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Local venture crew canoe racers returned to practice on Sunday, May 27.

Col. Bobby Miller said practice went great and the paddlers were very enthusiastic.

“It was just great getting the paddlers back on the water and they were equally enthusiastic,” Miller said. “After a real good practice, we went down to the rope swings. We always end the practices by going down to the rope swings we have at Five Lakes. They thoroughly enjoyed that. We plan to practice again this coming Sunday.”

The group normally begins practicing on the first warm Sunday of January or February, but that was pushed back to March because of cold and rainy weather. The March start date was then pushed back to May because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Miller said they had great weather and it was very windy, but that made it even more successful because it made it harder to paddle.

Miller said they had 14 paddlers.

There was about half and half of experienced paddlers and novice paddlers. Miller said the experienced paddlers went once in an effort to rotate them with the novice paddlers.

Novice paddlers are brand new paddlers.

The racers were scheduled to have three competitions this year in the Bayou Liberty Race, the Bogue Chitto Race and the 54th annual Boy Scouts of America White River Canoe Race in Arkansas, but two were canceled.

The Bayou Liberty and Arkansas competitions were canceled.

The teams are still racing in the Bogue Chitto event. The Bogue Chitto Race is a 3-day, 110-mile competition. It takes place July 16-18.