By Estelle Johnson
Special correspondent to the Cedar Falls News Hub
Cedar Falls now features a unique environment for the community and visitors to practice an up-and-coming outdoor activity, river surfing.
The sport gained momentum in the 1970s, when German surfers looked for an alternative way to enjoy their hobby in an urban setting because they were landlocked.
Since then, the activity has been on the rise in the United States, especially in the Midwest. In Iowa, for instance, there is a river-surfing course in Charles City. The Charles City Whitewater Park has hosted events such as the “Charles City Challenge 2024,” where whitewater enthusiasts gathered to surf, kayak and paddleboard through the Cedar River.
Now Cedar Falls has its own river-surfing space thanks to the Cedar River Recreational Project, a two-phase development, which includes bank and river improvements. Through grants and fundraising, the city has invested over $3.5 million to create a river attraction of note in town, which is expected to draw in- and out-of-state surfers.
If you are interested in learning more about river surfing, or getting into the water with instruction, you can take advantage of the surf lessons offered through the Cedar Falls Recreation Center and Crawdaddy Outdoors ($20-25 registration required) on June 23, from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. in Gateway River Park.
Watching river surfers’ first experiences
During a June 6 ribbon-cutting ceremony at Gateway River Park, several river-surfing enthusiasts learned new skills, taught by Jamie Borglum, of CrawDaddy Outdoors.
After the ceremony, Brian Sanderman and Alex Brown, of Cedar Falls, donned wetsuits provided by Borglum, and, after a brief instruction, dived into the waves.
There are three features at the main entrance of the course to navigate in the Cedar River now–Alpha, Bravo and Charlie–and they differ in the engineered height.
“As the river level comes up and down, different features will be in better condition for surfing, both on a board or in a kayak,” Borglum explained later.
Borglum’s first students that day tried the features firsthand. Brown took on Alpha, while Sanderman surfed Bravo, as Borglum watched how they handled the experience.
Before the two enthusiasts ventured into the river, Adali Borglum, 17, Jamie Borglum’s daughter, was already surfing, holding on to a board for close to 2 minutes at a time, an impressive testament to her persistence to learn the sport. When she saw that the two men were ready to enter the river, Adali moved away to give them space for their own adventure.
Sanderman, a principal architect at Invision Architecture in Waterloo, took his turn learning how to river surf.
“I’ve been to both coasts, but have never been on a surfboard,” he said.
While another group of four beginners started on the first feature, Sanderman and Brown, having gained some confidence, continued further down the river, tagging along with the instructor.
“It initially seems a little scary, but they do a great job of just walking through the safety part,” Sanderman said. “It made me feel safe out there, so I could just enjoy it.”
Sanderman told me that feeling the water and playing in the river was a highlight of his first river-surfing experience.
After he got back on the riverbank, Brown described his surfing as “epic” and posed for a picture for this story, sporting the gesture for “hang loose,” extending his index finger and his pinkie and posting a wide smile.
He told me that if he could, he would be out doing this every day.
The pair beamed as they surfed and after they finished. Their positive experience may indeed encourage me to try something new soon.
Sanderman, however, was already hooked.
“I want to go back and go beyond just holding onto the board and be able to stand up and really surf,” he said.
