Stephen Ligtenberg

Hailing from Franklinton, North Carolina, I spent my first eighteen years on a small farm raising chickens and climbing trees. I attended Bowdoin College in coastal Maine where I developed a passion for the outdoors and earned a degree in mathematics. The West Branch of the Penobscot River in the Maine North Woods became my home away from home, and I spent many long weekends paddling the wild waters of Northern Maine.

After graduating in 2015, I spent a summer coaching a group of young whitewater athletes as we traveled from Maine to the Ottawa, paddling lots of rivers along the way. I spent the past two summers coaching the Jackson Hole Kayak Club and traveling to kayak events around the Northern Rockies. Between summers for the past three years, I’ve traveled and paddled extensively both at home and abroad while working all kinds of jobs from blacksmithing for a sculptor in Maine to teaching astronomy in California.

I first heard about World Class Academy from a recent graduate while paddling in Austria. I’m excited to paddle and explore with World Class Academy, and I am even more excited to help inspire the next generation of kayakers!