The Charlotte Open and USACK National Slalom Championships provided a great opportunity for paddlers from North America to compete on two very challenging courses against a field peppered with international champions.
Olympic Champions Elena Kaliska (SVK K1W) and Michal Martikan (SVK C1) headed the group of foreign stars, with international champions and medalists backing them up.
Fraker achieved a rare coup for C1s in his victory over all, including K1 Men, at the 2009 Charlotte Open World Ranking Race on Saturday, October 3. Other winners included K1 Pierre Bourliaud (FRA), K1W Dana Benusova (SVK), C2 Scott Parsons + Benn Fraker (USA) and C1W Hailey Thompson (USA).
For more go to http://123result.com/CanoeLive.aspx?Season=CS_2009&user=charlotte&EventId=97 or to www.usack.org