Author: Del

She Paddles festival 2022 at Plas y Brenin!

Post author By Del
Post date May 23, 2022
1 Comment on She Paddles festival 2022 at Plas y Brenin!

At the start of May, I was lucky enough to get to attend the first-ever She Paddles festival at Plas y Brenin in North Wales. It was one of the most enjoyable paddling events I have ever attended and certainly one I will be attending in the future. The weekend was incredibly well organised and the range of activities on offer was fantastic. 74 women attended as participants and the excitement and positivity throughout the weekend was infectious. I wanted to share my experience of the weekend in a bit more detail.

Freestyle Guest posts

Freestyle kayaking- the categories explained!

Post author By Del
Post date May 10, 2022
5 Comments on Freestyle kayaking- the categories explained!

I recently wrote an article about the upcoming freestyle world championships to highlight what an exciting event that will soon be coming to Nottingham! Whilst this article was a great way to give people an overview of the event, I didn’t get the chance to go into detail about each of the different freestyle categories. With some help from a few well-known faces in kayaking, this article is going to do just that!

Freestyle

The 2022 freestyle world championships are coming to Nottingham – here’s all you need to know!

Post author By Del
Post date April 25, 2022
4 Comments on The 2022 freestyle world championships are coming to Nottingham – here’s all you need to know!

Anyone who has visited Holme Pierrepont (HPP) in Nottingham recently will be aware that there is an increasing presence of members of the freestyle community, both from the UK and from around the world. HPP is a world-class freestyle training ground and it is not unusual to find an abundance of playboaters here, especially during the warmer months. But you may be wondering why there is such a high level of activity and growing excitement at HPP right now. If you haven’t already heard, at the end of June, the 2022 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships are coming to Nottingham!!

The live schedule and results can be found here.

General

My worst swims and what I learned from them

Post author By Del
Post date April 11, 2022
5 Comments on My worst swims and what I learned from them

I have debated about writing this article for a while. With each of these swims came feelings of shame and anguish. But I have had a lot of time to reflect on them all and through these reflections, I have been able to take away valuable lessons. I am not encouraging recklessness but simply highlighting the things I have learned as I have gained more experience. I have written the swims in chronological order of when they happened.

ShePaddles

Paddling achievements by women – In honour of International Women’s Day 2022

Post author By Del
Post date March 12, 2022
2 Comments on Paddling achievements by women – In honour of International Women’s Day 2022

This week has seen international women’s day (IWD). This is a day to celebrate the achievements of women across the globe. I love that on this day in particular my social media is filled with the stories of inspiring women. Many of these stories are shared by others and I appreciate learning about these women, some of whom I may not have come across before. I wanted to take the opportunity to share four more stories via my blog. The stories are of inspirational women, whose achievements everyone in paddling should know about.

General Mind set

Three reasons I am completely addicted to kayaking

Post author By Del
Post date February 15, 2022
No Comments on Three reasons I am completely addicted to kayaking

Anyone who knows me will know how much I love kayaking and how often I like to bring up kayaking in conversation. ‘What are you doing this weekend?’ – ‘Hopefully kayaking!’. ‘What do you want for Christmas?’ – ‘Rain so I can go kayaking!’ etc. It is so much a part of who I am that it is easy to forget the reasons why I am so obsessed with it. This week one of my students asked me the question ‘what exactly is it that you love about kayaking so much?’

Gear

Outfitting a new whitewater kayak

Post author By Del
Post date January 16, 2022
16 Comments on Outfitting a new whitewater kayak

This week has been a fabulous week because I had a new boat arrive – a beautiful shiny Pyranha Scorch! Always an exciting event! But before you can take a new boat out on the water, it is a good idea to outfit it to fit you. This blog is a quick guide to how I outfit a new kayak. I’ve also included some extra tips for outfitting a whitewater kayak as a woman.

Guest posts

Who are YOU looking to inspire your paddling in 2022?

Post author By Del
Post date January 8, 2022
1 Comment on Who are YOU looking to inspire your paddling in 2022?

Having people to inspire us when it comes to pursuing a sport we love is invaluable. Whether it is someone we have never met but love following their adventures or a close friend or family member who helped us learn to paddle. They help to motivate us to get out and improve our own paddling. I asked on my social media accounts to hear about who was inspiring YOU this year and got to learn about so many amazing people. I’ve split these inspiring people into themed groups and have chosen one person from each of these groups to share with you. Enjoy!

General

Goodbye 2021

A year ago we all waved goodbye to the madness of 2020 and looked to a brighter 2021. Then it started with a 4 month national lockdown (in the UK) and a stop to any whitewater paddling for most. Yet I have probably logged more hours of paddling this year than any other year. I’ve also been able to share some great days on the water with friends again and just appreciate those river days. Here is a personal reflection on paddling in 2021.

Guest posts

6 Paddling disciplines you may not know much about!

Post author By Del
Post date November 28, 2021
3 Comments on 6 Paddling disciplines you may not know much about!

If you have ever told a non-paddling friend that you ‘kayak’, they probably pictured sprint or slalom kayaking. Why? Because they are Olympic sports and therefore tend to have the most publicity. But there are so many other wonderful paddling disciplines beyond these two. Paddlers involved in these disciplines range from world champions breaking records and pushing the boundaries to complete beginners trying it for the first time. I asked 6 paddlers who are passionate about their discipline to tell me a bit more about their sport and what they love about it. Read their stories below and let them inspire you to try a new form of kayaking.