Olympian Scott Shipley Builds on Winning Track Record in Canoe Slalom
June 28, 2012
Denver, CO – Olympic canoe slalom veteran and globally renowned whitewater park designer and builder Scott Shipley recently was awarded a patenton his third major whitewater course innovation.
Shipley, founder of S2o Design and Engineering, earned a mechanical patent on a system he’s dubbed the Whitewater Terrain Park. The concept is unique in the evolution of manmade whitewater parks in that it allows installation of a system that creates more excitement for paddlers while improving energy efficiency and safety in a multiple route system.
Building on his previous inventions, at least one of which earned Shipley a Best of What’s New Award from Popular Science in 2006, Shipley said one of the exciting things about the Whitewater Terrain Park is that while it can function as a stand-alone whitewater center, it can also be easily integrated into adventure facilities anywhere from amusement parks to themed retail stores.
The Whitewater Terrain Park creates easier and harder route options at each waterfall drop. Unique to the pumped park environment, pools within the system drain to create the waterfalls, then refill once the kayaker or rafter has navigated past the waterfall.
Shipley sees parallels between the escalating popularity of whitewater parks and the propagation of skateparks and before them basketball and tennis courts. “Our Whitewater Terrain Park has the ability to make kayaking more accessible to more people and help grow the sport,” Shipley explained. “It also has the potential to bring remote extreme kayaking-type experiences right to a theme park or retail store in a manageable way”.
ABOUT SCOTT SHIPLEY
PLACES. Shipley grew up in the Seattle area; earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and lives in Lyons, a small mountain town outside Denver, CO with his wife and two children. Scott is a member of the Board of Directors of USA Canoe Kayak, the governing body of paddlesports in the US, which is based in Oklahoma City, OK.
COMPETITION. Scott competed in K-1 on the 1992, 1996 and 2000 US Olympic teams. His best Olympic result was fifth place in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He earned three World Cup titles and three silver World Championships medals In 2010 he became the US National Champion in C-2. In July he will travel to Wausau. WI to coach the US team at the ICF Canoe Slalom Junior World Championships. For more about the sport of canoe slalom, visit the London 2012 website.
PROFESSIONAL. Scott is the founder and owner of S2o Design and Engineering. In addition to the Olympic venue, Scott designed the US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC that opened in 2006. Other S2o Design projects can be found in Missoula, MT, Jackson Hole, WY, Sun Valley, ID, New Zealand, South America and Canada.
INTERVIEWS. Scott is available for interviews to further explain his Whitewater Terrain Park and other patents. He is an expert spokesperson about the technology of whitewater both at in-stream and manmade facilities. In conjunction with the Olympics, Scott he can offer expert insights into the technicalities and nuances of the sport and its future. Watch Scott on Outside TV here.
(Images Supplied by Andy Laird)