The Alva Brothers are on their way to Great Things!
Two young men from Petaluma who are putting some serious time on the water in pursuit of some rather impressive goals, one of which is securing a spot on the US Olympic Sprint Kayak Team for the 2024 Olympics in France.
Over the last six months, Zach and Petri Alva have been hitting the water in their sprint kayaks all over the state of California doing races as well as logging countless hours of training on the Petaluma River with their fellow teammates from the River Town Racers aka as the (RTR). The RTR is a dynamic group of young paddlers from in and around the town of Petaluma.
One of the Alva Brother’s most recent victories was at the Hanohano Ocean Challenge in San Diego which is the largest ocean racing event in the entire state of California. The boys were the fastest double surfski that captured second place overall. To put that into perspective, the Alva boys were in a pack of over 230 other paddlers!
These two boys are no strangers to the grind, Petri is a full-time college student and Zach works a part-time job in addition to hitting the gym with his brother. Their typical workouts include 3 to 4 times a week in the gym doing strength training in addition to 7-10 times a week on the water with 1-3 times a week on the running track or roads.
All of this hard work is their preparation with the hopes of being selected to represent the United States at various competitions later in the year at the Under 23 World Championships, the Senior Sprint Championships as well as the Continental Olympic Qualifiers to qualify a spot at the Olympic Games for Team USA.
With training this arduous, travels to various competitions as well as equipment, these River Town Racers who are Olympic hopefuls will need the help of our paddlesports community in the form of donations to reach their goals.
The humble Alva boys are putting in the time, work, and effort to be able to go toe-to-toe with some of the best paddlers in the United States and they believe that they have what it takes to earn a spot on Team USA.
Take a moment to visit the Alva Brother's fundraiser page and help these boys reach their dreams of representing the United States at the Olympics in France in 2024.
River Town Racers collectively hope to raise $10,000 this year. Supporters can choose to give to individual athletes(s) or to the club as a whole at River Town Racers Team Donation. A portion of all gifts go to funds for athletes, and to the club overall for use in services that benefit all members collectively, like equipment transportation to races, new equipment (from exercise mats to a second coaching launch), and services shared by the group (like all-club CPR training, team snacks and socials). It’s from the club’s portion that RTR also makes travel grants or clinic scholarships for athletes whose funding needs are greater than what they achieved individually.