For a sport that runs on rushing river rapids, training during a frozen Iowa winter can be a real challenge. The ISU Kayak Club navigates the challenge every Thursday and Sunday as it practices in the State Gym pool.

“The biggest challenge is to keep it exciting,” said Tom Schultz, secretary of the ISU Kayak Club.

The 15-member group trains twice a week for the time when they will take their skills to the river.

“We basically use our practices as an open time when members can practice maneuvers,” Schultz said.

New members learn kayaking techniques like Eskimo rolling (rolling your tipped kayak), bracing and sculling. Practices are Thursday 8 to 10 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to noon.

The kayak club has a dry meeting the first Thursday of every month where they meet at Pizza Pit or a member’s house to discuss kayak techniques and water safety or watch videos of expert kayakers.

“Adrenaline keeps me involved in the kayak club,” Schultz said.

A senior forestry major from Roland, Schultz had never kayaked before joining the kayak club as a freshman.

Group field trips make the practice worth it, he said.

The club takes one week-long trip per year, usually to the Nanthala River in North Carolina. During the trip, the club kayaks on several rivers to experience a variety of rapids.

Kayaking during the day and camping out at night, club members pay about $150 for the trip. Last May the group headed west to the American River in California.

On field trips, club members learn additional skills by kayaking with more experienced kayakers. “If someone is alone, we ask them if they wouldn’t mind coming along,” Schultz said.

“The bigger trips are only once a year because of the cost and the amount of driving we have to do,” Schultz said.

In addition to the week-long trip, the club takes three to five weekend trips during the warm months to the Wolf and Red Rivers in Wisconsin.

“For any member who’s been on the river, it is a whole different experience [than training in the pool],” Schultz said. “The current in the river makes it totally different.”

Though it would seem taking kayakers on the river who have only practiced in the pool may be dangerous, Schultz said no Iowa State club members have ever suffered from a kayaking injury.

“Any new member can come try it out one or two times for free. After that, we require members to pay $20 per semester,” Schultz said.

Because the kayak club stores boats, paddles, wet suits and life jackets in a loft over the State Gym pool, new members need only bring a swimsuit to a club meeting.

Currently there are more men than women in the kayak club, but both sexes are welcome, Schultz said.