King of the kayak

Bennett Smith cinched his life jacket and secured his helmet before climbing into the banana-colored kayak perched on the bank of the Little Cahaba River.

Smith, like most freestyle kayakers, calls his small, rectangular watercraft a playboat. It is only 6 feet long, weighs less than 30 pounds and is designed with maneuverability in mind. 

That’s what Smith needed most as he paddled away from the bank and over to a spot where the water level hovered around 8 feet. There, he transformed a patch of still river into a whirlpool. 

Smith, strapped snugly in his kayak, tilted the nose of the boat toward the riverbed as he prepared to click off a series of tricks under the September sun. He performed flips and spins with names like Phonics monkey, McNasty and Tricky Woo. 

All are moves that comprise the aquatic arsenal Smith will aim to unleash at this month’s International Canoe Federation Freestyle World Championships in San Juan, Argentina. Smith, an Auburn University junior from Vestavia Hills, placed third at July’s U.S. team trials in Buena Vista, Colorado, to clinch his spot on the American squad. 

He was the youngest kayaker to make the team. 

“I’m trying to come out here and do this as much as possible, and just put in as much hard work as I can to represent the U.S. the best I can,” said Smith, water dripping from his frame after his practice session on the Little Cahaba. 

This will be Smith’s second time representing the United States at a freestyle kayaking world championship event. Four years ago he qualified in the junior men’s division by winning the 2013 national team trials, which marked the beginning of his professional career. After the victory, he received his first sponsorship from Jackson Kayaks. He was only 16. 

“I didn’t really think I was going to make it or anything,” Smith said, “but I trained really hard.” 

This world championship will carry special meaning, too, as it will be Smith’s first as a member of the U.S. men’s team. Two years ago he fell short at the national trials and missed punching his ticket to the event. That outcome didn’t sit well with Smith, who proceeded to partake in a two-year training blitz.

His investment paid off in Buena Vista. 

“He was pushing himself,” said his mother, Tracy Smith. “He understands what it takes to set a goal and succeed.” 

Bennett Smith’s potential to excel at a sport like freestyle kayaking, which he described as gymnastics in a whitewater rapid, first surfaced at a young age. Tracy Smith remembers when her toddler son would constantly climb, jump and swing around the family’s front yard in Montevallo, where the Smiths lived before moving to Vestavia Hills. 

His fearlessness only strengthened with time.  

Bennett Smith picked up parkour, an acrobatic activity characterized by flips and spins, as he grew into adolescence. One time Tracy Smith returned home to see mattresses sprawled in the yard as her son attempted to master a backflip. 

Soon, he found his way to the river. 

“When he discovered that he could get in these smaller boats and flip and spin ... that’s when it really hit him, and he just almost became obsessed with it,” Tracy Smith said. “Every waking moment that he could, he would be on the water trying to master those skills.”

Bennett Smith was introduced to whitewater kayaking in eighth grade by David Moers, his longtime friend and current Auburn roommate. Moers had been exposed to the sport at a summer camp and suggested his pal give it a try. Bennett Smith did, and he never looked back. 

He began to take whitewater classes from Jeremy Adkins, a kayak instructor based in Locust Fork, who taught him the basic skills of reading rapids and completing underwater rolls. 

Eventually, Adkins introduced his pupil to the more advanced freestyle discipline. His passion took off. 

“If you’re in a kayak that’s just made for going down the river, you can just go down the river and enjoy it,” Bennett Smith said. “If it’s made for going down the river and doing tricks, you just have double the fun.” 

Adkins drew on his personal history with freestyle kayaking as he tutored his up-and-coming student. Earlier in his career, Adkins had fallen short of making the U.S. men’s freestyle team by a single spot, earning the uncoveted distinction of first alternate. He didn’t want Smith to meet the same fate. 

“I made sure that I kind of steered him the right way so he wouldn’t make the same mistakes I made and not take it seriously enough,” Adkins said. “Because of that and his ability to train and push forward, he has absolutely become an unbelievable kayaker, especially in the aspect of freestyle.”

Bennett Smith has remained steadfast in his training as he’s prepared for the upcoming world championships. When he’s not logging reps in the rapids of the Chattahoochee River — his primary training spot near Auburn — he’s most likely working on his strength and stamina.

Freestyle kayaking requires both. 

In Argentina, he’ll perform a series of 45-second runs during which he’ll try to complete as many tricks as possible without washing out of the rapid. Currently, he is workshopping a couple of signature moves with his training partner and fellow U.S. teammate Hunter Katich. 

Bennett Smith, who normally pre-plans his routines, said he hopes to pull off a split-wheel to phonics monkey combo, which includes a series of spins capped with a front flip. 

Most people would find that daunting. But Bennett Smith isn’t most people. 

“It’s going to be awesome,” he said. 

The ICF championships will take place Nov. 28 to Dec. 2 at Rio San Juan White Water Park. Even though Bennett Smith will represent the United States, the trip is not funded by the U.S. kayaking team. To help him offset expenses, visit gofundme.com and search“Bennett Smith.”