‘Preparation is everything’ before going into the Mississippi River, says local kayaker

SAUK RAPIDS — Even if the air is thick with haze, someone looking at the Mississippi River from Sauk Rapids might also see Rick Rassier doing stunts with his freestyle kayak, which he describes as “gymnastics on water.”

Aside from doing impressive tricks on his kayak, Rassier, 63, of Sauk Rapids, is passionate about river navigation safety.

In just the last few months, there have been three reported incidents in the St. Cloud area of people getting separated from their boats or kayaks on the Mississippi River. In one of those cases, a kayaker, Donald Richard Worden, 39, of St. Cloud, was found dead in the river on June 2.

Rassier spoke with St. Cloud LIVE to share his insight on safety on one of the longest rivers in the U.S.

Rassier recently joined the

St. Cloud Area Kayak Club Facebook group

to raise awareness of high river levels.

“It got up to 36,000 cubic feet per second,” Rassier said. “I wanted to warn people not to come down the Sauk River into the Mississippi River.” He looks for water measurements on

americanwhitewater.org

.

Rassier explained that the danger of paddling from the Sauk River into the Mississippi River at high water levels is due to river strainers. River strainers are naturally formed or man-made objects that allow water to pass through but “catch” larger objects. Strainers can be anything such as fallen branches, roots, tires, rocks, etc.

Strainers have the potential to damage and sink boats. If someone goes underwater from their boat, they can easily hit their head on a strainer. These chances are heightened when the water is too muddy or cloudy to see anything below the surface, according to Rassier. He also stressed that even seasoned paddlers or boat operators can be surprised by a strainer as new obstructions can be added daily within a section of a river.

Low-hanging branches are also dangerous. Depending on the speed of the boat someone is on, they have the potential to injure or even kill a paddler.

Another factor to consider before going into a river or any body of water is the temperature. The risk of someone suffering hypothermia is higher during colder months of the year, especially in the water. Rassier said that this year, the cold water might have been a good thing considering the water levels were very high.

“If the temperatures would have been higher, there would have been more people on the water,” he said.

For beginners, Rassier says kayaking on a lake would be a good start. Movement would be almost entirely based on the operator.

“If you don’t have control … it doesn’t take much to get in trouble,” Rassier said.

Before kayaking, or any paddle-related activity, Rassier advised, “Know your limits, know the water levels, know the air temperature, assume you could end up in the water.”

“Preparation is everything,” he said. Before entering the Mississippi River on June 14, Rassier dressed in a dry-suit which keeps water out of his body’s core. His freestyle kayak’s top is covered with a “skirt” which keeps water from going inside the kayak. He also has a beach ball under the skirt to assist him when wanting to go right-side up when underwater.

As a freestyle kayaker, Rick Rassier wears a helmet to protect his head from potential underwater impact while performing stunts that involve flipping the kayak. Wearing a helmet adds an extra layer of protection, making paddling safer even for other paddlers too. During colder seasons, Rassier also wears a thermal cap to keep water out and reduce the risk of hypothermia.

“When there’s ice chunks floating in the water … and if you’re underwater for more than three seconds, it’s like brain freeze,” Rassier said.

For a river, he advises scouting for strainers and obstructions if possible. Rassier added that underwater strainers can be visible from the surface. It’s detectable if a particular spot on the river is showing the direction of movement.

Rassier said he often gets mistaken as someone struggling to stay in his kayak as he does very unique flips as a form of exercise. As a former physical education teacher for the Foley School District, Rassier has always been an active person and is never afraid of taking on a new challenge. His skills might make the unfamiliar eye believe he has done freestyle kayaking for his whole life, but in reality, he started when he turned 50.

A motto he goes by, and the title of his book, is

“Take it to the Next Level.”

For the last two decades, Rassier has been traveling around the country for school assemblies to do motivational speaking. During that time, he has also been playing one-man volleyball shows where he would play alone against a whole team of six as part of an anti-drug message. He said he played over 8,000 games and remains undefeated.

Rassier also works with 300 sports teams per year for teamwork motivation training.