"This is the best whitewater spot within 400 miles -- I'm not lying," said Ryan Adams, who has been kayaking for about 10 years.

The normally slow-moving, peaceful river outlet had received new life the past few days. The invigoration comes at the hands of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which was releasing large volumes of water from the lake because of an abundance of rainfall this summer.

The rate of water release was up to 1,000 cubic feet per second, enough to cause a miniature whitewater rapid at a small waterfall. Kayakers call it the Wakarusa Wave. Adams and two other members of the Kansas Whitewater Assn. took their kayaks to the waterfall and spent a few hours practicing tricks such as spinning and cartwheeling.

"Cartwheeling is one of the hardest things to do, but everything's kind of hard," said Adams, who is the girls swim team coach at Lawrence High School.

"I'm too old to learn how to cartwheel," said Greg Brown, Liberty, Mo., who has been kayaking for 20 years.

Kayakers also worked to stay in the whitewater at the base of the waterfall, not moving out until they were ready.

"The whitewater keeps you in the hole," said Dave Irvin, Fort Scott, who has been kayaking for 20 years.

click for more

The kayakers often travel hundreds of miles on weekends to get to larger, faster whitewater rivers. Arkansas is one of the nearest states for good kayaking, association members said. Competitions sometimes are held, and kayakers are judged on their ability to do tricks such as cartwheels and spins.

"This is a good place to practice," said Adams, who learned how to kayak while growing up in Wyoming.

Association members practice at the Wakarusa a few times a year. They said they were grateful to the corps for contacting them when water was released at a rate fast enough to allow good kayaking.

There are about 40 members of the whitewater association from Kansas and Missouri.

Thad Allender/Journal-World Photo   Kayaker Ryan Adams, Lawrence, gives a thumbs up to onlookers on the bank of the Wakarusa River while battling whitewater rapids under the Clinton Lake dam. Adams and two fellow kayakers spent a few hours Saturday practicing tricks on the river.