the 24th of July, which would allow some of its finest finishers to contest also at the Gorge (July 11-16) or at the New Jersey-based Desatnik Foundation’s famed Around the Cape (16-mile circumnavigation of Cape May and fundraiser for victims of spinal cord injury) scheduled on July 17. “Ok,” I gulped, “perhaps July 10, the Sunday after the holiday will still allow time for traveling and training before the bigger events.” So on my mark, I got set for the Toms River Race on the 10th. But was the race ready to go? Yes, but… oh no! the Jamestown Double Beaver Race was already on the New England Surfski calendar for the 9th, timed perfectly two weeks from the Blackburn as a last training trial. Surely, none of my favorite New England paddlers would drive to New Jersey after their own race. And I forgot about my canoeist friends! I was unaware that the International Dragon Boat Federation Club Crew Championships were going to return in 2022 beginning on July 18, which meant that many local outrigger canoeists who came to Toms River last year were destined now for Sarasota. “Well,” I breathed, “maybe SUP racers will still come.” But I learned on July 10 that a paddleboard race occurred on the 9th somewhere in the breadbasket states. Inevitably, my “race” to secure a date for Toms River was more of a game of bumper cars with other great events that were attracting all types of paddling talent. Gladly, though, there are winners of this race for space on the calendar: the paddlers, who, after all, deserve a plethora of events from which to choose in order to showcase their ability. Indeed, as a race director, I do not even have the time to consider myself as a real competitor; I am merely a cheerleader for those who do compete. As such, I was so grateful to host a very strong field of twenty surfskis, six outrigger canoes, one coastal rowing skull, and a few paddle and prone boards.