John Sweet (canoeist)

John Robert Sweet (born 1938)[1] is a former American slalom canoeist who competed from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. He won a silver medal in the mixed C-2 event at the 1981 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in Bala, Gwynedd, Wales.

John Sweet
Medal record
Men's canoe slalom
Representing  United States
World Championships
Silver medal – second place1981 BalaMixed C-2

Dr. Sweet earned his PhD in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University. After earning this degree, Dr. Sweet performed material science research at Penn State, and later started a business supplying canoe building materials.[2]

Dr. Sweet was the first paddler to run a 14-foot drop on the Gauley River in West Virginia. He ran it in a C-1, a single-seat decked canoes equipped with a kayak-like spray skirt. Since Dr. Sweet ran it in 1968, it has been called "Sweet's Falls".[3][4]

Dr. Sweet has a long history of cave exploration, including exploring Butler Cave beginning in 1959. His involvement with Butler Cave and the Butler Cave Conservation Society continues through at least 2007.[5]

Dr. Sweet had been the Faculty Advisor of the Penn State Outing Club at Pennsylvania State University.[6]

On September 19, 2020, Dr. Sweet and Dr. Martha Mary Teeter (also a former competitive paddler) of Davis, California, married.[2]

References
  1. 1940 US Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Arlington, Virginia; Roll: T627_4245; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 7-14
  2. "Wedding Sweet-Teeter". Vol. 143, no. 38. The Recorder. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  3. "Pioneer paddler remembers Gauley's sweet rides". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 14 September 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  4. "50 years later, Gauley River pioneers share memories of first canoe-kayak descent". Charleston Gazette-Mail. 22 September 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  5. "Butler Cave Trips, 2007". Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  6. "It's risky out there! That's why PSU's Outing Club can no longer go outside". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2020.


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