Three-peat for Dane Jackson in WW Grand Prix

Start singing that Na-na-na-na, hey-heeey, Goodbye, Goodbye song. That's what kayaking phenom Dane Jackson pulled off yet again in this year's coveted Whitewater Grand Prix on a variety of rivers in Quebec, coming in first in three of the six events and second in two others to win the title for the third straight year...

Big Air, Big Hair at the Big Wave event.

Hard to find a more psyched group of kayakers.

"It's so steep and fast you have to be ready to change your momentum from downstream movement to surfing in a split second."

Taking second in the kick-off Big Trick event to Nick Troutman and third in the second event's BoaterCross, it wasn't until the third event, the Time Trial, that he cemented the top spot on the podium. Then he kept the streak going with a win in the fourth event, the Big Wave Challenge, which challenged even Jackson as the ice-filled Black Mass wave on the Mistassibi came in.

"People were catching the wave about half the time," Ben Marr told event correspondent Capo Rettig. "It's so steep and fast you have to be ready to change your momentum from downstream movement to surfing in a split second."

After a few single-trick rides, Dane threw a full score airscrew followed closely by an airscrew-to-airscrew combo into an airscrew-to-clean-blunt combo. According to Rettig, his tricks were so quick and on top of one another that the judges were forced to spend extra minutes using the video review to correctly judge the ride that eventually went on to win him first place. Joel Kowalski took second in the hair-raising freestyle event, with Troutman taking third and Rush Sturges fourth.

From there, it was onto the Freestyle Throwndown, which was won by Troutman and put him in the running for the overall crown heading into the sixth and final event, the Giant Slalom, the next day. That's when Dane shone bright again, winning the event ahead of Sturges and Evan Garcia to take home the overall crown for an unprecedented third straight time in a row. In all, he finished with 164 points to 144 for Sturges in second and 141 for Kowalski in third.

"He's truly a phenom," says kayaker and writer Frederick Reimers, on hand to write a feature story on the event for Outside magazine (view his daily updates HERE. "I got to witness firsthand how next-level he is. It wasn't even close really: he took first in three events and second in two others."

Martina Wegman, meanwhile, of the Netherlands, took first for the women with consistent performances, winning the Time Trial and BoaterCross and finishing in the top five in every other event. While it still came down to the last event, the showings earned her the top overall spot with 34 points to Mariann Saether's 33.

With the event wrapped up, the competitors dispersed back to their hometown rivers and other events throughout the country and world, knowing that the Grand Prix, even without a purse, is the best of the best that there is, testing all around paddling better than any other event on the water-filled planet.

Men's Overall Results
1. Dane Jackson (USA) [164pts]
2. Rush Sturges (USA) [144pts]
3. Joel Kowalski (CAN) [141pts]
4. Nick Troutman (USA) [126pts]
5. Gerd Serrasolses (ESP) [120pts]

Women's Overall Results
1. Martina Wegman (NLD) [34pts]
2. Mariann Saether (NOR) [33pts]
3. Adriene Levknecht (USA) [30.5pts]
4. Sandra Hyslop (GBR) [24pts]
5. Nicole Mansfield (USA) [20.5pts]

Stage 6: Men's Giant Slalom Results:
1st Place: Dane Jackson (USA) [1:18.5]
2nd Place: Rush Sturges (USA) [1:18.6]
3rd Place: Evan Garcia (USA) [1:19.0]
4th Place: Joel Kowalski (CAN) [1:20.0]
5th Place: Gerd Serrasolses (ESP) [1:20.2]

Stage 6: Women's Giant Slalom Results:
1st Place: Mariann Saether (NOR) [1:32.1]
2nd Place: Martina Wegman (NLD) [1:33.1]
3rd Place: Adriene Levknecht (USA) [1:35.3]
4th Place: Nicole Mansfield (USA) [1:42.7]
5th Place: Sandra Hyslop (GBR) [1:56.6]

Stage 5: Men's Freestyle Throw-down Results:
1st Place: Nick Troutman (CAN) [87.5]
2nd Place: Dane Jackson (USA) [86.66]
3rd Place: Bryan Kirk (USA) [83.33]
4th Place: Mathieu Dumoulin (FRA) [81.67]
5th Place: Rush Sturges (USA) [80.83]

Stage 5: Women's Freestyle Thrown-down Results:
1st Place: Adriene Levknecht (USA) [27.5]
2nd Place: Mariann Saether (NOR) [24.17]
3rd Place: Martina Wegman (NLD) [21.67]
4th Place: Sandra Hyslop (GBR) [16.67]
5th Place: Hannah Kertesz (USA) [12.5]

Stage 4: Big Wave Challenge Women's Results:
1st Place: Hannah Kertesz (USA)
2nd Place: Adriene Levknecht (USA)
3rd Place: Martina Wegman (NLD)
4th Place: Sandra Hyslop (GBR)
5th Place: Nicole Mansfield (USA) & Mariann Saether (NOR)

Stage 4: Big Wave Challenge Men's Results:
1st Place: Dane Jackson (USA)
2nd Place: Joel Kowalski (CAN)
3rd Place: Nick Troutman (CAN)
4th Place: Rush Sturges (USA)
5th Place: Devyn Scott (CAN)

Stage 3: Women's Time Trial Results:
1st Place: Martina Wegman (NLD)
2nd Place(tie): Adriene Levknecht (USA) // Mariann Saether (NOR)
4th Place: Sandra Hyslop (GBR)
5th Place: Nicole Mansfield (USA)

Stage 3: Men's Time Trial Results:
1st Place: Dane Jackson (USA)
2nd Place: Chris Gragtmans (CAN)
3rd Place: Tino Specht (USA)
4th Place: Gerd Serrasolses (ESP)
5th Place: Tyler Curtis (CAN)

Stage 2: Women's BoaterCross Results:
1st Place: Martina Wegman (NLD)
2nd Place: Sandra Hyslop (GBR)
3rd Place: Mariann Saether (NOR)
4th Place: Nicole Mansfield (USA)
5th Place: Lu Urwin (NZL)

Stage 2: Men's BoaterCross Results:
1st Place: Marcos Gallegos (CHL)
2nd Place: Joel Kowalski (CAN)
3rd Place: Dane Jackson (USA)
4th Place: Rush Sturges (USA)

Stage 1: Women's Big Trick Results:
1. Mariann Saether
2. Adrienne Levknecht
3. Nichole Mansfield
4. Martina Wegman
5. Sandra Hyslop

Stage 1: Men's Big Trick Results:
1. Nick Troutman
2. Dane Jackson
3. Tino Spret
4. Devin Scott

More info: CLICK HERE

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Three-peat for Dane Jackson in WW Grand Prix

"It's so steep and fast you have to be ready to change your momentum from downstream movement to surfing in a split second."

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