Evolution of a River Bum

Nebraska Kayak Polo is owned and operated by Dan and Susan Randle. Dan grew up in Logan, Utah, and spent most of his summers rafting with his Dad all over Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho. After high school, Dan got the itch to wander, and took his love of whitewater rafting up to Alaska, where he found a raft guiding job on the Nenana River outside of Denali Park. Dan spent his first paycheck to buy his first kayak — a fiberglass Dancer. After swimming eleven times on a 13-mile stretch of the big, fast (and 38-degree) Nenana River, he decided to spend his 2nd paycheck on kayak rolling lessons from the Denali Outdoor Center. It didn’t take long for him to learn to roll, and his fate as a river junkie was sealed.

Dan and Susan met in Denali Park, and their first date was a 4-day, self-guided fly-in whitewater trip on the Class IV Talkeetna River, and they have been inseparable ever since. They spent many years bouncing around the Western United States and Canada, running rivers and hiking with their two yellow labs, Bob and Steve.

In 2005, a family emergency brought the Randles to Susan’s hometown, Omaha, Nebraska. Not long after that, their first baby boy was born. Not long after that, their second baby boy was born. At that point, the Randles got a good, solid taste of the burden of responsibility (along with a pleasant taste of the good life, and easy living that Nebraska offers). Before they knew it, their “temporary” move to Omaha became more of a permanent one.

The Randles started Nebraska Kayak Polo in February of 2006, and have introduced hundreds of people in the Omaha area to the great sport of kayaking, and the people who regularly play kayak polo have developed some very strong paddling skills. In just two months, a group of over 40 Nebraska Kayak Polo players developed a proficient paddle roll–and many even learned how to hand-roll, ball-roll and cartwheel their boats in the pool.

If you ever find yourself “somewhere in middle-America,” and you need to get off the Interstate and into a boat, give the Randles a call and they’ll introduce you to a really strong, passionate group of paddlers, who also happen to be one of the nicest group of paddlers you will ever meet.