Drop-in log rolling gaining traction
Carla Madison Recreation Center adds a piece to its pool
Katie Heppe took daughters Claire, 6, and Eliza, 5K, to the corner of the pool, asking if they wanted to give it a shot. The two ardently said no.
She hopped in the water, eventually coaxing in Claire, and the two swam over to the inflatable log. Claire climbed on first as a lifeguard held the log in place. He let go and she tried to run, falling off. Her mother tried too, lasting a little longer but eventually tumbling. She popped out of the water with a smile matching her daughter’s.
The Carla Madison Recreation Center on Colfax Avenue and Josephine Street recently added drop-in log rolling from 1 to 3 p.m. Sundays. The rec center is part of a growing movement that aims to bring more exposure to the sport, whose fervid supporters hope to one day take to the Olympics.
“It was really fun. I would definitely do it again,” Heppe said, adding that it was hard to balance at first but easy once she got going.
The sport is fairly simple. Two people hop on the log. They then run in place as the log quickly rolls in the water. The last person standing wins. To start, newcomers hopped on the log alone. As they got better, they tried running with someone else on the log.
Hunter Brill, who was hired as the aquatics coordinator for the new rec center in October, added the sport to the pool three weeks ago. He watched log rolling while growing up in Wisconsin. He didn’t get hooked, though, until he attended a professional conference three years ago and tried a log-rolling workshop.
He said it’s a great activity for all ages and is surprisingly easy to pick up. He took it to Boulder — where he was working at the time — and saw it catch on there. Now, he’s trying to do the same here.
“It’s so rewarding every time you do it,” Brill said. “If you add a second to your time, you feel so accomplished.”
The eventual goal is to set up regular lessons for log rolling, he said. From there, committed adults could form a club, and regional competitions could be set up.
The first collegiate regional tournaments for the sport were held in 2017, said Abby Hoeschler, a world-champion log roller who comes from a family of log rollers. The family has been one of the biggest advocates for getting the sport more mainstream. The first United States Log Rolling Championships at the collegiate level are scheduled for 2019.
Log rolling programs have been established in seven countries and at more than 400 clubs, camps, colleges and military bases in the U.S. in the past four years.
One of the biggest barriers to the sport is the log itself, she said. To break past this, Hoeschler and her family developed Key Log Rolling, a company that develops plastic logs as an alternative to an actual tree trunk.
When out of the water, the logs weigh about 50 pounds, Brill said. But once they’re in the pool and filled with water, the logs weigh 450 pounds. They come with the ability to slow down the logs, making it easier for newbies to try out.
Now that it’s easier to get a log, Hoeschler said the sport has been growing through rec centers, college campuses and summer camps. Last Sunday, Hoeschler visited Denver and hosted a workshop at the Carla Madison rec center, drawing people from across the state who were interested in hosting log rolling. The crowd ranged from representatives of camps to the city of Breckenridge.
“It’s playful and fun. But if you want to take it to the next level and compete, you can,” she said, adding that it’s a great workout and has a low risk for injury despite its perception.
This Sunday, 12-year-old
Luca DeJoseph, 10-yearold Isabella DeJoseph and her friend 10-year-old Sydney West gave log rolling a try. Initially, the three fell off quickly. But by the end, they lasted for quite a while and took to challenging one another.
The siblings’ mother, Alana DeJoseph, watched and took photos. The family hadn’t used a rec center often but has been going practically every week since Carla Madison opened.
Alana DeJoseph said she was hesitant to try but knew her kids would wear down her resolve.
“I think these kinds of things are so important to building community,” she said.