US East Team
The United States East Surf Kayak Team represents the United States, along with the US West Surf Kayak Team, at the World Championships of Surf Kayaking, held every other year in countries around the globe by the World Surf Kayaking Association.
The team consists of Men, Women, Masters, and Junior representatives, selected based on circuit rankings and team trial placements over a two year period.
Over the years the US East Team has competed in many World Championship contests, and has placed 2nd or 3rd on several occasions.
Here is the current criteria for the US East Team selection process, time frame is the 2 year period from the last team trials up to the current team trials:
There are 16 Team positions total, plus a manager and a coach.
High Performance Men: (4 positions)
#1 boat will be selected based on #1 position in Men’s HP East Coast Circuit rankings.
#2-#4 boats will be selected based on finish at team trials.
To qualify for team trials you must have competed in the Men’s HP expert or equivalent division at 3 ESKA circuit events.
You may also gain credit towards your 3 competitions via credits issued from ESKA events you attended but were canceled due to conditions. Your top 4 finishes will be used to determine your seeding at team trials.
High Performance Women: (2 positions)
#1 and #2 boats will be selected based on finishes at Team Trials
To qualify for team trials you must have competed in the Women’s expert or equivalent class at 1 ESKA circuit event. Your top 4 finishes will be used to determine your seeding at team trials.
You may also gain credit towards your 1 competitions via credits issued from ESKA events you attended but were canceled due to conditions.
High Performance Masters (40 and up): (1 position)
#1 boat will be selected based on finishes at Team Trials
To qualify for team trials you must have competed in the Master’s HP expert or equivalent division at 1 ESKA circuit event. Your top 4 finishes will be used to determine your seeding at team trials.
You may also gain credit towards your 1 competitions via credits issued from ESKA events you attended but were canceled due to conditions.
High Performance Juniors (Under 18 as of January 1st year of Worlds): (1 position)
#1 boat will be selected based on finishes at Team Trials
To qualify for team trials you must have competed in the Junior’s HP expert or equivalent division at 1 ESKA circuit event. Your top 4 finishes will be used to determine your seeding at team trials.
You may also gain credit towards your 1 competitions via credits issued from ESKA events you attended but were canceled due to conditions.
International Men: (4 positions)
#1 boat will be selected based on #1 position in Men’s IC East Coast Circuit rankings.
#2-#4 boats will be selected based on finish at team trials.
To qualify for team trials you must have competed in the Men’s IC expert or equivalent division at 3 ESKA circuit events.
You may also gain credit towards your 3 competitions via credits issued from ESKA events you attended but were canceled due to conditions. Your top 4 finishes will be used to determine your seeding at team trials.
International Women: (2 positions)
#1 and #2 boats will be selected based on finishes at Team Trials
To qualify for team trials you must have competed in the Women’s IC expert or equivalent division at 1 ESKA circuit event. Your top 4 finishes will be used to determine your seeding at team trials.
You may also gain credit towards your 1 competitions via credits issued from ESKA events you attended but were canceled due to conditions.
International Masters (40 and up): (1 position)
#1 boat will be selected based on finishes at Team Trials
To qualify for team trials you must have competed in the Master’s IC expert or equivalent division at 1 ESKA circuit event. Your top 4 finishes will be used to determine your seeding at team trials.
You may also gain credit towards your 1 competitions via credits issued from ESKA events you attended but were canceled due to conditions.
International Juniors (Under 18 as of January 1st year of Worlds): (1 position)
#1 boat will be selected based on finishes at Team Trials
To qualify for team trials you must have competed in the Junior’s IC expert or equivalent division at 1 ESKA circuit event. Your top 4 finishes will be used to determine your seeding at team trials.
You may also gain credit towards your 1 competitions via credits issued from ESKA events you attended but were canceled due to conditions.
Coach and Manager are decided on by the US East team after team trials.
In the event that one paddler pre-qualifys for 2 team positions, he will be asked to choose one position to accept and the other empty position will be put into team trials.
Other team trials invitations or team invites may be extended to other paddlers depending on lack of interest in certain team positions.
