Thursday, October 13, 2016

J. Henry Rushton Award


ACA is proud to announce that the J. Henry Rushton Award goes to California Aquatics! This award is presented to an organization for outstanding achievements in advancing paddlesports and the mission of ACA. 

California Aquatics exposes tens of thousands of new paddlers to kayaking and stand up paddleboarding every year while maintaining consistently high standards of safety and training by using innovative blended teaching techniques including video, simulators, excellent instructors and equipment.

California Aquatics is located on Alamitos Bay in Long Beach, California. The company trains and outfits hundreds of novice kayakers and stand up paddleboarders daily. Ken Williams, the owner, has developed a unique, innovative, high quality program of safety and training for new paddlers in a high volume environment. This blended program integrates on-site video, online education, instructor led on-the-water training as well as beach simulator training. 

In 1976 Williams started training high school students in scuba diving for the school districts in Los Angeles and Orange County, California where there had previously been fatal accidents. Williams developed a strong training program to ensure safety and consistent quality while handling a large volume of students. He has drawn on his experiences to apply these lessons to paddling and developed an efficient "certification course" that provides safety, fun, and 100% proof of non-omissions. Seven days a week hundreds of people of all ages and backgrounds, most of whom have never paddled before, gather through word of mouth to learn from California Aquatics. 

Ken Williams and the staff at California Aquatics have developed a terrific system. Over the course of a year they do an excellent job training tens of thousands of new paddlers annually to basic ACA standards. 

If you would like more information about our annual awards, please check out: www.americancanoe.org/Awards



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