The U.S. Men’s Whitewater Raft Team, based in Vail, Colorado, is comprised of six men: Robbie Prechtl, Jeremiah Williams, Matt Norfleet, Kurt Kincel and John Mark Seelig, the team’s captain.

The team has been in the valley for over 16 years, and the current lineup of men has been together for almost eight, forming their clan in 2013.

“We’ve grown incredibly close over the years. We’re just like brothers; we fight like brothers; we work with each other like brothers; we’re there for each other through multiple life stresses and struggles,” shares Seelig. “And, you know, suffering with other people in the Grand Canyon for 38 hours ... that’s a pretty big bonding moment.”

37 hours and 55 minutes to be exact.

This past January, the team and three experienced raft guides embarked on a mission to row 277 miles down the Grand Canyon in less than 34 hours, attempting to break the world record set by kayaker Ben Orkin in 2016.

“It’s always nice having some other eyes and viewpoints in the boat. These guides have been down the canyon more than 150 times,” he says of the three long-time guides that helped take over some positions.

Three years earlier on January 13, 2017, the team had attempted to break the same record.Their pace put them two hours ahead of schedule, but they were met with a broken raft at Lava Falls, one of the world’s most notorious whitewater rapids. It took four hours in the dark to repair the damages. Their journey was featured in the documentary The Time Travelers.

But, January 9, 2020 was a different attempt.

“We knew breaking the record was going to be harder this time,” says Seelig, explaining how there are many things in this sport that are out of the team’s control. During their first attempt in 2017, the river was close to 19,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), referring to the volume and speed of water flow. This time it was 10,000 cfs.

Seelig says the team knew about four days before the attempt that the likelihood to break the record was not in the cards, but they didn’t realize how low the river was until they were actually in it.

“We’d been training and still wanted to have the experience, and we just went for it,” says Seelig. “We didn’t let up; we’re not those kind of people — it’s the most positive peer pressure. We all went hard for 38 hours.”

“There’s this moment where you don’t want to let anyone else down. You think, ‘I need to do this with these guys,’” he adds.

Temperatures were in the 20s, and their toes were getting splashed the whole time. They said it was the coldest they’ve ever been. Despite Norfleet suffering from frostbite on his toes, the team and their revamped boat design completed the mission, not in record-breaking time, but together, as a team.

“We didn’t want to just walk away with ‘oh that happened,’” explains Seelig. “We wanted to raise money for a cause we believed in.”

The U.S. Men’s Whitewater Raft Team raised $13,000 for Grand Canyon Youth, an organization that gets kids on the river and exposed to ecological and environmental issues pertaining to the needs of the Grand Canyon and other national parks.

The team, which officially changed its name to 9-Ball Watermen in 2017, participates in not only international rafting races, but also in feats such as the one in the Grand Canyon.

“USA National Rafting Team doesn’t tell the whole story,” Seelig shares. “We wanted to look beyond raft team championships and races across the world, and, instead, trying other endeavors and challenges that are on the water — from outrigger canoe paddling, Grand Canyon speed runs, kayaking and paddle boarding.”

Just an hour after the Grand Canyon speed run, Seelig was asked what was next for the raft team. Right now, they’re going to catch their breath and have a team meeting to go over their future goals — maybe a race in Chile next year on the Futaleufu River or a long distance kayak experience.

And, until then, you can find the team training in Seelig and his wife’s gym, GOAT, located in Edwards. The strength and conditioning facility is designed for professional athletes and recreational folks alike.

“The gym provides a space where people can almost have a personal training type experience, but in a group setting,” explains Seelig. “With that group setting, people are inspired by each other, and they push each other. It builds a fantastic community.”

Originally published in the Spring 2020 issue of SPOKE+BLOSSOM.

9-Ball Watermen: The U.S. Men's Whitewater Rafting Team