- My name's Emily Jackson.

- And my name's Nick Troutman - And on this episode of "Great Family Adventure" we're Competing at the World Championships for freestyle kayaking.

- Here in Columbus, Georgia.

(upbeat music) (crowd cheering) There is definitely some buzz in the air here in Columbus, Georgia.

Everybody knows that the athletes are in town and the world championships is happening this week.

(crowd cheering) - You want everyone to do their best, but who's best is the very best, is the question that we're getting answered here.

(Nick screaming) (upbeat music) - I am Emily, and this is Nick.

As world champion Whitewater kayakers, we're not just navigating the rapids, we're navigating life on the road with our kids.

Tucker and Parker - Join us as we tackle the wild ride of parenting, homeschooling, and competing all while exploring the great outdoors.

- [Both] This is our "Great Family Adventure".

Funding for Great Family Adventure is provided by Collette offers small group exploration tours, destinations and local experiences.

Explorations by Collette.

Guided travel since 1918.

Alaska by rail.

Passengers can travel the coasts and wilderness of Alaska with baggage, service, meals, and wheelchair access.

Information available at AlaskaRailroad.com Vivid-Pix memory station and software allows users to scan personal history items like photos and documents, record voice narrative, and share what has been conserved.

More online at Vivid-pix.com.

Host- And by these additional sponsors ♪ upbeat music - So I got into kayaking because my father was a competitive kayaker himself.

So I was born and raised in an RV because he wanted to pursue being a professional kayaker and he had a family.

So I was surrounded by kayaking from an early age.

- When Emily came to me when she was 13, said, I wanna learn to roll.

And then Dane's like, wait, I wanna learn to roll.

And they both learned that same day.

From that moment forward, it was like game over.

They literally paddled with me every day.

And that was, you know, as a parent dream come true.

- So I myself have won a world championship back in 2009, actually won it the same year as Emily, which was pretty cool to win it together.

My brother-in-Law, Dane Jackson, he's won four in the men's class.

My father-in-Law, Eric Jackson.

He's won four in the men's class as well.

And so there's definitely some titles that go around the family, but for the most part, everybody's here to just try their best, compete their best, and see who the winner is on finals day.

- There's a lot on the line here.

So for me, I've won three World Championships titles in the past, and the one thing they all have in common is that they were on a feature that's called a Wave.

And so this is the fourth one now that I'll be competing at on a wave style feature.

So I've never actually lost a World Championships on a wave yet.

Now at the same time, the competition is stiffer than ever and I'm just excited to be here because most of the people I'm sharing the Eddy with are not quite as old as I am, and I've been coaching them for most of my life.

So I'm really excited to share the Eddy with them and then just have a lot of fun.

(upbeat music) Being able to go rafting is just a great way for us as a family to share our love for the river and showcase how fun these rapids are.

- It's gonna be fun.

We haven't done it with the whole family, done it with just the grandkids before, but not with grandpa.

(upbeat music) - Here we go.

(both shouting) - For us, it's really important to get the kids and the grandparents together as much as we can.

Being that we don't always get to spend that much time with them throughout the year 'cause they're so far away.

And the event is more than anything, just a great excuse to get everybody together.

(Nick shouting) (gentle music) So with my parents coming in to support us all week, we thought it would be ideal to stay at the same place they are.

and just getting to spend some quality family time together.

(upbeat music) I'm doing a little bit of relaxing.

We're kind of enjoying the pool side and the kids are definitely excited to spend some time here in the pool.

(upbeat music) - The kids are absolutely stoked for their grandparents getting here and actually having both sets of grandparents here.

It's such a gathering of the community and everybody here really just feels like such close knit friends and family.

- My favorite part is actually the rooftop because the view up there is really special.

So the whole family, they know the river, they've been in the river, we've paddled in the river, but getting to see it from that particular bird's eye view, you have a deep appreciation for it.

(upbeat music) (gentle music) - Mornings where I get most of my me time, the whole house is asleep.

So I'm gonna do some yoga, a little bit of breath work, and just kind of ground myself before we get into the day.

(gentle music) When getting ready for a big event, one of my favorite things to do is to spend morning time focusing on me.

And so yoga's a big part of that because it's movement and it really helps me tap into making sure my body feels prepared for the kayaking that I'm asking it to do.

- So today we're going to Oxbow Meadows to do a little homeschooling on the road and get into some science and fun with the kids.

- Hello.

Good morning.

Welcome to Ox Bow Meadows.

We're gonna look around the center and check out some really cool animals.

Do you like animals?

- We love animals.

- Oxville Meadows Environmental Learning Center is a hands-on exploratory center where we have lots of animals on exhibits and we also have lots of different educational opportunities both here on site and offsite.

We're gonna walk over and do some of our sensational science show.

(upbeat music) Even people can conduct electricity.

- So do you mind putting my hand.

- Hold onto that little metal part right there?

The aluminum foil, whoa!

(upbeat music) All right, who wants to go outside and meet some animals?

- I do.

- You wanna come out some animals?

Alright, follow me this way.

I'm gonna bring out a couple of my animal friends or our animal ambassadors where you might get to get up close and personal with them.

(upbeat music) So this is actually a baby American alligator.

What is an adaptation that you can see on the American alligator's body?

That's a cool adaptation, can you hear that?

- Oh, it makes like a squeaking sound or like a-- - Like a squeaky toy.

Yeah, do you have any guesses why it makes that noise?

- Call hers mom.

- Exactly.

Yeah.

(upbeat music) Alright, so we are going to do some dip netting.

Parker, you can step up right here and take a scoop.

What can you catch?

Alright.

Whoa.

That was a good action shot.

Ooh, you got something cool.

I see it already.

This is actually a baby dragonfly.

(gentle music) (upbeat music) - We are here getting ready for the opening ceremony.

2023 ICF Freestyle World Championships and my family looks ridiculous as always.

I think there's a little American over here - America Daddy might be the solo Canadian out here.

No, the rest of the Canadians are that way.

We're going to find him.

(upbeat music) Woo!

Ah, am I late.

I might be a little late, sorry guys.

(upbeat music) Everybody's coming out with their different countries team uniforms.

Games are about to open up.

It's gonna be a good time.

(upbeat music) (crowd cheering) - At the start of the event.

There's always the preliminary round and the preliminary is basically the first qualifying and the first cut.

So we get three rides, your best two count, and they cut the pool from about 50 people down to 20.

(upbeat music) (crowd cheering) Even though Nick and I as well as my brother Dane made the preliminary cut, my dad sadly did not.

They only took 20 on and he got that right bubble boy 21st.

- I'm pretty competitive person and I really, I like performing well.

This year's worlds.

I guess my worst result in a world freestyle championships.

But it happens, it's part of the game.

But if you're gonna lose and watch other people compete and do well, obviously there's nothing better than that being your own kids.

- EJ has definitely passed on a legacy - Now his grandkids are out there kayaking in their own boats.

So I think for him, part of the success and part of his joy is just knowing that he created this whole tribe of really talented kayakers.

- For me, it's just as exciting to watch that as it is to watch the competition and clearly that's where the future is.

So actually get their autographs now before they're too famous.

(both laughing) (upbeat music) - So one of the coolest things about Columbus is really just its food scene.

And for the kids, their absolute favorite was all the donut shops.

(upbeat music) - As a family, we decided to hit up three of the more popular donut shops.

- We are gonna go to Golden Donuts, Very Best Donuts and Columbus Best Donuts.

- I would like to get two of the cinnamon twist.

- I like the chocolate one.

(upbeat music) Donut shop number one, one down, two to go.

(upbeat music) - The white one.

- The white one up in the back.

(upbeat music) See which ones?

Oh, straight for the twist.

Sim and twist from Golden Donuts.

This looks amazing, how is it buddy?

- Good.

- Is this as good as you thought?

- Yeah.

- I'm giving it 9.5 out of 10.

What do you give it?

- A 10.

- You give it a 10 out of 10.

What do you think Parker?

- Oh nine out.

- Nine out of 10.

The kids had an absolute blast sampling the different donuts and I think in the end it seemed like Golden Donuts was the clear winner.

Although Parker still likes the Very Best Donuts.

(upbeat music) - One thing that's really cool about the zip line here in Columbus is it's the only zip line that crosses state boarder.

So you start in Georgia, you zip over to Alabama and then you go back again.

- Three, two, one.

(all screaming) - Here we go.

(all screaming) (upbeat music) - This is epic.

This is so cool.

Wow, that was pretty sweet.

- Welcome to Alabama.

- Thanks.

- Are we going up to the upper one?

Are we gonna do the high high ropes course?

Let's do it, you and me, let's go.

- I think for an adult we can just step, step, step on the board.

But Parker's gotta make that little decision to go on this little thin wire and she's doing it.

- You got it.

You can do it, that's it.

That's it.

There we go.

- Tell you what, that was a whole lot harder than the zip lining.

- We do one more zip across the river, are you ready?

Let's do it.

See you on the other side, woo!

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Quarterfinals is the next round that follows a preliminary round and that means we're now cutting from 20 people down to 10.

(upbeat music) (crowd cheering) (crowd cheering) - [Announcer] She's got on the wave and she's returning.

Huge pan ham recovery.

Unbelievable, back pan ham or back blood to the right.

Going for the block to the right.

He's still right on the bubble of that wave.

He got some big moves at the tumble.

- Didn't really get exactly what I was looking for out there, but I think it was enough to make it onto the next round.

And being that you can't carry the points forward, it's really the name of the game is just make it through the next round every time.

Excited for tomorrow.

(gentle music) So the wintering grounds is where we've got all these athletes camped out.

And the coolest part is that the paddling community is so tight knit.

We'll be on the water competing against each other, but as soon as the competition's over, we're all hanging out best of friends, telling stories and just really hanging out with your friends off the water.

- Well, we're on the grill here.

I've taken over from Nick.

His idea of medium rare and medium are different than mine.

So that nobody dies before the competition actually begins.

I'm on the grill.

(gentle music) (gentle music) The last day of the competition had our semi-finals and our finals.

So we were cutting from 10 to five and then five is the final round.

Now for Nick and I, that's an opportunity to kind of talk, well what's the plan?

You have a game plan, what's your routine?

What are you hoping to achieve?

Because to better support each other, you kind of have to know what the goal is.

Like max 80 points and it's not like it's my one some.

- The question is I guess more whether or not what are you gonna do instead?

If you have a pass and it's like, oh, I'm just gonna front surf or do a left blunt, then clearly a left blunt is better.

- Yeah, but the second.

- Even if you did a left roundhouse.

- I know, but it's 15 points.

- Yeah, but is better than zero is the point.

- Yeah, keep moving obviously.

(gentle music) (door knocks) - Come on in.

- I was trying to get you some flowers for letting me stay with you guys at the Colorado tour.

- What?

(Tom laughs) - Those are for you.

- Yeah, I know they're really for Nick, but I'll take them, thanks.

- Hey, ripping up out there today buddy.

Thanks Nick.

- You smack him.

You trying to take him out of the competition?

- You got this buddy.

- You too.

- Really appreciate you.

- One last day.

- One last day, you got it.

- We'll see you at the top Nick.

- See you at the top.

- It's gonna be awesome.

- You guys also gonna cheer for uncle Dane or just mom and dad?

- Uncle Dane too.

- Uncle Dane too.

- But I think you are gonna win.

- There we go, I like that attitude.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] First in the water, Emily Jackson.

(crowd cheering) (upbeat music) Nick Troutman.

(upbeat music) Feeling good.

It's one thing to know that you've got the ride to make it in.

It's a different thing to to do it under pressure.

We just finished up the semi-final round, one of the hardest rounds of the whole competition and now we immediately go straight into the finals.

So the excitement just continues to roll into the next big round.

(upbeat music) (gentle music) - The whole week is kind of leading you to this moment.

The finals, the finals is where the top five get three rides, your best ride counts, and whoever gets that best ride is crowned the new world champion.

(upbeat music) - Going into Emily's third rides.

She was off the podium and she knew that she had to lay down a bigger ride for her to make it up onto the podium.

(upbeat music) (spectator shouting) (crowd cheering) (crowd cheering) - Dane lay down a solid ride, but everyone was kind of fighting for some of the other places.

There's a lot of points in the 700, 800 range, whereas Dane had 1,200 points.

So the battle for the podium spots got really intense.

(upbeat music) (crowd cheering) (metal clinking) (crowd cheering) (gentle music) - Careful.

- Well done, - Thanks.

- Well done.

- Thanks for coming.

- [Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, your new World championship, champion from the United States, Dane Jackson.

(crowd cheering) (gentle music) And the bronze medalist goes to Emily Jackson of the United States.

(crowd cheering) The silver medalist is Nick Troutman from Canada.

(crowd cheering) - Very proud.

I mean, we're proud of all our boys, but today's clearly Nick's day and his brothers are proud of him too.

Obviously Paul is as well.

We couldn't be happier for him.

The gold medalist at World Champion, Dane Jackson from the United States of America.

(crowd cheering) - So it's definitely really special to have three family members up on the podium together.

I think my dad was just joyous.

It just goes to show how much his legacy is really being carried forward.

I mean, to have three family members standing on a podium is really special and we don't take it for granted.

- Well that was kind of awesome.

That was like the Jackson family in action.

I'm just really proud of my kids.

(gentle music) Funding for Great Family Adventure is provided by Collette offers small group exploration tours, destinations and local experiences.

Explorations by Collette.

Guided travel since 1918.

Alaska by rail.

Passengers can travel the coasts and wilderness of Alaska with baggage, service, meals, and wheelchair access.

Information available at AlaskaRailroad.com Vivid-Pix memory station and software allows users to scan personal history items like photos and documents, record voice narrative, and share what has been conserved.

More online at Vivid-pix.com.

Host- And by these additional sponsors ♪ upbeat music (upbeat music) - It is been a long week, but Nick and I both made it on top of the podium, which is really exciting.

So we're just really fired up, excited to celebrate with our friends and family.

Spent a couple more days here in Columbus.

Yeah, we're just so excited.

Can you tell how excited they're good Mom and dad did.