What I Failed to Learn at the Jones Center Pool

Kayaking protocol is fairly strict on the idea that one paddler should not tell another paddler whether he should run or not run a particular rapid. We scout for hazards together; we help our friends assess their own skills in light of the risks presented by those hazards; we set safety for each other and assist to the extent we can with a rescue when things go wrong; we do not tell another paddler whether he should run or not run a particular rapid. We are ultimately responsible for our own safety. We may run rapids we have no business running but we do so because we want to learn and grow as paddlers. I went in to the pool at the Jones Center today because I wanted to learn and grow as a paddler. I knew the risks.