Leif and Natalie

  Natalie reminisces over Stakeout, 2023 Freestyle Worlds, and the progression of the airscrew in the sport of freestyle kayaking. This post was cross posted with one published on the Kokatat team Blog. In May 2023, I travelled to Quebec for Stakeout and arrived just in time to hit Molly for some prime flows and witness the first fully rotated double airscrew by Luke Pomeroy , which is two full aerial rotations before landing. He spent the evening hours try after try, and just as the light was beginning to dim, a huge cheer went up. Two days later, on Cheese Wave, Dane Jackson was the first to throw a double airscrew and stick it , a trick he had been trying since 2013. Dane commented to me afterwards “Seeing Luke get the closest one we have ever seen with such wild rotation got me more fired up to go and land it.”  It felt historical and special to witness both Luke and then Dane be the firsts to land something I would never have imagined was possible within a couple of days of each o