by Linda McCoy
Things are SO HOT in the SouthEast Region that we’re highlighting it again this month! We’ve got three incredible Regional Reps leading the charge. Sam Gentsch, one of our OG Reps, and our two newest members of the team, Kirk Bumgarner and Rachel Cantore! You can read more about Sam in the July newsletter!
SouthEast Region States
Arkansas – Louisiana – Mississippi – Tennessee – Alabama – Georgia – North Carolina – South Carolina – Florida
Kirk recently competed in – and WON! – The Ohio River Paddle Fest! One of our NorthCentral reps, Adrian Angell, is the race director for this super fun and well-organized races! Check our latest race recap to learn more about that race! Kirk started paddling recreationally on lakes in Texas and Colorado in 2010. That soon evolved into more touring and expedition paddling when he moved to NorthEast Tennessee. He started racing in 2018. His favorite race so far is the Cincinnati Paddle Fest! His wife and family are from Cincinnati, so it’s fun to have a cheering section! He loves to paddle on South Holston lake outside of Bristol TN when he’s not dreaming of paddling on Ashley Lake outside of Kalispell, MT.
Rachel owns and operates Stand and Paddle in Bluffton, SC. She’s been paddling regularly since 2017 having dabbled a few times prior to that. Her top favorite races are the Paddle at Skull Harbor in Orange Beach/Pensacola and the LowCountry Paddle battle on Hilton Head Island – home of our USASUP National Championships this year! She loves the technical courses at races and connecting with her paddle friends in Florida and the LowCountry. You can usually find her paddling the May River or Burke’s Beach, where she enjoys SUP Surfing and the ocean conditions! Her favorite destination paddle? ANY PLACE WARM! If she had to pick, it would be Costa Rica or Mexico. She has her sights set on paddling a race in Europe next year, so be sure to watch out for her – and cheer her on!
All three of our SouthEast Reps will be at Nationals – be sure to tell them hello!
Don’t forget! The SouthEast Region is this year’s host region for our
USASUP National Championships!
We are so thankful that the OluKai Lowcountry Boil Paddle Battle will host the race this year. Big thanks to USASUP board member John Batson for welcoming us as a partner host. Check out all the details here: https://paddleguru.com/races/OluKaiLowcountryBoilPaddleBattle
We are currently hoping to add 1 more rep to our roster for the SouthEast Region! We’d love to find a rep in Florida or in Arkansas, Louisiana, or Mississippi to stay geographically diverse. If you live in the SouthEast Region (light blue), and would like more information, please contact Linda McCoy – linda.mccoy@usasup.org!
We also have spots available in the SouthWest, NorthWest, and SouthCentral regions. Check out the map above to see which region you live in. If you’d like to join our team, get in touch with Linda and we’ll set up a call!
