"It was awesome to get two different groups that represent the country together and race together," says Olympic Athlete Casey Eichfeld.

The charity race brought wounded veterans like Brian Overfield to the 1,700 foot man-made re-circulating whitewater course to learn from the world's most talent paddlers.

"I was invited to come out and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be with Olympian kayakers!" exclaims Overfield.

Overfield has been recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. where he joined Team River Runners an organization that provides adaptive whitewater paddling programs for injured veterans.

"It really helps people, or at least helped me both mentally and physically to realize that even though you're hurt you can still do something and have a good time doing it," says Overfield about kayaking.

Helping people is exactly what the Adventure Sport Center International hopes to do with the charity raft race.

"What we really want is to expand this notion of therapeutic recreation for returning veterans in particular," says ASCI Executive Director Matt Taylor.

"A lot of people go into the military for adventure and we just want to expand their definition of adventure to include things like kayaking, rock climbing, and mountain biking so they can enjoy it for the rest of their live," says Taylor.

Through the collaboration with Team River Runner and the Adventure Sports Center International, they hope to eventually hold retreats and camps so other veterans can discover the thrill.

"There's nothing like ripping through a wave that's towering over your head and not really knowing what's coming next," says Overfield.