Tryweryn Festival, lovingly known as T-fest by most paddlers, is without a doubt one of my favourite paddling events of the year! It has the perfect mixture of kayaking, competition and social time which makes it a truly enjoyable weekend. I wanted to share what a fun weekend T-fest is and so this article is an account of the 2023 event. Enjoy!
Anxiety is the theme for this year’s World Mental Health Week, which ends today. As soon as I saw that word, anxiety, I knew that I wanted to write a blog article about anxiety and kayaking. Kayaking on white water is always going to involve some feeling of nervousness. You are under pressure to execute your skills with the knowledge that if you do not, there is the potential for unpleasant consequences. Being anxious is a very understandable response to paddling on white water.
However it is also a sport which can lead to high levels of anxiety at times where it is not always understandable. I am talking about anxiety that seems to come out of the blue and yet has the ability to completely paralyse you. For me, this is the anxiety that appears in situations that in theory you should be completely comfortable in. Local rivers you have run dozens of times before, play spots which you know are safe to practice in, rapids which you could run backwards with your eyes closed and still be fine. It’s the anxiety that no one wants to talk about because it just doesn’t make sense. In this article, I am going to talk about it. I will mainly be talking from my own experiences.
I originally called this article ‘I can’t kayak and it sucks’ but figured that wasn’t a positive frame of mind to be writing under. I’ve experienced some health issues recently that have meant I’ve not been able to paddle or live my usual active lifestyle. I wanted to update people on why I have been absent from the water and social media. As someone who always has a lot of words, I thought it was easier to share via a blog post.
I also thought this would be a good opportunity to share the things about paddling that I am missing the most. The phrase ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ is definitely appropriate here. Over the last couple of months there are certain things that paddling gives me that I have been missing. In some ways not been able to paddle has given me a fresh perspective on my motivations for paddling and I wanted to share those.
In honour of International Women’s Day 2023, I want to showcase a massive development that has happened recently in the world of competitive paddling. This is the creation of a women’s C1 category in paddling competitions. Previously women have had to compete in an open category with men. This has happened in all disciplines of paddling but for the purpose of this article I am going to focus on the introduction of women’s C1 in freestyle kayaking.
I recently had somebody reach out to me to ask me if I had any advice or tips for someone just starting out in kayaking. The person asking was the social and welfare committee member at a University kayaking club. They were relatively new to kayaking themselves and weren’t sure how best to support new paddlers in the club. This person was also keen to hear any tips for encouraging more women to get involved in the club. After sending some ideas across, it occurred to me that this would make a perfect blog!
White water kayaking is such an incredible activity which can quite easily become the greatest love of your life. However, starting white water kayaking can come with a steep learning curve which can sometimes put people off. Here are 6 tips to support new paddlers and help them to fall in love with white water kayaking. Please do comment if you have any tips of your own to share!
I went for a run recently and started to reflect on the highs and lows of the year in terms of kayaking. Both for myself and for wider the kayaking community. I often take the time for reflection in this way around the new year. In recent years I have written a reflection blog to finish the year. This year I want to do it differently. In this blog I will not just be focusing on the highs of the year but also the lows, both for myself and for the wider kayaking community. I will be honest that you might find reading about the lows upsetting. I do not want to make anyone sad but I think it is important that they are acknowledged with the same gravitas as the highs.
One of the most common messages I get through my social media accounts is ‘can I come kayaking with you?’. I believe that this question is not asked because people want to specifically paddle with me, but more because people want to paddle with someone. I post a lot about my kayaking adventures; therefore, people know I am out paddling, and asking if they can come with me might mean they can also get out paddling.
One of the barriers to going white water kayaking is that it requires you to have paddling friends to do it with. I do paddle solo regularly but only on flat sections of river or at a white water centre. I would not paddle a white water river solo because of three reasons: safety, social and shuttles.
I appreciate that there are people comfortable paddling white water solo and that is their choice. Usually, the people doing so are more than capable of both making that decision and of carrying it through safely. I am not here to debate that. Instead what I am here to do is to share some tips on how to make paddling friends so that you always have someone to paddle with!
I imagine some of you reading this are hoping to find a kayak shaped present under the Christmas tree this year. Let’s be honest though – for most of us that is only happening if we put it there for ourselves! Kayaks, drysuits and other larger items are big investments and something that you save up for. Yet there are so many smaller items which I’ve added over the years which make such a difference to my paddling days. Many of which are much more reasonable to put on a Christmas wish list.
Two years ago, I wrote an article called 5 paddling items to add to your Christmas wish list. Since then, I’ve gained a few more items which I absolutely love. Some of which would make great gifts. Here are 5 more suggestions of items to add to the Christmas wish list.
Having really gotten into white water stand-up paddling boarding (SUP) in the last year, I decided to put together a series of white water SUP focused articles. The articles are to help guide beginners in white water SUP and each article has a different focus and a different guest writer. My first article was an introduction to the series and a focus on the different boards you find in SUP. My second article looked at the moves on white water that you can do on a SUP and how to achieve them. My third article looked at the safety considerations that should be taken.
This fourth and final article in my SUP series is going to look at the rapidly growing white water SUP community and how you can get involved. Thank you very much to Matt and Eddy for helping me out with this one!
Having really gotten into white water stand-up paddling boarding (SUP) in the last year, I decided to put together a series of white water SUP focused articles. The articles are to help guide beginners in white water SUP and each article has a different focus and a different guest writer. My first article was an introduction to the series and a focus on the different boards you find in SUP. My second article looked at the moves on white water that you can do on a SUP and how to achieve them.
This article is going to look at the safety considerations that should be made when taking a SUP on white water. Thank you to Barry Hughes for sharing his wisdom in this article.