This U.S. kayaking champion born and raised in Bellingham is back to compete in Ski to Sea
National kayak champion and Bellingham local 19-year-old Jonas Ecker will be back to compete in Ski to Sea this year.
Ecker is back in his hometown to compete during his summer break from the University of Washington’s Seattle campus where he studies marine biology and chemistry.
This year’s Sunday, May 29, race will start with cross country skiing at Mount Baker at 7:30 a.m., followed by legs of downhill skiing or snowboarding, running, road biking, canoeing, cyclocross biking and kayaking.
The finish line will be at Marine Park in Fairhaven with local food vendors and an award ceremony at 5 p.m. Spectators can watch the kayakers arrive at the park, cross the finish line and ring the bell, as well as enjoy food from the Boundary Bay beer garden, Gusto Wood Fired Pizza, Bay City Ice Cream, Feast, Crabby’s Crab Cakes, Jeckyl & Hyde and El Agave.
Ecker will be back to ring the bell as he competes in the sea kayak leg, using his kayaking skills for the Beavers Tree Service team.
“I think what makes me want to participate in Ski to Sea and my favorite part of Ski to Sea are one and the same; it is the community that the race generates. There’s a reason it is referred to as ’The Bellingham Olympics;’ everyone gets involved and everyone has fun,” Ecker wrote in an email to The Bellingham Herald.
“This year I am most excited to be racing for Beaver’s Tree Service. Not only are they a staple in Ski to Sea’s Whatcom County history, but they are also the team my dad consistently raced for and a team I pretty much grew up with. What makes this year extra special is that my dad will be racing the cyclocross leg, meaning he will get to hand off to me as the kayaker. It feels pretty special to have watched him race as I grew up, and now finally getting to compete alongside him. Also, the kayaker gets to ring the bell which is by far the best part,” Ecker wrote.
Ecker won the 2021 U.S. Canoe Sprint National Championships and the 2022 U.S. Canoe Spring National Team Trials. Both years, Ecker won with an impressive lead. He has been a member of the U.S. National Team since 2018, and as of his recent national championship placings, he holds all four national titles for men’s single kayak competitions.
This summer Ecker will go on to compete at the Senior World, U23 World and Pan-American Championships.
“In reality it’s not the placing that means the most to me about these events, it was about how I got there. My dad and I collaboratively write my training program with additional help from the Bellingham Canoe Kayak Sprint Team head coach Steve Scoggins, so it wasn’t just a win for me, but it was a win for both of us. He, both my parents for that matter, put just as much work in off the water as I do on the water and it was really special to show that we were doing worked, and that we did it together,” Ecker wrote.
Ecker first competed in the Junior Ski to Sea when he became old enough, and once he met the age requirement for the main race in 2018 he formed a team with friends called “The Baker Babes.” The friends planned to race together all four years of Sehome High School but COVID-19 soon hit and the event was canceled.
“Overall, I’m just so excited to see Ski to Sea back on the calendar. I wholeheartedly agree with the event not occurring the past two years out of safety for the community, but I am over the moon to be back and racing!”
For those wishing to participate, registration is open online until May 25.
Spectators are welcome along the route of each leg except at Riverside Park for the road bike-to-canoe handoff, due to flood damage.
This story was originally published May 23, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
