It stands to reason McMillan is so good: She hangs out with the best paddlers in the industry. Her husband is Eric Seymour, who co-founded kayaking’s Clear H20 Films with National Geographic Adventure’s 2007 Adventurer of the Year Ben Stookesberry.

Usually McMillan and I stick to skiing. This last week, while Stookesberry and Seymour were off in the Wyoming wilderness hiking 20 miles and paddling 9 to the put-in of a Class V, McMillan and I were campers at the Roxy Bikini Pop Drop in Park City, Utah, where we learned how to huck a back flip (with skis) off a 20-foot ramp into the Utah Olympic Park pool.

The backflip was nothing compared to kayaking, where a simple-looking maneuver makes any great athlete feel like a dyslexic nincompoop on first try. “Oh, I got it,” I told McMillan. Then I started to drown.

“I need a nose plug, then I’m all over it,” I said. Got one, and then I started to drown. Nearly three hours went by of floundering like a fish out of water (except I was in water but I ain’t no fish). I didn’t get it -– my paddle sweep was off; my hip snap sucked; and my oblique muscles were about to explode.

“That’s why kayakers have six packs,” said McMillan trying to motivate me. I tried again, and started to drown. The worst part is that the instructions seemed clear on top of the water, then while underneath the thought of drowning clouded my memory and I – guess – started to drown. Plus, being upside down immediately makes you dyslexic. Disorientation. Fear. Water up nose. Fish swimming by (huge gold fish by the way). Who can concentrate even with the expertise of an instructor like McMillan?

I did give up after successfully completing a wet exit. “You got it next time,” Coach M. said.

If this weren’t my favorite new sport, I just might stick with backflips.