Author: scottshipley
S2o Featured for their Design Work on London 2012
http://kdvr.com/2012/07/16/olympic-kayaker-from-colorado-designs-london-kayak-course/
LYONS, Colo- You don’t have to be a Colorado resident for very long to figure out the “river folk.” They are the people who live for water.
The people who like to spend their free time paddling any type of boat in the water. They are also the same people who find a way to work less and play more.
The people always smiling, happy and … tan. As Scott Shipley explains it, “There really is a DNA to river people.”
Shipley is a perfect specimen. He was a three time Olympic kayaker. He was ranked number one for eight consecutive years, a ten time national champion. He met his wife on the water who raced on the German team. And water is still a big part of Shipley’s life.
“We design fun. More often than you realize in Colorado, when you’re in an inner tube floating down a rapid, it’s probably something built by our company or a company like ours.”
The Lyons resident is the founder and owner of S2O design.
“I studied engineering at Georgia Tech, got into ship design. Kind of very last minute, I saw an article about a guy that did river design and thought gosh I want to get into doing whitewater parks.”
When Scott is out of the water, he is wading through computer models and blueprints, including the biggest project of all, the 2012 Olympic course.
“To be a part of the design team on that London park was literally a dream come true. I so much wanted stay part of that Olympic movement.”
Part of the Olympic design includes giant Lego like blocks, called RapidBlocs that create obstacles and whitewater just like a natural boulder would. Brand new technology, invented by Scott and his British partner.
In London the Lee Valley Whitewater Center outside of London is already in use.
“The feedback we’re getting is, ‘Oh my gosh! This is what we dreamed of,’ and we’re hearing that from the Slovakians, the French, the British, it’s not just the U.S. Team saying it’s the crème de la crème of white water parks.”
All those hours playing in the water are definitely paying off.
“The most rewarding thing by far for me, because I did live that Olympic life for 20 years, to go back to an Olympics and watch it on a channel we designed. Watch it on a channel we built.”
S2o’s Lead Designer Profiled by ICF after designing the London Olympic Course
Scott Shipley brings a varied background to the table. A three time Olympian (’92, ’96, ’00) and holder of four world titles, Shipley is among the best-known American kayakers in the world today. Having retired from elite competition Shipley went back to school to earn a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Shipley’s combined expertise in both Whitewater and Engineering Design has made him the go-to designer for some of the world’s most demanding whitewater design projects. He has been credited with driving innovation in the whitewater park industry by pushing the design envelope; his achievements in whitewater course design may just supersede his world titles and his accolade of America’s best ever slalom kayaker.
Shipley has also been involved in the design of the Whitewater Package Course—the world’s first purpose-built club training and instructional center as well as the Africa Club-House Project—an unprecedented design project tasked with bringing secure clubhouses for sports of all kinds, including kayaking, to Africa. His company S2o Designs designed the features in the Lee Valley White Water Center, the Canoe Slalom venue for this summer’s Olympic Games in London.
S2o featured on Outside Magazine’s T.V. Program
Denver Post: Colorado kayaker Scott Shipley shapes London Olympic whitewater venue.
The teens gather in Scott Shipley’s garage in Lyons, grabbing kayaks and paddles before joining the three-time Olympian for a weekly kayak session on the St. Vrain River.
The water-born mentoring is yet another example of Shipley giving back to the sport that has defined his 40 years.
With four world titles and three Olympic showings, Shipley has been long considered America’s greatest slalom kayaker. But his latest contribution to paddling — almost a decade after stepping away from competition — might just eclipse his accomplishments in the boat.
From his home office in Lyons, Shipley’s S2o Design company developed the hydraulic features in the 2012 London Olympics whitewater course.
Read more: Colorado kayaker Scott Shipley shapes London Olympic whitewater venue – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_18171994#ixzz1zb4PM9HR
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Read The Denver Post’s Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse
S2o & EPD Designed Olympic Whitewater Park Flows Water for First Time
London 2012 Olympics: Canoe Slalom venue set to open to public at Lee Valley White Water Centre
Lee Valley White Water Centre, the venue for the Canoe Slalom event at the London 2012 Olympics, is ready to be opened to the public on Friday.
The opening of the centre, which is the only brand new Olympics venue the public can access and enjoy ahead of the Games, will provide a legacy some 15 months before London 2012.
Members of the public will be able to try white water rafting along the same rapids that Olympic canoeists will use during the Games when some 60,000 spectators descend upon the centre for five days of Canoe Slalom action.
Lord Sebastian Coe, chair of the London organising committee, praised the venue for providing an early legacy for the Games before branding it a “world class venue” for the sport.
“Seeing the Lee Valley White Water Centre open to the public is a great example of an early legacy for London,” said Lord Coe.
“This venue provides the opportunity for a new generation of water sports enthusiasts to get active and engaged in fun and challenging sports as well as providing us with a world class Olympic venue for Canoe Slalom.”
Video of the S2o Designed U.S. National Whitewater Center
Shipley Wins Inventor of the Year Award from Popular Science
U.S. National Whitewater Center
World’s Largest Artificial Whitewater Park
No one gets into white-water kayaking to paddle fake rivers. So I had some serious doubts as to whether a 12-million-gallon tank of recirculating water could replicate the real thing. And frankly, it doesn’t —the waves and holes, which can be finely tuned with pneumatic gates and moveable rocks, are less prone to the subtle changes of a natural-flowing stream. But it’s just that predictability that makes you want to push yourself harder and drop into that big wave again and again. Which is easy to do in whitewater that knows no season and runs under lights until 11 p.m.
—Tom Colligan From $15 for 90 minutes; usnwc.org
S2o Featured for its Innovative Applications of Civil-3D Autocad Software
Civil 3D is used around the world for some pretty amazing projects but, when you think of Civil 3D projects, you think of roads and land development. Dana Probert with Autodesk has shown some pretty cool things that Civil 3D can do but recently I ran across someone that is really thinking outside the box. Read on for more.
2012 Olympics in London
In 2012 the Olympics will once again draw people from across the globe to compete for the highly coveted gold medal. Prior to that, a lot of work has to be done. I’m sure that Civil 3D will be used for many different aspects in the design of the infrastructure needed for such an important event, a roadway here, a parking lot there, a drainage structure over there. These are all very important and cool (to a geek like me) but, there is one place that Civil 3D will be used in a rather unconventional way.
Scott Shipley with S2O Design and Engineering in Boulder, CO is a world class kayaker. In his thirty years as a kayaker, Scott has four world titles, has been in the Olympics three times, he has 10 national titles, as well as numerous other awards. In other words, when it comes to kayaking, Scott knows all about it.
Durango Whitewater Park
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