With all the water that abounds in the Puget Sound area, it’s only natural for water sports to be popular. There has been a recent surge of interest in flat water paddling sports, specifically the Cascade Sprint race team, based at Renton’s Canoe and Kayak Center.

There, Natasha Dietz, 12, is a member of the flat water racing team, along with Caleb and Carlin Chuck, and Michael Weyna, all students who live on Mercer Island. The team is coached by Don Henderson, a former member of the U.S. team.

“There’s a lot of great one-on-one coaching,” said Ben Dietz, Natasha’s father. “It’s great upper body conditioning, but also mentally toughening since they are paddling in the cold water. It’s a whole body workout.”

The race teams at the Cascade club have been in place since 1998 and people participate based on what they are looking to get out of it, explained owner/coach Henderson. He said people can practice year round, or they can participate seasonally, typically March through October.

“It’s really a function of their goals,” he said. For some, with Olympic team aspirations, working out year-round is pretty much a given, but others choose to make it more of a recreational hobby. Henderson said everyone starts out in the single person canoes or kayaks and individuals go from there. The sport, which is the fourth largest Olympic event, includes men and women racing in single, double or four-person canoes and kayaks. Divisions are broken up by which type of boat the racer is in, and how many people are in it. The sprint races are 500 and 1,000 meters long, while a distance event includes races of five and 13 miles.

For the paddlers from Mercer Island, the sport has equaled unparalleled levels of success. The team recently attended the U.S. team time trials in Chula Vista, Calif., at the end of April, where Weyna qualified for the national team development camp in Lake Placid.

“He’s the youngest person ever to qualify,” said Henderson.

Teammate Carlin Chuck, has also had success, and is the current national champion in the 13 and under age group of the C-2 (two-person canoe), rowing with Matthew Lam of Renton. The team has also already qualified to race in the National Championships which will be held in Oklahoma City, Okla. this August.

Dietz said he and Natasha discovered Canoe and Kayak Center late last summer, finding they just missed a summer camp opportunity for Natasha.

“She said she would be interested in doing it year round, so it really was her idea,” he said. One of the things that makes this team different from other youth activities, Dietz said, is that during several practices the team races with adults.

“It provides a different level of interaction with adults than other sports,” said Dietz.

The team practices four days a week, typically on the southern end of Lake Washington near Renton, and travels to races across the region, even into southern British Columbia. Henderson said a big local race will be held the first weekend of June at Green Lake, where clubs from Seattle, Gig Harbor, Portland and B.C. will be racing.

Henderson said one of the things that makes flat water racing different from other traditional sports is that there is very little down time.

“The thing I like the most about it is that no one is standing around,” the coach said. “In more traditional sports usually two or three kids dominate and everyone else is just standing there, but in our canoes or kayaks everyone paddles everyday. It’s a very active physiology that’s similar to track or swimming. There’s a significant technical component in how you paddle.”

Dietz said considering how much one on one time members of the team get with the coaches the price to be on the team is well worth it.

“For the level of coaching it’s not an expensive sport,” said Dietz.

For Henderson a love of the water is what has kept him coming back. The former high school and collegiate swimmer said he just needed to get out of the pool, but didn’t want to lose his water time.

“I got tired of the chlorine and watching the white line on the pool go back and forth. This is essentially the same kind of event,” he said. “I love being outside and on the water, I love gliding in the boat and how it feels.”

The center will be starting a new beginners class this week at the Renton Boat House. Henderson said anyone ages 10-14 is welcome to try the sport out; the only qualification is they have to be comfortable in and around water and be able to swim. Another beginners class will start at the end of June.

For more information and to learn how to register, visit Cascade Canoe and Kayak.