Olympic Hopeful Evy Leibfarth: How the River Changed Me
As an elite slalom kayaker who will represent the United States in the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, I travel a lot for races. Competitive whitewater races are almost always run on artificial courses with rapids shaped by plastic blocks and very few live trees. When I am home in Bryson City, N.C., nestled in the southwestern Appalachian Mountain range, I paddle on the Nantahala River almost every day. Though I love to kayak on any kind of river, including artificial courses, I relish kayaking on the Nantahala—my home river.
Paddling between the rocks, in and out of holes and over foamy rapids, I hear the wind rustling the trees. I am a spider being blown through the air, unsure of where I’ll end up, but confident that I am on my way somewhere good. I notice the gentle way the trees sway side to side, and run my hand over the mossy boulders nestled on the riverbed. The Nantahala is where I am free from highways, cars, and concrete, at peace and alone in nature. Being on the river and in the mountains disconnects me, de-stresses me, and reminds me why I love paddling.
You see, I am 17. I won the 2019 Pan-American Games and qualified for the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Team by placing first in the kayak slalom and canoe slalom at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials—and yet I am a teenager who loves to go shopping at the mall or on coffee dates with my friends. Traveling the world and competing next to older athletes makes me forget that I’m so young. While my friends from home talk about our upcoming calculus exam or who’s dating whom, my paddling teammates discuss their jobs, kids, and our next international destination. I care about which dress I’ll wear to prom, but I also care about practicing my kayak technique by doing sets of sprints on the water, workouts in the gym, and paddling through gates in preparation for the Olympics. I’m living in two worlds, but nature—and specifically, the Nantahala—grounds me.
I credit my parents for this. They were both raft guides and kayak coaches and fell so in love with the Nantahala that they moved to Bryson City just before I was born to be closer to it. Mom and dad not only gave me my first kayak, they helped me bond with the outdoors and discover that I loved hurtling down the river just as much as they did. I have tried every kind of kayaking, but my favorite—and the one for which I’ll be an Olympian—is slalom kayaking. Maybe you’ve seen it: sitting in an 11-and-a-half-foot kayak, the athlete paddles as fast as she can down a 90-second-long segment of river, passing through gates as she goes. I have always loved the adrenaline that slalom elicits: the rush at the start of a run when the starter says “Go!,” screams from my parents and friends on shore, forgetting everything and just paddling as hard as I can.
My first race outside North Carolina was in Washington, D.C., on the Feder Canal. That race, I learned that I could use nature to calm down and race my best. The race taught me to have fun and remember why I love paddling: the feeling of the water running through my hands, the trees like giants around me, the sun on my face as I leave the start gate. I always remember those three things—the water, trees, and sun—before a race, to ground myself. Just like it helped me on my first “away” race, it helps me today in races around the world. It will help me in Tokyo.
My first year competing in Europe was in 2016, when I was 12. I realized that slalom isn’t just a sport; it’s a community. I met so many people from around the world and learned so much. In 2019—before the pandemic hit, canceling international competitions, including the Olympics—I competed on five continents, immersing myself in cultural experiences ranging from a Japanese tea ceremony to traditional Māori dances. As I prepare to leave for Tokyo to hopefully bring a medal home for the U.S., I feel lucky to live in the Appalachian Mountains, the place I fell in love with the Nantahala, with kayaking, and with nature.