CANMORE – The Space Godzilla, McNasty, and Tricky Woo: Jordy Munro is bringing his bag of tricks to worlds.
With the possibility to carry Canada’s flag for years to come, the 17-year-old Canmore paddler will need all of his acrobatic excellence when he plunges into the ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships in Plattling, Germany, from June 16-21.
Sure, the water tricks have bizarre names, but the skill is exceptional. It takes incredible strength, limberness and understanding of how water works in order to pull off the ridiculous river routines. Think gymnastics and half pipe snowboarding, but in a small kayak.
“You’re trying to get as many points as you can, doing tricks like loops and cartwheels,” said Munro.
One of Canada’s best up-and-comers with a paddle, Munro competes in K1, which is a one-person kayak with a traditional two-blade kayak paddle. Paddlers compete in a hole, where the current at and below surface is recirculating upstream, or a wave, where the water is flowing downstream.
For a certain timeframe, competitors perform tricks in the water while judges watch. The harder the trick, the more points it earns.
Munro hopes moves like the McNasty, a 180-degree front flip, or the Tricky Woo, three consecutive 180-degree horizontal angle rotations, will woo the judges.
Darrell Wiebe, Munro’s coach and director at large at Alberta Playboaters League, gave his pupil an ultimate compliment, saying Munro has the skills to be our country’s top freestyle paddler.
Living in close proximity to the Kananaskis River, where playboaters are often splashing about and improving skills, Munro’s development has been noteworthy. Both of his parents paddled and his uncle, Scott, is one of the top playboaters in Canada.
“With that said, what makes Jordy remarkable is his unwavering commitment to improve,” said Wiebe. “At first glance, you might not recognize it, he’s subtle about it. He doesn’t sweat it if he’s not hitting a move in training, in fact, it looks like he’s just having fun, goofing off with his buddies but secretly he’s chipping away at it, and then wow. The technique, the amplitude, the style. It’s a pleasure to watch.”
Nervous but super excited about his first competition outside of Canada, Munro has gotten eyes on the hole at Plattling over videos and social media.
“It looks really fun,” said Munro. “It’s a hole, so it's more about doing flips and cartwheels.
“My goal is to get to the second round at least, and then if I can, go as high as possible. And then just meet a whole bunch of people and just learn from the experience and have lots of fun.”
Munro won the junior men’s freestyle at the 2024 Whitewater National Championships last August on the Kananaskis River to qualify for worlds.
Beyond personal success, Munro has become a mentor to fellow teammates, helping to elevate their skill by keeping things light and fun on the water.
“There’s not too many [playboaters in Canmore], but hopefully it’ll grow,” said Munro.
For the past few years, canoe freestyle has also been attempting to strengthen its development of athletes from countries newer to the sport.
