2003 National Concrete Canoe Competition

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NCCC News
July 7, 2003


University of Wisconsin-Madison wins 16th Annual National Concrete Canoe Competition hosted by Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA

Ol' Bucky was feeling the love in the City of Brotherly love when he learned from his underground (badgers tend to hang out underground) sources that Wisconsin had a 2.5-point lead over Cal-Berkeley after the academic events.  He was a bit concerned when he heard UWs canoe durability score dropped them from 3rd to 9th in the Final Product rankings.  But his concerns soon subsided along with the rains on Sunday and he could barely contain himself after watching the UW paddlers extend the team's lead to ten points during the races and insure UW of its first-ever NCCC championship!  A big-time congrats to Bucky and the UW canoe team!  After eight consecutive appearances at nationals, the ninth year paid dividends.  UW is now one of only six teams to own a NCCC national championship trophy and $5,000 in scholarship money generously donated by the event sponsor MasterBuilders. 

For the other schools out there who have come close at nationals, or have never competed at nationals - stay focused, continue to work hard on academics and paddling, take the lead in putting together a team of students who are dedicated to learning and improving each year, and most of all, if you don't have a faculty advisor who supports your efforts, find one ... even if it's your English professor!  This is the common thread between the teams who consistently do well each year while having fun and enjoying the practical hands-on experience regardless of where they place.   

The official 2003 results and press release are available at MasterBuilders.com

The 2003 NCCC was hosted by Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA.  I'll save the long version for the commentary, but suffice to say that Drexel and the various departments within the city of Philadelphia did an amazing job.  It was the best coordinated event - even with the last-minute and on-the-fly changes that had to be made as a result of the torrential rains that caused flash floods across Philly.

Here's the unofficial coverage for the 2003 NCCC :

Post-competition

  • Commentary

  • Scores - includes team scores, competition points earned, as well as race times and rank.  New to this year was peer judging of the Final Product (see NCCC rule IV.B.2 for specifics).

Pre-competition 

  • Preview of the 2003 NCCC - this is the unedited version of the competition preview in Drexel University's official 2003 NCCC program, including predictions of where I thought teams might place.  I give ranges such as 1-4, 3-6, etc.  Using this method I picked 50% correctly - if you give me a +/- 2 on the ranges, I'm at 67% ;) 

  • By the numbers - a side-by-side comparison of canoe vitals and competition history for all teams at the 2003 NCCC

  • Rule Changes - a cursory commentary and impact assessment of the rule changes  from 2002

Other Recommended "ConCan" Resources

 

3CT News
 June 29, 2003

PHILADELPHIA, PA - Clemson Concrete Canoe Team (3CT) places fourth
at the ASCE/MBT National Concrete Canoe Competition (NCCC)

With a team consisting of mostly new faces and no returning paddlers from 2002, Clemson finished an incredible fourth place at the 16th Annual SCE/MBT NCCC hosted by Drexel University.  While Clemson had captured three of the previous four national titles heading into the 2003 competition, a change in the NCCC rules limiting participation to a maximum of three years (as one of the 10 registered participants) combined with a ban on graduate students created an unexpected loss of key personnel.  Undeterred, those affected members hit the recruiting trail and landed a very talented crop of student/athletes who showed their capability by placing 8th, 3rd and 5th in Design Paper, Oral Presentation, Final Product, respectively,  In addition, this group of rookies managed to win three races and finished second in the other two!  Given its lack of national experience, this team performed extremely well. Credit is also due to those veterans who, although unable to participate as a registered member and could have just said the "heck with it", instead selflessly committed themselves to the cause transferring knowledge and experience on to the new-comers. While a fourth-place finish was quite good for 2003, expectations for next year will be high as this team returns all but one member.  For certain, the team must focus on the design paper and come up with some innovative approaches.  C'mon June 2004! 

Clemson's win at the 2003 Carolinas' Conference concrete canoe regional competition gave 3CT sole ownership of the record for most consecutive appearances at the NCCC.  Clemson now has eleven consecutive national appearances (1993-2003).  Clemson previously shared the record of ten consecutive appearances with fellow ACC conference member Maryland (1988-1997).  The record for the most total appearances at nationals is 14, held by Virginia Tech.  

The women paddlers for 3CT won all three of their races (including co-ed) this year.  No other paddling teams, male or female, have won every race at nationals at four consecutive competitions.  With a record of 18-2 over the past six years, Clemson's women paddling program can claim to be the most successful in the country and in the history of the NCCC.  Not too bad considering its completely volunteer and the previous year's squad recruits and trains the newcomers - no professional coaches, no special workout facilities, and no shoe (er, I mean paddle) endorsements from Nike ;) 

Thanks
Thanks to the University, College of Engineering, the Department of Civil Engineering, great faculty advisors, and of course, every student and parent who sacrifices his and her time and resources or supports these efforts in any way.

3CT Hall of Fame

  • Serji Amirkhanian - 3CT faculty advisor since, well, forever!  Serji has two rules - do your best, and keep your mouth shut - and as a result of this Clemson University is one of the most respected and well-liked schools each year among its peers at the NCCC - not to mention one of the most successful in NCCC history with three national titles in five years.

  • Brad Putman - unprecedented successes at Clemson in concrete canoe competitions. In Brad's five years as a registered member at nationals, he led Clemson through its most successful concrete canoe era. With three national titles in four years, a second and third place finish, in addition to his civil engineering knowledge, Brad demonstrated a unique leadership, coaching, and mentoring skill and led by example - making significant contributions to both the academic and racing aspects of the competition.

  • 3CT women paddlers since 1998.  These women have combined to win 90% of their races.  The last race lost by a Clemson women's paddling team was in 1999.  They deserve great respect, appreciation, and recognition from not only the Clemson student body, but also the alums (including non-Civils :)

  • Every team member, student, parent, and supporter who has made a contribution to 3CT in the form of time, resources, materials, funding, beverages, or food!

3CT Accomplishments at NCCC -
Spanning the last six national competitions, Clemson:

  • has finished top ten in each of the twenty-three academic categories including eighteen top fives, six being first place.
  • has won the overall academic portion of the competition twice (1999 and 2000)
  • has won the overall race portion of the competition five times (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
  • women's paddling teams have won sixteen of their eighteen races (including co-ed races) - 89%
  • men's paddling teams have won thirteen of their eighteen races (including co-ed races)  - 72%
  • has swept the races three times (1998, 2000, and 2002)

The Clemson Concrete Canoe Team (3CT) web site has been covering the NCCC since 1995. We hope that it is a great experience for the 3CT faithful, folks from all the schools who have participated in a regional or national competition, and for those out there scratching their heads and wondering "what the heck is a concrete canoe!". While you will see the familiar 3CT logos at the top of many pages, over half of this web site is dedicated to providing statistics, history, scoring breakdowns, highlights, reviews and pictures for schools other than Clemson. Links are also provided from our site to other schools' canoe sites as well as to the web sites for ASCE and Master Builders (official organizer and sponsors of the National Concrete Canoe Competition).

If you'd like to contact the team send an email to 3CT and show your support.

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