Support 16 Yr Old Finnigan's Kayak World Championship Dream

Hello,

My name is Finnigan Blackburn and I am fundraising in order to compete in the canoe/kayak slalom and kayak cross Junior World Championship.

Kayak cross is a sport where you race against 3 other people in kayaks with full contact allowed. The racers began on a ramp 10-15 ft above the water, after they reach the water they are forced to navigate upstream and downstream "gates" as well as a bar that you have to roll completely under water to pass. The first two to cross the finish line advance to the next heat.

I started kayaking 3 years ago and ever since have been in love. It is a grueling, terrifying, dangerous, beautiful, and rewarding sport. In the past few weeks I got the chance to compete in the Olympic and National Team trials for kayak cross as my very first kayak cross race. I was borrowing gear, sewing together life jackets, taping boats so they floated, and learning the skills that everyone else had taken countless years to develop, in the span of three weeks. Against all odds though I learned quick and was able to win the Junior Division and secured myself a spot to Junior Worlds in Liptovsky, Slovakia. No one was as surprised by this turn of events then me. The people I was racing with and against had been idols of mine since I was little. The fact that I not only qualified but I won has blown me away.

I live in a small town, Buena Vista, Colorado I have raised cattle for 4H and I work for my moms bakery, but unfortunately these jobs do not provide enough for me to be able to pay for this trip. With plane tickets, registration fees, and trying to buy my own boat (in order to be on a level playing field) this trip has added up to beyond me and my family's means. Your donation will go towards travel and living expenses. You have no idea how much it would mean to me if you could give me a chance to show what an underdog can do.