Former Dartmouth Gridder Finds New Challenges On the Water

 

Hanover — Once a burly offensive lineman, former Dartmouth College right tackle Alex Toth has transitioned smoothly from the trenches to the tides. A 2010 graduate, Toth has lost 95 pounds since his senior season while building a career around another passion he developed while at Dartmouth — white water kayaking.

Sponsored by Tennessee-based Jackson Kayak, Toth is a white water maven both recreationally and competitively.

The Bronxville, N.Y., native placed 25th of 100 in last summer’s King of New York race series, then placed third in this spring’s Wells River Ramble as part of Ledyard Canoe Club’s Riverfest and recently advanced to the final heat in the Ottawa XL Boatercross last month in Ontario.Toth is also one of the leaders in the Winnipesaukee River white water series, winning a recent race on the 2.1-mile, Class III-IV route in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region in a course-record seven minutes, nine seconds.

Toth’s passion for rapids extends well beyond racing. Always scouting for the most righteous routes, he’s traveled to South America on several occasions to hit Class V rivers and launch off waterfalls as high as 70 feet. This spring, he took an 80-foot plunge off Alaska’s De Soto Falls.

“I just love all of the various challenges. Every river is different,” said the 26-year-old Toth, who thanked his parents, Attila and Constance, for helping to support his expeditions. “Every river presents new challenges, so it never gets old. But I also love it because of the people. I’ve seen a lot of different places and different cultures that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise, and just connecting with people who love kayaking (is rewarding).”

Toth owes the discovery of what has become his life’s passion — at least in part — to Big Green football coach Buddy Teevens. Having never paddled a single stroke before coming to Hanover as a freshman in 2006, Toth received encouragement from Teevens to take advantage of the Dartmouth Outing Club’s “first-year trip” for freshmen. He joined classmates and DOC staff for a white water expedition on New Hampshire’s Androscoggin River and soon after joined the college’s Ledyard Canoe Club, to which he remains an active member.

“I was recruited by Teevens and kind of had the ‘big football player’ (mentality) when I got to Hanover,” Toth recalled. “I was just thinking about working out and getting bigger for the season, but coach Teevens is someone who looks out for you as a person as much as a player, and he strongly encouraged me to do the freshman trip.”

Though he wasn’t a natural white water kayaker, it didn’t take long for Toth to be become fond of the people and culture surrounding the sport.

“Boats for guys my size are hard to come by, but Alex Steinberg, a 2009 graduate, took out his bulkhead and basically ripped his custom boat apart so that I could fit in it,” recalled the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Toth. “That was a really selfless gesture by him. But those are the kinds of people you meet kayaking.”

Toth stayed active with Ledyard, joining them for annual spring break outings to North Carolina and other trips. He found a social environment with the group that offered a respite from gridiron rigors at a time when it wasn’t easy to be Big Green football player. The program went just 7-33 during Toth’s 2006-09 stint, including an 0-10 campaign his junior season. He was one of just two recruited offensive lineman in  ...more