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Competitive kayakers Ashley Nee and Caroline Queen are a long way from summer camp.

Nee, 21, of Germantown and Queen, 18, of Darnestown, members of the U.S. National Slalom Team, began kayaking more than 10 years ago at the same summer camp. They now travel the world for training and international competitions, and each vied for glory at the International Canoe Federation's Canoe Slalom World Cup series that ended July 4.

Both began paddling at Valley Mill Camp in Germantown, and neither has looked back. A national kayak coach accidentally timed Queen, then 9 years old, as she went through a slalom course before his team's practice started; he began working with the phenom soon after. Nee tried her hand at kayaking at Valley Mill when she was 10 and now teaches at the camp.

"I'd been paddling like everyone else at the camp and just fell into their workout," said Queen, who graduated from the Bullis School in Potomac in the spring.

"I like that it's a persistence challenge and the opportunity to travel is amazing. It's been a really positive experience for me."

The World Cup, a three-week, three-city tour that began in late June, included stops in the Czech Republic, Spain and Germany. Canoe slalom athletes paddle their kayaks or canoes through poles on whitewater rapids and earn points based on their performances.

"It's nothing like paddling in the U.S. — it's [giant TV screens] over the river and tons of people around," Nee said. "It's a big sport over there."

In addition to traveling for competitions, Nee and Queen spend several weeks each winter training in places like Australia and Costa Rica.

Nee was ranked 44th at the end of the tour and Queen, who only competed in two of the three cities in order to kayak in ICF's Canoe Slalom Junior World Championship in France, left Spain in 27th place. Queen made it to the semifinals of the Junior World Championship, which ended July 12, and was ranked 26th out of 62. Both compete in the women's single kayak category.

Nee and Queen are both recovering from injuries that hampered their performances. Queen tore her anterior cruciate ligament playing lacrosse in February 2009 and had surgery to repair it. Nee dislocated her shoulder training in China last year and transferred from the University of Hawaii to the University of Maryland after recovering because she had no place to train in the Aloha State.

Nee plans to compete in September in the Canoe Slalom Senior World Championship in Slovenia. Queen will have to sit that one out; she will start school in the fall at Davidson College in North Carolina. The college is near a rapids training course.

Both intend to try out in fall 2011 for the 2012 London Summer Olympics.