Paddle4Play

Salmon Leap Canoe Club 1000m Winter Indoor League

2011-12-20T22:48:00.000Z

After 2 months 93 races with 44 juniors paddling a combined total of 142KM the 1st SLCC Indoor league has finished.
Participants challenged one another to leapfrog up the table, With a high standard from all participants ranging from between 10 up to 16 years old. Comprising of Salmon Leap Canoe Clubs Junior C and D Squads.

THE FACTS

Races 146
Distance 1km Sprints = 146KM or 146,000 metres
Participants 44 Juniors
Fastest Time – 5.18 Minutes – Stephen Hyland
Biggest improvement – Sean o Malley Gannon – 166 seconds
Most raced – Mark Waldron (9) = 9KM
Most Wins – Stephen Hyland (5)
Fastest Loser – Brian O Neil 5.26 minutes

2011 League Table

Place	Name	Best Time
1	Oisin Casey	5.20
2	Stephen Hyland	5.18
3	Brian O Neil	5.26
4	Mark Waldron	5.27
5	Mark Slattery	5.27
6	Ryan O Hara	5.45
7	Brian Mcrann	5.46
8	Dylon Flynn	5.42
9	Ben Kelly	6.14
10	Ryan O Connor	6.11
11	Kiaron Kilbane	6.21
12	Thomas Connolly	6.13
13	Conor Keating	6.20
14	Killian Tully	6.09
15	Alex Smyth	6.33
16	Odhran mac Aireinn	6.52
17	Martha Buckley	7.03
18	Stephen Harris	6.21
19	Cahal Brady	6.49
20	Gerard Quinn	6.40
21	Conor Beegan	7.14
22	Brian Loughlin	7.22
23	Karl Doherty	7.28
24	Ciaran Connolly	7.12
25	Mathew Byrne	7.34
26	Sean Kelly	7.45
27	Liam Mcarthy	8.11
28	Rebecca O Hara	8.02
29	Thomas Abraham	8.02
30	Aisling Duggan	8.55
31	Eoin Mcarthy	8.09
32	Thomas Nolan	8.11
33	Daniel Farrow	8.37
34	Michael Bierne	8.38
35	Andrew Tate	7.59
36	Cian Simms Powers	9.07
37	Sean O Malley Gannon	8.22
38	Claire Croc	11.08
39	Ruby Lawlor	9.15
40	Ben Murray	9.37
41	Emma Mullins	9.47
42	Carlos Pancorbo	10.33
43	Sam o Brien	9.54
44	Eoin Sweeney	15.30

The League champion 2011 was Oisin Casey Who has won himself a Long Sleeve Craft Thermal courtesy of the league sponsor I-Canoe.com

Well done to everyone who took part.

(Some of the junior C squad)
.Adrian Durrant (Coach)

Keeping your hands warm tried and tested!

2011-12-09T19:42:00.000Z

Ok so from the first day people take to the water the first thing is always “I've got cold hands” this is only normal your hands are holding a cold non insulated shaft with exposure to wind and cold water, generally the hands aren't moving too much so the options…..

You need to be able to both grip the paddle and stay warm, lots of people have lots of opinions so here's mine.

As a paddler and coach I spend a lot of time on the water and can honestly say I've tried about every set of gloves on the market here's some of my conclusions

The Marigold

Ok so everyone does this at some point borrow your Moms marigolds with good intentions to put them back. But what usually happens is because of the grippyness of the rubber they end up ripping on the shaft. warmth wise they are good to keep the wind off but they have no insulation leaving your hands cold.

Sailing/Kayak short finger gloves

These were the very first glove I ever tried as a new person to the sport these are great for rope work and protection but for paddling in cold conditions the fingers are exposed whilst the material holds water keeping the hands cold also I found these gave blisters due to the stitching on the inside of the thumb.

Neoprene Glove thin

Due to the thin neoprene these lacked insulation great grip and movement due to the thinner material. great for rope work and rescue, offering protection and minimal warmth, great for ‘warm’ people.

Neoprene Glove Thick

Used a set of Gull thick neo gloves after recommendation from a friend, these gloves were bulky with lots of insulation and protection, to really feel the benefits the gloves would have to be wet ‘which meant cold hands’ the neoprene would then quickly heat up ‘giving you that awful reheat phase – which really hurts!’ once warm these gloves were toasty and really nice.

Neoprene Dry glove

The NRS Mavericks are a neo dry glove with the whole glove liquid sealed and a nice dry cuff to keep the water out these again much like the other neo gloves need to be wet the difference with these is usually neoprene traps water between the skin and the neoprene with the dry glove water doesn't get into the glove leaving them cool. The mavericks also have a very rough inner which will really hurt cold hands with lots of paddling. These gloves work great if you have warm hands when you put them on as they will trap the heat.

Pogies Neo and fabric

Pogies were typically always accustomed to Sea kayakers and K1 paddlers but in more recent years they are at home both on the sea and on the river.

Theirs lots of personal preference regarding neo and fabric, the fabric being slightly lighter usually with a soft fleece lining offering warmth and fast drying whilst the neo being heavier and better thermal property whilst wet.both offer superb protection from the wind and the elements.

Many pogies now offer a short or long option allowing easier access in and out for hands in the event of a swim or rescue. other hybrid style pogies like the motion mambas are a light neo material with a fleece lining offering good thermal properties and the soft feel of the fleece.

Open Palm Mitts

I never really saw the point in these personally a bit silly putting a nice neoprene glove then cutting a hole in them which cold water will flush in and out leaving you with cold hands

NRS Toaster mitts

These are the daddy! absolutely the best glove you could ever need. I can honestly say I can use these into the coldest winter days play boating or creeking with lovely warm hands, the neoprene insulates and allows small amounts of water in which because your fingers are together heats up quickly even from cold to leave you toasty warm. As a mitt compared to the glove some will want free fingers but personally I prefer warm hands, I have set up rescue and thrown ropes with these gloves on and as always as long as you practice no problem at all. worst case just take them off and you've warm hands anyway!

With all gloves I think the key is use what you need. A sprint paddler hardly needs big neo gloves same way a freestyle kayaker with lightweight fabric mitts is pointless. another great tip is make sure your hands are warm going into the gloves and that the gloves are not freezing as a cold glove will suck up heat in the same way a cold hand has no way of generating heat.

IrishFreestyle Calender 2012

2011-12-06T19:47:00.000Z

As part of Irish Freestyles fundraising effort this year we have put together a calendar after a huge online photo competition the winners were selected and here's the result, A beautiful calendar available to buy.

Whitewater Calendar 2012
All proceeds go to Irish Freestyle Kayaking
Following the Irish Freestyle Facebook Photo Competition, we have put together a Calendar for 2012, which will feature the best whitewater kayaking pictures taken of Irish kayakers at home and abroad.
The calendar costs €15 (incl FREE postage)
All profits will go to support Irish Freestyle Kayaking
Order your calendar now!!
Thanks to:
I-CANOE for the help in making this happen
Sponsors of the calendar include: Wavesport, NRS, Sweet, Craft, Riot Kayaks, Liquid Logic, Kokatat, Big Dog, Peak UK, Elephant, H20 Paddles, Astral, Werner Paddles & Shred Ready.
The winners of the photo competition who allowed us use their pictures in the calendar.
All those who shared their best kayaking photos with us.

CLICK HERE

Liffey Descent Video

2011-11-26T20:00:00.000Z

After all the hard work all year with the liffey descent planning and meetings here is the final video put together by an outside company. Lots of footage was taken at Salmon Leap Canoe Club of Peter and Neil.

a great video, take a look.

Nottingham Training

2011-11-12T20:43:00.000Z

As preparation for 2012 European Championships I am trying to get as much water time as possible on a variety of features, due to the nature of irish features being either rain dependant or tricky to learn I decided to take the short flight to Nottingham, UK and get some training at The National Water Sports Centre (HPP) the inlet gate is a smooth uniform hole allowing all hole moves to go, As a training spot because it remains uniform allows learning with lots of time to set up.

Obivously due to its popularity theirs usually a huge queue so I headed over Fri/Sat for a days paddling on my own before being joined by a lot of friends for a quick Saturday paddle before heading back on the plane to Dublin

The aim of my training is to effectivly start from scratch and rebuild by paddling step by step trying to get out of bad habbits and work moves on both sides – thats the aim lets see if it works

Heres some footage I got was using it as a training aid but its here too.

Wavesport Sluice Rodeo @ Stack Event 15th October 2011

2011-10-17T23:03:00.001+01:00

After a long season the scores were in with all to play for in the last event of the Irishfreestyle League brought us back to Dublin well almost…… With no rain and the rearranged Liffey Descent unfortunately the ESB could not give us a flood on the river meaning no event at Sluice, so the back up plan was made….. Stackallan on the River Boyne, Co Meath. A small shallow wav/hole feature which was beginner friendly and good eddy access. The thought wasn't particularly appealing but on arrival we were greeted by a magical level seeing a sweet little feature where all moves were possible.
As the competitors arrived the marquees were up and the registration began, For 2011 the UK league was linked with the Irish League sharing Cardiff earlier in the season and this the last event, as a treat we had both World Champion and soon to be British Champion Claire O’ Hara, Soon to be British Champions Sam Anderson, Paul King and Kim Aldred plus Jack Mitchell who just came for the Guinness but ended up paddling with their bands of awesome supporters most notably the best supporter Laura King!
The event kicked off with 18 Junior men in heats full of entertainment big air loops and space Godzilla's leading the way. The standard was high with the ever improving junior men followed by the Junior girls with the same age old battle of Niamh against Caoimhe this time with the addition of UK team member Kim Aldred who showed the advantage of constant UK features to take the win, In the Sport Class Lee Doherty the ringer had a match set with Conor Mathews who recently reappeared on the scene with some cool liked ends and sweet spins Conor edged out Lee for the win. Both of these lads will be promoted to the Expert class for 2012 with some solid performances. For the Girls Sport Kate Mc Shearer Was left as the lone girl out for a paddle taking the win in style with some wicked waving and sophisticated spins.
The expert women showed the class of World champion Claire O’ Hara alongside Muireann and Aisling again proving why she's the best with some super smooth mc nasty's and air loops.
C1 this year had Orky showing off his Carbon for the first time on the east coast and it made the difference with the light swing weight hitting the air on both loops and Mcnastys into 1st place followed closely by UK Champ Paul King with his cool flurries of ends into splits really showing his class.
The expert men with all to play for saw UK Champ Sam Anderson take the win with his well practiced Felix's followed into 2nd by Adrian Durrant and 3rd Eoin Keyes
The real competition was yet to start with the Masters grudge match Bernard Walsh and Garvan Smith tied for first in the league saw Bish Bash and Bosh take to the water in a fun affair of paddle spins air guitars and crown pleasers as Walshy surfed in for yet another ender he plugged, tucked and pulled through his first loop in competition. The crowds went wild did we really see a 53 year old ‘Cant teach an old dog new tricks’ learn and land a loop! this sent Garvan onto the back foot fighting back with cartwheels both ways and even a cheeky split to seal the deal. As the Scores were counted the crowds waited with Mairead 3rd, Richie Reade 2nd and the suspense was killing them JOINT first Garvan and Bernard the two of them were inseparable.

This was the final event of the year meaning it was also the final selection event of the year,
Event Results are here
league results are here
A huge thank you goes out to all of the sponsors for the day,
Wavesport Ireland have been a constant support of Irish Freestyle based on the banks of the Liffey the whole event really couldn't of happened without them,
You will all be glad to know Wavesport have already signed up as Title Sponsors again for 2012 with new ways to make the event bigger and better a huge thanks to Shane Cronin the man behind the scenes of Wavesport Ireland.
Outdoor Community provided you all with hot soup and sambos from their riverside marquee as well as media and photography
Canoeing Ireland for all their support from the office staff through access, insurances, and trying to book water.
South Dublin and Fingal Co Councils for their support with using the St Catherine's park access and safety management.
H20 Audio For there great prizes for the sports Category winners
Keen Europe for there wicked prizes for the Masters Category
I-Canoe for their support and demo boats as well as competition prizes for the event
Arc Cafe Bar for Party Venue
Paddle4play for event organisation
Event Photos thanks to Vinny @ Outdoor Community.ie

Heres A quick Edit from Conor Macken from the day,

Keen First test

2011-10-17T22:08:00.001+01:00

After a good chat with the groovy guys and girls over at Keen Europe I was lucky enough to receive some shiny new shoes both a set of Keen River Hoods as well as a cool set of A86’s. The first test they got was thrown straight into a week creeking in Austria at the Sickline World Championships event.

The first time I put the River hoods on they felt comfortable, with a neo upper meant some flex which with larger sized feet this is much need especially when fitting into medium sized creek boats, the soles provide a good sturdy support with lots of traction on wet rocks perfect for those spider man moments bounding from rock to rock like a hero. The adjustments both on the front and Velcro back meant a secure fit with no chance of losing the shoes even if you were to take an unexpected swim.

The drainage in the bottom allowed water to clear easily and the cuffed upper stopped small stones from entering and wearing away at either your feet or dry suit socks.

The A86’s are by far the coolest trainers around designed for running I use them as an everyday shoe with great grip and soft light mesh means they are weightless (great for flying in hand luggage) the colours and style really show off the brand with a sturdy fit with wide sole and toe bumper these would be a solid set of trainers for all uses!

Id like to thank keen for their support whilst writing this I've just received a new set of the Gorge boots which look like the job! cant wait to get them out on the river soon

Playtime IS back!

Thanks to Keen Europe for their support.

.Adrian D, Ireland

Adidas Sickline 2011

2011-10-17T21:40:00.001+01:00

With the Autumn closing in it was at lest time for the Sickline White Water World Championships, The event was due to take place in the Oetzal Region of Austria.
For 2011 we had a group of 8 Irish paddlers heading out all descending on Dublin Airport on the same flight, some good will and helpful Eir Lingus staff ensured out 8 creekers and kit all made it onto the same flight, Once we arrived in Munich a group of us had taken the option of booking 2 large vans which equipment could easily be thrown into and we could sleep in, after a couple of hours driving into the night we had arrived at the venue, a quaint Austrian town full of character and scenery. The Oetz Valley some 820m above sea level
After a first night in the vans we took to the water in some big bouncy warm up type runs with the majority of us having not seen big volume water for a long time we needed some acclimatising running the lower Oetz the Upper Oetz leaving a cheeky spin on the race course Wellerbrucken for last thing that day.
The paddling was great cool glacial rivers with bright blue skies and sun beaming down made sure kit dried quickly.
The evenings were spent cruising around the town trying the local beers by the bottle, half litre, litre, 2 litre or even 3 litre glass just so we had tried them all.
With more consecutive days paddling warming up to the event we were feeling good about the lines.
As the event drew near other paddlers descended from all over the world for video nights and ceremony's the atmosphere was buzzing,
As the competition day arrived everyone knew it would be close, one roll, one rock or one bad line would really mess up your weekend, We headed up for our compulsory practise run bright and early not sure weather this was our best idea putting on thinking of our warm sleeping bags, as we left the top eddy and felt the cool water hitting our faces we knew we were in the game, dropping over a sweet boof into the turbulent water below lining ourselves up for the champions killer a sloping drop with a compulsory late right boof stroke miss the stoke and melt the drop before getting spat out eyes to the sky, as always with practice runs we missed the boof ending up in the cold glacial water stinging our faces but knowing we have one chance to get it right as we cruise through the rest of the course looking for clean fast lines trying to memorise the scenery. once to the bottom we make the long walk back up to the get in ready for competition runs.
As the timed runs kick off we see a mix some sweet clean lines and others melting and swimming the champions killer really is a chancer.
This time as we leave the eddy we know what we have to do adrenaline pumping through us pushing us on Bang we hit the boof looking onwards at the killer no time for thinking just from feeling knowing what we need to do, lining up at the top looking into the pit pulling through off the fast green tongue and driving up with the knees presenting the hull of our boats to the stopper as we use the speed racing towards the slot and onwards down the fast lines, As a group we had mixed fortunes during the day with 2 sets of broken blades a couple of rolls and a bit of rock bashing, PaddyTec forced his way into the next round leaving him in 70th overall with Barry and Neil 84th / 85th next up was Colm in 99th Adrian 107th Dave 112th and Ronnie down in 124th
With the whole crew out of the event we took to the town in true Irish style to find the biggest drinks we could (3 litres of Austrian Beer)
We spent the rest of the week paddling and biking through out the valley with loads of great runs with good levels we managed to take Macca for a spin on the Vent, seeing his nervousness turn to smiles and enjoyment after a great run, We managed a cheeky run down the middle Oetz a classic section with lots going on, Dave managed to break his boat on the get in and then Colm went for an early bath seeing the only swim of the week (He drank his bootie juice!) and Neil found a nice hole to test the Raptors play boating skills.
As we waved goodbye to an excellent event and epic party we can reflect on our performance and take positives forward to next year as we will definitely be back.
We spent the last days of the trip in Munich checking out the Galaxy water park with over 1400m of slides before taking to the Oktoberfest in Munich central for a spectacular night of heritage, culture, beer and dancing. A truly spectacular way to round off a great week away!

Heres the Edits from Colm Healy

Clare Glens Sunday 18th September 2011

2011-09-21T01:49:00.001+01:00

Clare Glens 50cm-42cm

Bliss Stick Mystic Lightening

2011-09-09T11:11:00.001+01:00

In preparation for the Sick line extreme race I've been looking for a new boat something fast something shiny and something light!, fortunately I kept coming back to my trusty Bliss Stick Mystic which is now over 4 years old but sill love it, The rivers we've paddled or the good times we've had I have a kind of sentimental attachment surely its not really that heavy….

At first look she tips the scales at a mega 25kg’s ouch yes she really is that heavy so I set to work weight saving,

After removing the seat, footrest, front and rear pillars, airbags, throw line, bit of water, random foam pads, Due to the big water I decided to keep the original thigh braces with cup and the backrest system as standard,

and back on the scales at 16.38 kg, right. now to keep the weight down

Firstly The Seat

So out with the old seat,

at 2.38KG she is a big plastic beast! So working with I-Canoe has its bonuses with some hunting we manage to find “here's one we prepared earlier” lightweight Bliss Stick Seat weighing in at only 0.68kg’s

Then I chopped down the Pillars

Starting at 1.14kg for the two I managed to take 0.16kg off the rear pillar and another 0.34kg from the front pillar saving 0.5kg

Next was the footrest,

Removing the standard Bliss stick footrest with its wide plastic and metal bars weighed in at a healthy 1.32kg this was replaced by foam blocks after making myself a template

Then cutting foam to fit

The footrest alone is now down to a tantalising 0.3kg

so with the boat back on the scales here is the moment of truth has the Mystic diet actually worked,

minus all of this stuff

she's down to…….

Just 18.6KG

Test

To obviously check how this was I rounded up some of I-Canoe’s Stock boats to test there weights

Lightened Bliss Stick Mystic	18.6KG
Liquid Logic Stomper 80	21KG
Wave Sport Habitat 74	20.55KG
Jackson Villain S	21.8KG
2011 Jackson Hero SL	18.8KG
2010 Jackson Hero SL	19.34KG
Riot Magnum 74	23.4KG

A successful days outfitting,

British National Marathon Championships, Worcester, UK. 27-28th August

2011-09-06T12:58:00.001+01:00

The weekend started with an early morning start leaving Dublin port on a long and slow moving path for Worcester, UK
Once we arrived we set up the tents on a quiet corner of the Worcester Race Course. This was followed by a quick paddle to learn the course and to practise the portage. As the night closed in we headed for a hearty dinner and early night before the Saturday races.
Saturday was upon us bright and early with clear skies and warm sun showering the tents. As competitors and coaches arrived and the course filled up their was a buzz off excitement around the place.
The venue was Worcester Canoe Club a large clib house located on the banks of the magnificent River Seven. The course ran from just downstream of the club heading upstream in a lap based course with different distances for each group. The portage was a tight beach in and beach out set up with tough hill to get up from the river. The track was grass and tarmac with lots of spectator space. The finish line was then back outside the club house for all to see.

With Wave upon wave of starts heading up the course all under strict instructions from the started giving the commands, The constant show of coloured boats and determined faces leading off into the distance, With different classes and distances set for each group some were off to achieve just a single lap, whilst others the tough 7 lap course encompassing 6 portages.

As a team Salmon Leap were one of the biggest clubs in attendance and with the addition of Neil Fleming the Irish were among the most successful,

with Neil Sweeping the honours both senior men's K1 and with the help of trusty partner Peter Egan taking the Senior men's K2 title as well.

Also in the Senior men we saw some excellent performances from Dermot Hudson (6th) and Pedro Lopez (9th)

In the under 18 junior men saw Sean McCarthy continue his excellent season with a 10th Place finished closely by Iomhar Macgiolla Phadraig with a noble performance paddling the last lap and a half without his rudder. Following them up was Dan Grimes (16th) Donal Devenney (18th) Kevin Croc (19th) and Brian Mcguinness (20th) once again the curse of the Zedtech continued one lost rudder earlier and Bearach then taking a spill early on leaving him out of contention. This was followed by Brady dropping out halfway through to record his first DNF of the season.

Through to the under 16 and Jack O Hagan who has been in flying form all season coming back from a bad injury to just go faster and faster with every session took a well deserved 15th in a very competitive class. Down the field Jack Seery took an unlucky spill off the start line got himself back into contention with an excellent performance pushing himself up into 24th Place just in front of Michael Croc in 26th. Unfortunately Fiachra ran out of steam clocking up his first DNF.

Down to the U12 category with Kate McCarthy steaming off the start line with an excellent start pushing her right up into contention and coming in a very good third place this was followed on the Sunday by an excellent K2 performance with Kieran Kilbane taking a well deserved 5th place these are 2 of Salmon Leaps youngest athletes and definitely have strong bright careers ahead of them.

In the U14s Brian, Mark and Osin have been making a splash all season training daily with huge improvements and strong performances this was their first international race with a tough field Mark came home in 29th just in front of Brian who took a spill just metres from the line and Osin in 35th Place a great achievement in their first attempt.

Into the veteran classes with some very strong performance Tadgh de Barra took a strong 2nd place staying with the lead group from the start in the over 34’s this was followed by Liam McCarthy continuing his fine form in the over 49’s with a 5th place.

Then the one man who like a wine just gets better with age, Deaglan O’ Drisceoil (Digger) taking the win on the over 44’s category by over 2 minutes in his distinct bright orange Nelo he is sure to reek havoc in the coming season giving many of the seniors a run for there money

The Sunday was followed with K2 racing again with some very strong performances and some just blowing up after 2 hard races. Needless to say the bus journey home was a quiet affair!

Well done to all and here's some videos of the weekend

A low sluice training session with the Rockies,

2011-08-24T15:33:00.001+01:00

Quick video of a low sluice session.

Rockhoppers Freestyle at sluice

2011-08-22T23:40:00.001+01:00

Teaching the rockhoppers some more freestyle with huge improvements, well done to all

video by Bernard Walsh

Yellow River, Co. Leitrim

2011-08-15T06:44:00.001+01:00

With the rain falling we took a drive to lovely Leitrim to try out the Yellow river,

the Map showed a nice gradient and we can see the beautiful Pol an eas waterfall at the get out

One more Irish tree and barbed wire river later here’s the video,

yellow river

filmed with the DogCam HD Wide camera.

.Adrian

Clifden Weekend and Oranmore Video

2011-08-06T12:37:00.001+01:00

August bank holiday weekend saw the Clifden Beach party rodeo weekend return after a break,

This year was set to be bigger and better with 45 people in attendance,Thank has to go to team paddlers Billy, Bowsie and Barry giving flat-water coaching clinics on a wild windy salt lake, this was followed by a small flat-water competition and a 45 person long eddy queue for the evening hole session.

The Evening beach party was a little washed out but as always the Galway crew made themselves a party under the cover of the IFS tent with bottles of Bucky and anything else they could find.

Sunday saw a slow start to the day with most people opting to hide away from the rain in search of warmth and food.

The comp kicked off Sunday afternoon with a large tide due,

We ran he event as 15minute jam sessions a format favoured by most as it gives time to really work the score sheet.

Off went the heats with big loops and flurries of ends right up until the tide changed when we ran a quick inflatable comp, this was won by Orky and his Airplane off the bridge. The Heats restarted with the Expert men, unfortunately the timing was slightly out as we spent 15 minutes getting eaten by the hole we were followed by another expert heat which as the hole died saw big rides from both Barry and Bowsie to see them take 1st and 2nd spot in the comp, other winners included

Expert Men – Barry Loughnane

Masters – Garvan Smith

Sport Men – Lee Doherty

Sport Women – Caoimhe Farrell

Junior Men – Billy Brett

Flat-water – Billy Brett

A special mention has to go out to Mairead Barnwell for finishing 2nd in the masters a great performance, well done!

Sunday saw clear sky's and the wind drop just in time for a nice BBQ on the beach,

Monday we decided to head to Oranmore to find out what all the fuss is about, a small tidal feature just outside Galway,

We were very impressed an extremely good spot! very jealous its not on the east coast!

Here's the Video

Team I-Canoe @ Oranmore

Liffey Training Trips Aug 11

2011-08-06T12:10:00.001+01:00

This week I took some time off from junior courses to run some river trip activities for some of my squad paddlers, the aim was to teach them how water worked and mover and to give them a better understanding ready for the forthcoming Lower liffey and liffey descent races,

A very low river…..

As always the cameras were rolling

I was trying out my new DogCam Bullet HD Wide with great success, whilst the lads were using the good al faithful Gopro HD Wide,

Heres the results, Enjoy

DogCam Bullet HD Wide

GoPro

Longford Canoe Polo Club Championships Weekend

2011-07-24T20:12:00.001+01:00

With the rivers in Ireland still dry and a break in the K1 schedule, I took to the road in search of water, friends and something to do!

As it happened I received a call from Niall Power about a canoe polo competition taking place in Longford, a new venue on the calendar………. An offer I couldn't refuse!

With the van loaded I headed for the venue a small village called Clondra, based on the grand canal with the tease of a dry Tamonbarry to keep focused.

The venue was a small harbour basin big enough for 2 regulation size pitches with parking. camping, toilets and shower facilities as well as a pub. what more could be asked!

The event kicked off 10am Saturday with the first rounds of games. each team would play a league event with the top 4 from each division progressing through to semi finals and Finals.

The Sun was out but unfortunately our players weren't with our first game kicking off with only 3 players we held our own keeping the defence tight and looking for the break. midway through the first half the Calvary arrived bringing ‘Turtles’ up to a full team.

We gelled quickly and put out impressive victory's over our 1st four games on Saturday with teams from WWKC, Kilkenny Irish ladies and bad company all stepping aside.

The evening saw the local pub provide a BBQ for competitors keeping every one both hydrated and fed.

Sunday we awoke with games kicking off at 9am, the early start again caught us short once again 3 players with one late arrival saw us 4 against 5 and on the back foot resulting in a close game and our first loss of the weekend, with one league game left we needed the win to keep us top and meant the easier draw for the semi final, this we did with a full team and good goal difference putting us against Kilkenny in the semi in a 1st against 4th encounter,

Since Saturday the Kilkenny team had become seriously stronger with some late player additions including Billy Brett (Freestyle junior team paddler) again we pushed with skill and brute force taking the game and making it ours with what resulted in a comfortable win.

The sun made a brief appearance over lunch whilst the playoffs went on seeing Kilkenny beat the Galway team.

The afternoons excitement kicked off with a golden goal decided in Div 3,

next up Div 2 final saw Turtles against The WWKC team the game was a very close affair with the introduction of the shot clock causing lots of rushing and mistakes from both teams with a simple lob shot from Eric the decider in an extremely close 3-2 win for the WWKC team.

Last game of the afternoon was the div 1 final with the usual suspects of gremlins and WWKC in another heated final with only one yellow card in a hard fought match seeing Gremlins take the win.

Overall an excellent event in a superb venue with nice weather and lots of good polo and professionalism from all.

Salmon Leap National Marathon Championships 2011

2011-07-20T22:27:00.001+01:00

To mark the clubs 50th birthday Salmon leap took the opportunity to host the 2011 National Marathon Championships, a prestigious race with Irish titles at stake.

For 2011 Salmon Leap set about inviting top European paddlers to attend to really make this a special event. in response World Champion Ben Brown, Rene Olsen, Mark Childerstone and Jon Simmons made the hop across along with other British teams for a great weekend of racing.

Saturday saw the K1 events with a fun race for juniors over a short 2.5km course with 25 participants an excellent spectator sport.

The afternoon kicked off with short course and long courses some fine racing and some fast portages kept the races close with World Champion Ben Brown taking 1st place just ahead of Neil Fleming from Celbridge paddlers

Saturday K1

Sunday went ahead after a night of BBQ and dancing, with the K2 crew boats in action some very noble performances today once again Ben Brown and Rene Olsen just sneaked 1st place by a metre from Irelands powerhouse of Neil Fleming and Peter Egan,

Sunday K2

Once again it was a fantastic weekends racing with some very close races,

Thanks to everyone for taking part, here's a few images captured by Mick Feeney.

Irish Freestyle Cardiff League event

2011-07-17T20:59:00.002+01:00

With a successful league underway we move to Cardiff for the next freestyle event,
With the van packed and loaded we leave Dublin for Rosslare with a couple of traffic jams and a lovely girl from Stena phoning us to check where we are, we made it to the ferry,
Once parked up we find ourselves trapped between flood gates and trucks hunting for an exit to the passenger area, the ship was probably the worst ferry imaginable with tight stairs and opera on TV we were trapped.

Stenna Line lost trying to find the van!

Luckily the ship docked 3 hours later and we were free of the ship! (colm is not to book ferry's again!)
Once in Fishguard we headed for Cardiff. Over mountains and down through Welsh valleys.
Once in Cardiff we found the hotel “Future Inn” with its double double bed rooms clean and smart within minutes of the WW Course.
The Day started early with a full Morrison's breakfast before heading to the course to meet old friends and finally get boating,
With the pumps at 8cumecs the course was fast flowing with shallow features and tight eddys this made for lots of fun bouncing around with plenty of rafts to join the affray,
The Course has a lot of potential as an international competition site with moveable features and changeable flow makes for a lot of fun. Probably the biggest draw to Cardiff over other sites fresh clean water and an escalator back to the top, with top class facilities, cafe and changing facilities inc shop. The competition was due to start at 6pm with a flatwater comp scheduled for 4.30pm so with the practice over time for the flatwater, without seeing GB freestyles new scoring system I decided to enter bouncing loops and cartwheels, mcnastys and splits thrown together with party trick and some more loop combos to see what scored with a high calibre of entries linking well practiced routines I wished id read the rules! luckily the scores were released leaving me in third place with a very respectable score of 635 points
The evening saw the course close with the water turned off and the hole altered before being restored to a meaty 12cumecs this saw the course become a completely different game, with the high flow the course changes drastically, big bouncy holes and fast curious waves, and to round it all off bouncing surging eddy's to make you really watch your edges. With no real practice at the new level of feature we were purely their to make up numbers watching guys throw solid rides knowing the feature inside out,
With Coleman up first we cheered on from the side, big aerial loops and clean cartwheels and splits showing off the new home-grown boat design mkII, with a mix of old school ends and new school air Mark was back in the game taking 1st place in the events C1 Category

With the event continuing with junior men, women and finally onto the men's heats under floodlights,
With Ronnie up first in his sherbet coloured all star (the same colour as the water) trying to learn the new feature whilst putting down competition rides was hardly the best preparation but albeit solid rides with unlucky flushes.
Next up was Adrian and Colm in the same heat, with the rain pouring the music was stopped and everyone hid for shelter from the prevailing weather conditions (Except us who were waiting in the eddy) with Colm looking for the split struggling to bring the ends over and just losing out on the pop with a couple of flat bonuses to assist the cause, Adrian was up with a spectacular window shade into head rudder combo we were struggling with the new feature, with a couple of rides left to try and put some points on the board we started to enjoy the occasion and just see what happened a couple of loops spins and cartwheels and we had those much needed points, in the cool evening air we finished our rides and continued to savour the 12 cumec course.
The results were out leaving Adrian 15th, Ronnie 16th and Colm 17th.
The Whitewater course in Cardiff has lived up to and exceeded every expectation a great destination for some away training and close hotels make for a relaxed weekend full of paddling,
Big smiles and thumbs up for Cardiff!
Thank you GB Freestyle for their hospitality and the great event.

QuickVideo from Colm

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Paddlers Guide Plattling, Germany

2011-06-27T23:06:00.001+01:00

After spending time in Plattling its only right we let everyone know just how they can also paddle there

Destination

Plattling, Germany

Feature

River wide stopper on the Isar, Works best between 180-220cm on the gauge but will work from approx. 140cm-250cm in lover levels becomes very shallow in places and in higher levels creates a green wave in the centre.

Live gauge available online updates every 15mins

Generally river left side is better feature where all hole tricks and combos are possible. But wave can be paddles all the way across with different levels of retentiveness.

Easy eddy access and get on / get off

Transport

Fly to Munich (Airlingus) then train straight to Plattling

Fly to Memmingen (Ryanair) then take the shuttle bus to Munich Train Station 15e if pre booked plus 3e for boat. then onto train to Plattling.

Ryanair is relatively cheap with extra 40e each way for boat, max 20kg weight

Dublin Airport is very strict for weight memmingen didn't even bother weighing them!

AirLingus a little easier but generally more lenient on boat weight

Accommodation

Free Campsite on the riverbank next to the wave

Hotel Isar close walk to feature

Supermarket

Globas is the largest store we have ever seen with just about everything you could imagine all very cheaply priced

Breakfast 3 bacon 3 egg and glass of orange juice 2.25euro

Beer 20 x 0.5l Bottles 5.70euro plus 3.10 deposit you get back when you take the bottles and crate back.

Restaurants

Cafe Stern is based in the middle of town with good pub grub and drinks

Al Borgo is the pizzeria closest to the campsite. big pizza cheap

Chinese restaurant large portions about 8-14e for dinner and drink

adria pizzeria in town good food slightly more expensive

Pizza square building good pizza outside seating only.

Saray Grill, Musty the kebab man with good kebabs chips and free wifi and power.

Swimming Pools

Elypso spa and pool, 3 big slides, jets, lazy river, Jacuzzi, steam room 3 outdoor pools 5.50 Euro for 3 hours 1o minute drive from feature

Local pool 1-2Euro for as long as you want 10 minute walk from feature, all outdoor, 1 slide, small lazy river, big inflatable dog, 5 diving boards, swimming lanes.

Other Info

Remember to take euro power converters.

everything closes on a Sunday except Pubs and cafes

As a rule all water is fizzy ask for no gas!

All plastic and glass bottles a deposit is paid and you will receive unto 25c per bottle returned.

Worlds Day 17

2011-06-27T23:05:00.001+01:00

With today the day we fly home after a solid 16 nights in Germany its time to reflect on some of the scenes of the past few weeks,

Ireland send a 12 strong team to Plattling, Germany to compete in the ICF World Freestyle Championships. Against the worlds top paddlers.
With team paddlers travelling from as early as May the town was sussed for our arrival.
Being met at the airport myself and Bowsie by Tom to really kick off our time away.
Training each day in warm water with a variety of weather conditions
Camping for 15 nights- looking forward to a bed
Junior team members arriving with big hungry eyes ready to achieve and learn.
Day 12 the day those juniors grew up into real future contenders both at home in Ireland and on the international scene.
The Volksfest – Taking in German culture in an unforgettable night.
Kipper on the mic, cartwheeling those tricky’s and milking those Dunphy.com jokes
a live feed going global really putting freestyle kayaking on the map.
Billy Reaching a semi final at his first major event.
Me hitting my first head under mystery moves
Ronnie finding his mojo with big loops
solid rides and big scores from all team members
The opening ceremony team Ireland photos joined by all!
Friday funday of events and chilled out boating.
5.70 euro for 20 bottles of good German beer
Elypsos fun slides and carnage
Local slides and diving boards 2 broken noses and a trip to hospital.
Enjoying Munich a beautiful European City

A fantastic trip with pile of fun! roll on NOC 2013.

The Dress 2011

2011-06-27T22:39:00.001+01:00

As a continued tradition amongst Irish teams started last summer.

By law the senior male competitor who scores the lowest points MUST wear a dress to the losers party.

Rules

The dress must be chosen by the team manager and their decision is final!
The dress must be presented in front of the team.
the dress must be worn for the entire evening.
The dress must be visible no jackets or gowns allowed
The dress must make it back to Ireland for future banter
Only the named person may wear the dress
The dress wearer shalt forfeit their rights to photos of them in the dress these remain property of whoever has them and can be sent to anyone who wants them!

Enjoy !

And the 2011 World Irish Dress Wearing Champion is…….

Adrian Durrant

Pictures to follow!

Worlds Day 16

2011-06-26T22:57:00.000+01:00

After another epic champions party with martial arts display and rodeo bull all in the tent on the campsite took with it the close of another world championships and a farewell to many friends until next time,

Today we chilled out relaxed and cleared the site packing bags and tents away tidying the rubbish. With the event over we sat around watching others paddle until it was time to depart Plattling where myself and Bowsie headed to Munich for another night of culture.

Worlds Day 15 Finals Day

2011-06-25T22:48:00.000+01:00

With the water levels holding Saturday would see all of the finals take place.

‘From ICF Web Site’

Plattling, 25.06.2011 - What's numerous well-humored audiences were on the final day of the ICF Canoe Freestyle World Cup to see in Plattling could be described as a good conscience, Dane Jackson Show '. The 17-year-old Jackson, who had qualified as the first athlete ever to all four classes of a Freestyle World Cup, got a total of three gold medals (C1, Squirt, K1) and one bronze (OC).

Philip received the most applause, however, Hitzig Rath (GER), who secured the silver medal in the C1 behind Jackson. The Ulmer, who had set itself a target of a top-10 placement could take immediately after the race his happiness. "I can not believe that I became vice world champion.The finals was already a huge success for me and now this. Simply incredible, " so heated council.

Also, the teams from Great Britain and Spain had plenty of reason to celebrate: Claire O'Hara and James 'Pringle' Bebbington brought a total of three gold medals for the British, in O'Hara and Squirt K1, Bebbington also in the K1.

In the Open Canoe showed the Spaniards Adria Bosch and Odej Areta its strength and took gold and silver for her team. Joaquim Fontane won a bronze medal in the Junior K1, Aitor Goikoetxea again in C1.

The U.S., Britain and Spain were therefore the most successful nations in this World Cup and took 17 of a total of 24 medals. A total of 222 athletes from 26 countries took part in the competitions in Plattling. As Kanu-Freestyle still not among the Olympic sports that make the world championships which are held in a two-year cycle, the climax of the competition calendar for the athletes dar. The next World Cup in 2013 in the Nantahala fought Outdoor Center in the USA.

Summary of the final races of the day.

Squirt women

Claire O'Hara, who had dominated throughout the World Cup this discipline had, from the start back at all the critical attacks on the World Cup title. Already in the first run, they reached a score of 946, which proved too great advantage for the other finalists. Silver medalist Motoko Ishada (JPN) reached 580 points and Devon Barks from the United States won bronze (356 points).

Squirt men

The 17-year old Dane Jackson won his first world championship gold medal with a 1293-point run in the second round, which surprised even himself. Jamie Gold favorite Austen (GBR) moved up to the end of 1103 on 1173 points, but handed the 'only' for the silver medal. Toru Ishihara, who is from the Squirt powerhouse Japan, finished the race with 903 points and finished in third place.

Open Canoe

The Spanish team won their first medals in the competitions of the Open Canoe Class. Adria Bosch, who participated for the second time in a World Cup, reached in his final gold medal run 131 points ahead of his compatriot Odei Areta. Areta, who fought a neck-and-neck race for the silver medal with Dane Jackson could well prevail in the end with five points. Jackson took third place with his second World Cup medal.

K1 Junior Women

The 15-year-old Lauren Burress (USA) proved in their final run last nerve. Thanks to a big-scoring loop and a Space Godzilla Burress ran a 196 points, which was enough for the world title. Vice World Champion from New Zealand Courntey Kerin managed a 166-point run and then the British Gabby Bates pointed to third. Burress, who had dominated in the U.S. this season, all competitions in her age group, said that her secret to success is simple. "I'm preparing for each race before the same whether it is a World Cup or the World Cup final " , the world champion of the junior K1.

Dane Jackson won his second World Cup title thanks to a 686-point rides. Jackson put a move by one point - Back Loop, Felix, Space Godzilla and a split Wheel Cartwheel combination, which created no other in the C1 - and won the race ahead of Philip Hitzig Rath (GER) Hitzig Rath, the good performance of German team was crowned with a medal, could hardly believe it myself, to have become vice-world champion. "I had set myself before the World Cup semi-finals as the target. That it has passed the end even for a medal is just madness. In the final, everything worked and I am overjoyed, " said the Ulmer, who referred the Spaniard Aitor Goikoetxea to third.

K1 Junior

U.S. teenagers Dane Jackson once again proved why he is referred to as the greatest young talent in freestyle. Jackson dominated the K1 class of juniors at a consistently high level and won his third world title with a furious 1020-point run. That would have served in the men's class for the shared second place. Silver medalist Joaquim Fontane had in his last attempt to put everything on one card after he had scored only low scores in the two previous runs. He kept his nerves under control and showed a great performance which was rewarded by the judges with 773 points. Bren Orton (GBR) tried nachzulegen, Fontane could not overtake anymore. Thus bronze at Orton, who got 733 points for his last ride.

K1 Women

With a world championship title in the bag Claire O'Hara was mentally prepared to go well in the race for the title of the women's K1. The reigning world champion Emily Jackson (USA), sister of Dane who paddled in all previous rounds of high scores towards the title defense, had to settle for the silver. O'Hara showed especially in the second ride all their skills and took 663 rating points."Right from the first move on, I felt good, everything else will happen by itself," Sun O'Hara."has the K1 women at this World Cup again made a big step forward. I am thrilled that I could be a part of it, " said the likeable Brit. Jackson, in the finale could not get their best performance, became vice world champion with 583 points ahead of training partner Ruth Gordon Ebens from Canada (450 points).

K1 Men

After James 'Pringle' Bebbington would be eliminated in the semifinals and almost his first final run was rather dull, he kept his nerve in the third and final attempt at control. The 23-year-old Briton, who changed regularly wintered in Uganda, his mental preparation for the finale. He found that he was too loose in the previous rounds, and thus had difficulty finding the contest. In the second race he put it, mentally pumped up, his best run so far with 1020 points out. This he could even with a number of his best tricks - Move to the beginning of an entry in the shaft, and both sides McNasty's Phonix Monkeys, loops, a Space Godzilla and a lunar orbit - and once again improve in the third run was an incredible 1053 points. This score, he also had to present, as the Slovakian Peter Csonka for his final ride was also 1020 points. Csonka, who had dominated the quarter and semi finals, was runner-up thus against the Americans Stephen Wright, who received 940 points for his best run.

During the morning we found some fun and games on the Segways with Ronnie taking a fall in the mud and Joey showing skill and composure in dominating the ramp of doom!

Worlds Day 14

2011-06-24T23:10:00.000+01:00

With the high water levels expected Friday was used as a rest day to allow high flows to clear before the finals on Saturday,

Fortunately the high flows never materialised and left a day of recovery and fun events on the water.

The Fun events planned were

1. SUP Race

The course was set to ferry glide above the upstream bridge before using the flow to go down through the hole river right eddy out round a buoy in the eddy before coming back across the flow to the finish line in the river left eddy – Sounds Simple

Myself, Niamh and Caoimhe took the challenge with no prior experience what’s the worst that could happen?? – Well…. Niamh made a good start but got stuck in the flow and ended up 200m down stream for a long walk back up, Caoimhe did quite well and I spent 5 mins swimming around an eddy after getting the leash between me and the board snagged around the marker buoy, loads of fun and a great way to cool off in the hot Plattling Sun.

2. Teva Big Trick

each competitor was given 2 attempts to plug the biggest trick possible the event was won jointly by KATCHA and those crazy Germans with their 3 man loop – 3 kayaks lashed side by side dropped into the hole before plugging for a loop and sticking it!

2.5 Party Wave

As a side show to get some nice photos we had a party wave session getting as many people surfing the wave as possible – as usual lots of carnage but great spectator sport!

3. King of the wave

Unlike all other king of the wave competitions this one was different,

A le mans style start competitors run to their boats jump in, deck on and seal launch from the river right bank upstream of the hole, drop onto the hole and surf across to the river left side where their prize was being held by a raft suspended above the hole,

The prize was a raw fish slippery and wet, the winner needed to grab this from the raft, unfortunately at the same time the raft crew would be propelling all kinds of nasty stuff at the competitors – ketchup, mayo, potatoes, fish guts, eggs, flour

Coming out on top was Sam Stevens from Team GB a hard fought battle.

The evening was spent around a campfire chatting and drinking before the following day of finals.

The Dress 2011

2011-06-24T22:40:00.000+01:00

As a continued tradition amongst Irish teams started last summer.

By law the senior male competitor who scores the lowest points MUST wear a dress to the losers party.

Rules

The dress must be chosen by the team manager and their decision is final!
The dress must be presented in front of the team.
the dress must be worn for the entire evening.
The dress must be visible no jackets or gowns allowed
The dress must make it back to Ireland for future banter
Only the named person may wear the dress
The dress wearer shalt forfeit their rights to photos of them in the dress these remain property of whoever has them and can be sent to anyone who wants them!

Enjoy !

And the 2011 World Irish Dress Wearing Champion is…….

Adrian Durrant

Pictures to follow!

Worlds Day 13 Eve

2011-06-23T22:50:00.000+01:00

The evening entertainment was a trip to the Volksfest a beer festival held in Plattling for all competitors, coachers, and supporters.

we arrived to a live band and performers on stage and a party atmosphere with litres of beer the order of the day and waitresses wearing traditional attire

outside there was a funfair with all the usual rides.

As the party continued it really showed both German hospitality and culture at its best!

Billy Ride Prelim 2

2011-06-23T12:43:00.001+01:00

Just a quick video as it was to hand! Billy Brett 2nd ride in Plattling Germany

Billy Throwing down

PS. He got told how to mcnasty approximately 30 seconds before the ride started and now hes flying!

Worlds Day 13

2011-06-23T11:47:00.001+01:00

After an epic losers party with live band, blackout Dave on the drums and beer trailer all on the campsite next to the wave kept the amusement levels up,

A late night followed by an early start saw Billy Brett on the water first up in the Junior men's Semi Finals, 2 rides best 1 counts, The first ride went well with a huge space Godzilla linked to loop but unfortunately flushing and a fast mcnasty not quite making the angles required with 90 points on the board.

The second ride went well with a huge loop, space Godzilla's and sharp clean mcnasty leaving Billy with a respectable score of 266points.

The wait was now on to see the other scores come in,

As the results were posted with loads of onlookers the results from the semi had pushed Billy up from 10th into 8th position overall, missing the Final cut but a very respectable performance of which everyone is proud!

Well done Billy!

Worlds Day 12

2011-06-23T11:32:00.002+01:00

Today started bright and early with a scorcher of a day both on and off the water, the weather is fantastic and no sign of flooding!
The Men's K1 Prelim heats started at 7am with both Dave and Thomas in heat number one followed closely with Ronnie in heat two,
The day started well with Dave having the ride of his life putting down a solid series of tricks to leave him with 405 points next up was Thomas who showed his knowledge of the hole with a two tight rides with smooth cartwheel transitions and the crux moves of shuvits and spins dropped in for good measure. posting a ride of 472.
Ronnie dropped in, well and truly finding his mojo, with one fantastic entry move sending the Irish supporters wild! he increased his advantage with sharp loops and quick cartwheels for a smooth 310 score.
Bowsie was next of the Irish down in heat 12 showing international experience with clear composed ride plans linking well to post a ride of 345.
Last but by no means least Barry stepped up to the plate last of the Irish men sealed the deal with two fast and furious rides really showing what the Irish are capable of big loops, space Godzilla's helix’s to post a best score of 696 points leaving him in 30th position.
With the cut set to the top 25 unfortunately the seniors missed out, but their was plenty more to come.
After Lunch was the junior girls turn to prove a point two of Irelands best junior paddlers full of confidence and showing constant improvement up first was Niamh with an unlucky flush and some squirt boats in a whirly on the eddy line taking valuable time, but still composed second ride saw a great shuvit to put points on the board and leave her in 19th place
Caoimhe was up next with the junior ladies separated by one move she had a lot to do, with good movement and vision she saw the opportunity's for spins not quite finding the angles on the shuvits and unfortunately not finding the plug for the loops left her in 17th position
The flood meeting was called for 1400 to be explained that the high water is due for tomorrow afternoon evening so tomorrows schedule is set to start early and finish by 1400 with a further meeting tomorrow – sounds like the Irish weather.
Junior men were last up with Conor, Robbie and Billy all ready to rock, the music was playing and all that was left was for three young Junior boys become Men with conors huge loops Robbies clear controlled cartwheels and helix’s and Billy's mcnastys all three became men!
Conor saw the huge loops and space Godzilla's leave him with 300 points, Robbie's cool control gave him a stylish 275 and Billy's huge bonus gave him a whopping 456 and leaving him in number 10 spot and a place in tomorrows semi finals!
Today was a hugely successful day and one of the proudest of Irish freestyle with the emergence of five young athletes who have gained bags of experience the future is bright for Irish Freestyle kayaking.
.Adrian

Name	Points	Position
Conor Macken	300	21
Robbie O Shea	276	22
Billy Brett	456	10
Barry Loughnane	696	30
Thomas Dunphy	471	39
Brian Cahill	346	47
David O Sullivan	405	44
Ronan Brennen	310	54
Adrian Durrant	156	20
Niamh Cleary	5	19
Caoimhe Farrell	20	17
John O Rourke	298	13

Worlds Day 11

2011-06-21T23:59:00.001+01:00

A scorcher of a day saw continued high levels of water in Plattling, Germany
Today was the first day of competition with C1 and Squirt, Orky led the irish with 2 superb rides with big loops and lots of movement posting a score of 298 leaving him in a respectable 13th Place.
Next up was Adrian who after only seeing the new squirt rules the day before was confident, 2 solid rides later posting a flurry of ends, splits and oververt moves but missing the mystery moves and missing the big multiplier ended up in 20th Place.
As well as the competition excitement captains were called into a meeting to discuss potential flooding and evacuation of the campsite this would surely end the competition with more info to be given tomorrow at 1400.
With a bumped up schedule for tomorrow showing all prelims as well as quarter finals for the men and women running from 7am until 10pm tomorrow is set to be a long day!
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Worlds Day 10

2011-06-19T12:59:00.000+01:00

We woke up this morning to the sight of the Big Dog van wedged in the middle of our campsite! no idea when it arrived but its their!

The rain continued through the night with on/off showers today and the river rising 50cm since yesterday the level is well up, Our team training session is in about 2 hours time so will update again how it goes but for the moment the constant rain has turned our campsite muddy with gear wet and not drying, Thankfully the river is warm and at 2am this morning steam could be seen rising from the river in the flood lights an impressive sight!

Last night was relitively chilled out right until Orky had to pay 31euro for a ice cream sundae from mcdonalds when he missed a red light and the police/guards gave a knock on the window. (stupid continental traffic lights!)

This morning weve taken for the town kebab shop for lunch and internet access to charge cameras, phones and laptops and use the internet. Seems like everyone has the same idea!

Worlds Day 9

2011-06-18T23:38:00.000+01:00

With the rain started we decided not to ge3t wet and head to Elypso the big indoor swimming pool! we spent much of the day chilling and relaxing making the most of the warm water and showers with some more slide carnage but luckily no breakages we think we will change sports and become professional bob sleigh riders instead!

back to the campsite and the river saw a rise of about 25cm between our sessions, this rise covered the green tongue and left a deep hole with big foam pile huge loops and ariel tricks were the order of the day with every one of the team having a fantastic session, Niamh landing her first loop, Orky showing us all what a carbon C1 can really do huge loops and mcnastys and Ronnie at last found his mojo and put a smile back on his face, myself finding the bottom of the river with 2 of the best downtimes of the week.

Sinky Sinky Training

Team Ireland then took to the water for a party wave session with conor throwing huge between 2 other boaters with out much space to spare.

The rain continued long into the night with the levels due to rise again tomorrow.

Worlds Day 8

2011-06-17T23:16:00.000+01:00

At last team training was upon us with an early session 0854-0930 each teams slot is determined by their team size, Ireland have 12 team paddlers with 3 minutes per paddler leaving us with a 36 minute slot, this averages to between 3-4 45 second competition rides per person, this was the first real opportunity the team had to practice competition timings,

The session went extremely well with solid rides from all, Barrys high flying loops and space godzillas followed closely with the fast improving junior men Billy, Conor (Snose Junior) and Robbie all putting together solid rides with lots of points on the board, The junior Girls working hard on scoring the safe moves before looking for the high flying loops to really boost their scores.

The levels were low with rain due the weather had been strange with rain at night and bright hot days such a contrast.

Conors nose is looking beautiful swollen with some bruising to his cheek nose and eyes but no pain and hes still as cheeky as ever!

With a few cheeky afternoon beers the order of the day in our chilled out campsite followed by my own squirt boat training session,

With the boats reoutfitted with the help of Claire O Hara (Current World Champion) and some advice and coaching from James Reeves (Current World Champion) ive at last found the down button with the boat plummeting to the dark depths with me hanging on for my life as the boat spirals down!

Worlds Day 7

2011-06-16T23:43:00.000+01:00

Another hot day in the Irish camp saw last free practice turn into hiding from the sun with busy morning and evening sessions making sure you avoided the hot midday sun,

With the lads up and on the water at 6am for a 3.5 hour mammoth session to really take advantage before the slots kick in saw tricks being refined and dialled in with long smooth rides from Tom Dunphy to Huge loops from Conor Macken and tight technical experience driven rides of Brian Cahill, the improvements can be seen in every paddler from simple hole surfing to tucking up and throwing down huge rides.

the hot sun once again saw the trip to the local pool for a shower and a cool off, this time unfortunately it was young Conor Macken who collided with a stray foot on the slide leaving him with one massive snose and a trip to hospital.

after seeing the doctor and a couple of X-Rays they advised there was no clear break and that he could continue to paddle but to return on monday when the swelling has dropped,

2 identical accidents in 2 days a lot of bad luck Team Ireland are banned from the slides!

The evening saw the intervention of floodlights at the hole with the majority of the team taking the opportunity to paddle through the night and really get their rides together!.

Worlds Day 6

2011-06-15T23:15:00.000+01:00

Today saw the arrival of head MC Kipper from Total Experience, with the campsite filling nicely and the sun still shining. It was the last opportunity for free training sessions so the wave was busy with lots of practice before the team training slots come in.

With the weather hot we decided to explore the local swimming pool, a lovely community complex with a number of outdoor pools high diving platforms and slide makes for a great relaxing afternoon. unfortunately today saw the reoccurance of Toms broken nose this time kindly assisted by a foot to the face whilst pileing down the slide, an unfortunate injury but luckily you can’t keep a good man down and he was raring to go the next morning, looking as attractive as ever.

The lack of rain meant the level was dropping fast today the level cruised down to a rocky 155cm on the guage meaning the carbon boats went back to their bags and plastic boats were the order of the day!

With the locals making the most of the low levels dropping ends between rocks to put together solid rides.

Worlds Day 5

2011-06-14T23:59:00.000+01:00

The morning started bright and early after a wicked night session under the lights of Orkys Audi, with a chilled out session for the Irish Gate Crashed by by everybody else who saw the lights, a cool session.

Today saw the reopening of all the local stores after Sunday and bank holiday closing so off to Globas the biggest store in the world to restock and replenish! picking up supplies for a couple of days.

We had a chilled day in the sun with the lads spending a couple of sessions on the water whilst it was quiet,

For the afternoon some of the group cruised to the pool for a much needed shower whilst others relaxed before a small BBQ and evening paddle.

Worlds Day 4

2011-06-13T16:00:00.000+01:00

An early start after a late night saw most of the team on the water for an early session with the feature seemingly holding its shape the guys are able to practice and refine moves without having to relearn each day,

With mcnastys going both ways and Caoimhe’s first loop of the week the training is going well. I even jumped on for a spot of sinking and splashing for a while.

The weather is mixed with a warm start and some nice sun followed by a spitting rain that just lasts every day just wet enough to annoy but not wet enough to force you inside.

With the crowds building the eddy queue is getting longer and the more practice people get means each persons rides get longer, 1 unfortunate flush can mean 20minutes plus of waiting untill your next ride, so at another attempt to get wave time tonight the lads are hoping to get on at 11pm under the moonlight, watch this space to see if it works!!

Worlds Day 3

2011-06-12T23:59:00.000+01:00

With the heavy downpour overnight bringing the level back up on the gauge the early session saw mass evacuation of the campsite all trying to get some valuable time in the hole before the masses arrive, (Or the Jackson Team)

After a session we stopped for a quick breakfast and decided to take advantage of the local pools shower facilities and went for a swim,

The pools were immense with lots of big slides and lots of us to run riot we managed to make trains of us on rings heading down the slides for some very fast fun and a few big collisions at the bottom to keep everyone on their toes.

After a nice shower we headed for town to use internet and charging facilities to top up our power on electronic devices,

Back to camp for the usual paddle and chill in the sun before heading out to the chinese restaurant for dinner and an ice cream sunday!

Worlds Day 2

2011-06-11T23:59:00.000+01:00

We awoke to gleaming sun and the sound of frantic boaters running for the water, 6am and the queue was short so on jumped the lads for some early training,

We went to find the local supermarket Globus this thing compares to the whole of liffey valley in one shop with a healthy breakfast of 3 egg 3 bacon and glass of orange for 2.20e we went to the shops to pick up supplies,

Back at camp the things to do are simple

Sleep
Go Paddling
Talk to others about paddling
Watch Paddling
Eat
Drink

So paddling it was, taking advantage of the low numbers most people got 2-3 good sessions. with people on the water right through till dark.

The evening was spent chatting around the small camp fire we made until a downpour sent most people to bed.

ICF World Championships Day 1

2011-06-10T21:45:00.000+01:00

Today myself and Brian ‘Bowsie’ Cahill left Dublin for Plattling, Germany for the World Freestyle championships,

Brian had a nice early start with a 7am bus to meet me at Dublin airport for 10:30am,

Check in was awkward with both hand luggage and boat all overweight but with some switching of stuff and wearing a lot of kit we got through with no extra charge.

After a short flight we touched down in Germany’s west Munich airport to be greeted by Tom Dunphy our taxi to Plattling,

A dinner stop and a long fuel stop later and we had arrived in Plattling to meet up with the rest of team.

2011 Paddling Equipment

2011-06-07T13:14:00.001+01:00

As a full time paddler and coach using the right equipment really does matter, I am privileged to have good friends and sponsors to keep me kitted out whatever the weather, For the 2011 season I have chosen to use the following equipment for the majority of my paddling.

.Adrian Durrant,

Boat

Jackson Rockstar M

Having owned 4 allstars at last it was time to step up to the new Rockstar, I chose the elite version purely because I preferred the blue and white colour, this boat has slightly more volume helping me stay afloat! with the lack of water their have so far been few opportunities to get this boat out but the few chances I've had I can honestly say she rocks!

new rockstar

Downtime UnderDawg

I am continuing to paddle my Downtime Underdawg Built so kindly for the last world championships, after a few injuries and swollen ankles I finally fit back in my boat its the same boat with a different set of padding lets hope she still works!

Dry Wear

At present I am continuing to use the Sandiline range of equipment with both long and short sleeve cag decks and dry cags makes the perfect combination for all boats. The kit is dry, hardwearing and allows good movement, since changing to it I have been very impressed.

Decks

For 2011 I have changed over from my old faithful Playboater work deck to a new NRS Drylander Deck, First impressions were it looks silky smooth and the price tag is much less than I would of expected to pay for a new deck, performance wise this thing is unreal! the waist tube is a lighter comfier neoprene which stretches and moves and avoids unwanted bulk, the deck is 4mm Neoprene with latex layer to really hold close to the cockpit rim, and another latex trim on the top to give some protecting from abrasion. If your after a cheap deck that is high on performance this is the one! the deck is shaped to really fit the boat, I've used the deck on a range of boats and its not failed me for comfort nor performance,

Paddles

Over the past year I have used and tested many different blades with my current list of paddles exceeding most people lifetime list so here's a quick breakdown of what I think,

AT2 Standards 194-30 – big powerful foam core blade, Current blade of choice for creeking

Werner Double Diamonds 188-12 – Big play blades good catch and response lots of power transfer.

H20 Team 185-12 – Good grips and stiff shaft indestructible blades bounce off everything

H20-2 191-30 - Good grips and stiff shaft indestructible blades bounce off everything

Mitchell Squirt Bade 185 –12 squirt specific shape smooth and fast entry and exit.

Helmet

Play- Sweet Strutter

This classic helmet offers both protection and style in a lightweight shell,

Creek- Sweet Rocker

The ONLY choice for a full protection helmet if you really like your head, safe as houses this helmet is the daddy worth every penny!

Work- Protec B2 helmet

this lid has a great style fantastic colour scheme and fit lots of ventilation and will bounce all day long!

PFD

For 2011 I have upgraded from my Peak river guide to a beautiful shiny blue Astral Green jacket, after testing one of these over the winter I knew their was no competition great fit with full movement big side pockets gets stuff off your chest and space for the extra mars bar a solid safe choice for 2011

For freestyle I'm still with the Sandiline K1 competition Pro PFD nice and light with a low cut and loads of movement make it great for freestyle!

Media

Headphones

Currently using the new H20 Audio Amphibx fit armband as a lighter case weighs less and offers easier access to the phone and touch screen, the case is a perfect training aid both on flat-water and in a feature,

when the water gets tougher I switch back to the older style amphibx case which offers better protection against bumps and bangs.

To pair with these great cases I use either the new flex all sport super hero headphones or the Surge sportswrap for moving water to guarantee the headphones stay close with no excess cable.

Camera

For 2011 I have received a brand new Olympus T-810 I have only just got this but look forward to taking on my 2011 adventures its the top end indestructible camera with gps and compass

here's what Olympus say!

toughest ever technology, the new TOUGH cameras are virtually indestructible. They’re waterproof**, shockproof***, freezeproof and scratch resistant to an unprecedented degree. A sliding double lock mechanism for port and battery protection and additional lens barrier mean your TOUGH will survive just about anything

Waterproof to 10m, shockproof to 2m, crushproof to 100kg and freezeproof to -10°C

5x wide optical zoom (28-140mm*)

GPS & Electronic Compass

Eye-Fi Card compatibility

3D photo shooting mode

720p HD Movie and HDMI Control

Thank you to all current supporters and sponsors for the help, guidance and equipment offered

Thank you to I-Canoe.com for the continued support.

Happy Paddling

Ready to Rock! (Star)

2011-06-07T11:25:00.001+01:00

Heres the video from the first day out at sluice in the new rockstar!

its taken a while!

Rockstars at sluice, Dublin

Biking in a dry wicklow ditch

2011-06-07T11:20:00.001+01:00

With the lack of water we got out the bikes and went for a spin around the old copper mines in Avoca, this made for a great playground for the Trials Bikes!

Avoca copper mines

Club Freestyle Day–Rockhoppers

2011-05-16T01:14:00.001+01:00

Today I took out rockhoppers as part of my push to introduce freestyle basics to clubs and groups.

We headed up to Templemills Weir Affectionately known as Bernies Hole after its discovery by the famous Tricky Woo of www.walshyway.blogspot.com

The group arrived 11in total we spent the first part of the session discussing boat outfitting before getting everyone snug in their boats

bum- hips- feet- thighs- backrest…

we then worked together to float test the boats and look at trim.

Once on the water we went through basic skills and techniques to develop including, spins, Stern squirt, supercleans, bobbing the boat, edge control and looking at the fun scoresheet, before dropping down the weir to have a play in the stopper

in the stopper we used what had previously been learnt to have fun and use the feature.

heres the video and a few photos.

Rockhoppers Freestyle

more photos here!

Pol an easa Waterfall, Co. Leitrim 1st Descent?!

2011-05-07T15:14:00.001+01:00

Since finding this drop whilst visiting the area every visit means a trip to have a look.

This day was different all set to walk the river to see what was upstream. As we arrived we noticed a little more water than expected so today was the day!

A little more water would of been nice!

1st video was not saved (Camera girl still training)

Heres the 2nd Attempt!

Top Drop

Bottom Drop

Thanks to Fiona, the Camera girl in training!

Happy Paddling.

.Adrian Durrant

Nottingham April Sprint Regatta,

2011-04-17T00:20:00.000+01:00

News from sunny Nottingham where temperatures reached 22 degrees and for once the wind blew the right way (on Sunday only).

Salmon Leap was the biggest club at the regatta, represented by 17 juniors and 5 seniors.

Well done to Fergus and Tadhg McTiernan, Kate McCarthy, Juliet Sweeney, Adam Kenny, Brian McGuinness, Míceál Cróc, Jack Seery and (a late starter) Sean O Casaide, who were all competing in their first Nottingham regatta and represented the club extremely well. Indeed, everyone who competed for SLCC were a credit to the club.

Many thanks to all those who helped out over the weekend: A Durrant, A Egan, S Sweeney, S O Casaide, A McGuinness, B Devenney, P Grimes, C O Reilly, G O Hagan, F McTiernan S McCarthy and I McCarthy.

Results: Saturday’s Finals

Boys D K4 1000m Final:

1^st. C Cróc/R Brady/F and D Devenney.

2^nd. J Seery/A Kenny/B McGuinness/M Cróc

Girls D K1 1000m B Final:

8^th Juliet Sweeney

Boys C K2 1000m Final:

2^nd. J O Hagan/D O Reilly.

Boys B K1 1000m B Final.

3^rd Iomhar Mac Giolla Phádraig.

Boys D K2 1000m A Final

1^st C Cróc/D Devenney

2^nd. F Devenney/R Brady

3^rd. M Cróc/J Seery

5^th. B McGuinness/K O Neill

Womens A/B K1 500m Final 1

7^th J Egan

Boys C K1 1000m Final

1^st B O Casaide

3^rd D O Reilly

7^th D Grimes

Masters K4 1000m Final

2^nd Sean O Casaide/V Pierce/B Buggy/L McCarthy

Boys B K2 1000m Final

4th I Mac Giolla Phádraig/A Forristal

Mens A/B 200m B Final

2^nd P Egan

9^th A Strevens

Boys D K1 1000m Final 1

1^st D Devenney

2^nd C Cróc

5^th F Devenney

6^th R Brady

8^th A Kenny

Boys D K1 1000m Final 2

3^rd M Cróc

5^th J Seery

8^th B McGuinness

Womens A/B 200m Final 1

9^th J Egan

Boys B/C K4 1000m Final

2^nd I MacGiolla Phádraig/D Mitchell/A Forristal/S McCarthy

5^th D Grimes/J O Hagan/D O Reilly/B O Casaide

Mens A/B K2 200m Final

4^th P Egan/T Brennan

Results: Sunday’s Finals

Mens A/B K1 200 Final 2

3^rd P Egan

5^th T Brennan

9^thA Strevens

Boys D K1 500m Final 1

1^st D Devenney

2^nd F Devenney

4^th R Brady

7^thC Cróc

Boys D K1 500m Final 2

1^st M Cróc

3^rd A Kenny

8^th B McGuinness

Boys D K1 500m Final 3

1^st J Seery

Boys B K2 500m Final

4^th I Mac Giolla Phadraig /A Forristal

Boys C K1 500m Final

1^st B O Casaide

6^th D Grimes

8^th J O Hagan

Womens A/B 200m Final 1

7^th J Egan

Mens A/B K2 200m Final 1

6^th P Egan/T Brennan

Boys B/C K4 500m Final

2^nd S McCarthy/J O Hagan/D Grimes/D O Reilly

Mens B K1 500m Final 1

2^nd T Brennan

Boys D K4 500m Final

1^st. C Cróc/R Brady/F and D Devenney.

2^nd. J Seery/A Kenny/B McGuinness/M Cróc

Girls D K1 500m Final 2

3^rd J Sweeney

Jackson Rockstars are here!

2011-04-01T21:28:00.001+01:00

So after months of hype and speculation followed by a week of camping out waiting for the delivery they finally arrive!

shorter than the all star with more volume this boat is definately going to be special, so with that in mind we found our special friend to take a seat in the small size.

I luckily having been their all week managed to take first pick and decided on a beautiful blue/white colour

So with a new boat I headed to the WWKC pool session with both my boat and the demo to give the juniors a taste of the new toy!

heres the video put together by Conor Macken showing the first session out, Il happily say theirs plenty more to come when the water returns,

Rockstar first pool session

along with the Rockstars came the new 2011 Hero in funky Rasta colours heres colm giving it the thumbs up.

Toome Training 27 March 2011

2011-03-30T13:20:00.000+01:00

With the lack of water over the past few weeks has seen people start to get itchy feet looking for water, A post popped up last week saying Toome wave (Northern Ireland) was back working,

Toome only works in low water when everything is dry the fish pass to the side of the weir gates forms a retentive wave the only problem are the steel girders which are in position as an Anti Poaching measure. this makes the feature shallow and means boats get very beaten up if not careful.

Heres a quick video put together by Conor Macken from Sluice Crew.

Toome Training, Spin to win or Die.

CANI Paddlefest 2011

2011-03-20T13:05:00.000Z

Once again Paddlefest time of year was upon us in recent years this was a chance to load up the shop and go and show the world what was on offer but with the dates being the Paddy’s day weekend meant a low take up of participant that along with having to work meant we could not travel until after the England Ireland Rugby game on the saturday night,

This Years Paddlefest was due to take place at the newly redeveloped Tollymore Outdoor Centre in The Mournes and WOW it is truly remarkable!

We arrived with talks and lectures in full swing with showings from Richard Lineham and Jeff Allen as well as Lowri Davies on the Friday kept everyone entertained,

This years theme was Journeying and expedition with many sessions looking at skill needed for these situations,

The sunday activities of both river and sea skills was taking place at a small tidal flow in Dundrum Bay so with the I-Canoe wagon loaded we set our selves up with a selection of Demo river and sea kayaks for all to try. With a lot of interest in the new Project 56X and the old Favourite 2010 Allstar we had a small freestyle workshop right in front of us.

Back to the centre for catch up and debrief with familier faces and we leave paddlefest for another year.

Well done to CANI Paddlefest has a great attraction for all even with lower number the event was a huge hit.

Sluice training

2011-03-10T12:35:00.000Z

The week before the selections at Sluice saw the ESB dumping 3 meg every lunch time making a perfect break in the day for some training, Myself and Tricky Woo Walshy spent the week training hard and working on improvement

heres some footage

Sluice training with Walshy and the Sluice Crew

The sluice Crews HeadCam footage from the same day,

Headcam edit from Shane little

Monday Morning Training

2011-03-08T21:31:00.001Z

Monday morning in the sun! the first shorty cagdeck session of the year long may it continue!

quick edit of my session….

K1 Training Salmon Leap Canoe Club

2011-03-05T21:00:00.001Z

Heres a quick edit from a training session with a group of junior B lads using the Go Pro Headcam on Ryan Brady.

And a few photos of the lovely scenery of a March Spring morning.

New Wavesport Project X

2011-03-05T20:55:00.001Z

Quick video of the new project X 56 at sluice.

Flushy 2 meg release.

March Uberdog Freestyle Article

2011-03-01T20:00:00.000Z

I’ve been busy writing for Uberdog again and here’s the article.

Article available to view online HERE

Wacko On the Jacko weekend

2011-02-27T11:49:00.000Z

Over the weekend 26th / 27th February came the much anticipated return of Irelands classic boater X event, in previous years it be run under many names but now it was back as Wacko on The Jacko, run by Kipper and Keoghser of Total Experience with the help of a Local Outdoor Education Centre.

Everyone arrived early Saturday to a low but runnable Jacksons where the event kicked off with the individual race, 4 at a time would race from the Jacksons lead in over the falls and hit the eddy above little Jacksons with the top placed progressing through to the next round.

The heats were full of carnage and beatings with a busy rescue team jumping on anything that tumbled. Up came the Expert men of which I had myself a tough heat with Colm (I-Canoe), Paddy and Ger. (WWKC) getting myself boxed in at the beginning and finding myself at the back of the pack a last sprint into Jacksons just in front of colm and a cheeky roll at the bottom before he landed on me left me in third place and out of the competition,

Individual Heat Wacko

The individual final was a case of same old faces with Mr Paddy McGovern and YIanni fighting it out in their age old battle once again paddy came out on top.

The Saturday afternoon saw the team race over the short course where a team of three would race against the clock with 3 challenges, one would roll, one would pass their paddle through a hoop and the third must make the energiser eddy, on my team me colm and mark Coleman, colm rolled successfully mark (C1) passed his paddle through the hoop and I made the energiser, but I miss timed my exit and fell left into the pit where luckily rescue ranger Paul Williamson saved me from an almost certain swim. the team race was won by the joint team this time of Paddy Yianni and Steve

Wacko on the Jacko 2011, Team I-CANOE from Colm Healy on Vimeo.

the Saturday night party and drinks was a social affair with big crowds descending on Lynhams for a fun filed night of live music and socialising.

Sunday morning dreary eyed and rather hungover saw the team race over the long course from trooperstown to the same eddy at Jacksons. this would take somewhere between 11-15 mins we had a last minute substitution due to technical issues swapping C1 mark for Big Water Mack the only man who has never rushed for anything let alone a race!

give him his dues he got down without stopping to light up!

Team I-Canoe Long Race

The long race was won by Benny, John and Tom in their maximum length choppers!

overall a great weekend good craic and a great showing by all proving paddling is not dead!

thanks to Total experience for a great event!

Learn to Paddle k1 Day 7

2011-01-16T16:05:00.000Z

Day 7 saw race day upon us with all my hard work set to pay off,

The mornings race took the format of mixed K2’s this meant firstly their were 2 in a boat something id never tried and everyone was seeded 1-34 so being a novice I got a nice strong partner with Peter Egan in his very tippy vanquish, off we went :-)

3 laps, 4km per lap, 3 races

We took it handy in the opening exchanges trying to both stay upright and with the group on the turn we started to move out wide wash hanging with the others conserving energy with the club house in sight we made a move for the front and powered through never looking back

race 1 = 1st

Second lap we got pushed towards the centre between a group of boats with bumps and grinds at the turn we looked for water, shouting and screaming at other crews we broke out of the group far right through the stray branches bringing us up with the leaders into the final sprint with herbie, jenny and malcolm all around us we forced our way through taking the 2nd lap by a boats length

Race 2 = 1st

the 3rd lap we were tireing (well i was tired anyway) we fought hard with a couple of almost capsizes of leaning the wrong way we again stayed right at the turn using the clean water to power up to the front, in the final sprint we came head to head with Jenny Egan boats going crazy with 150 to go we leaned too far resulting in a big brace and losing all our speed, Peter saw his sister get ahead with that our heads were down powering for the ever nearing line and the other boat with 15 m to go we got ourselves back out in front leading the way once again to take the final lap by a whisker

Race 3 = 1st

Learn to Paddle K1 Day 6

2011-01-15T22:30:00.001Z

Day 6 was a wet and windy day with no chance in getting out in a K2 I had a beginner training session which I did whilst paddling a K1 good work in bad conditions with no swims and a successful morning I then took advantage of the wet conditions heading for the mountains for a quick spin down the Avonmore.

Levels were medium nice to be back in something that turns

The evening then took me back to the pool for a bit of indoor coaching working with Lacken CC and then teaching a bit of rolling!

A very busy day all set for the K2 Race tomorrow!!!

Learning to Paddle K1 Day 4 and 5

2011-01-15T00:50:00.001Z

Day 4 / 5 was a bit boring, spending time indoors working on fitness and a bit of technique unfortunately it doesnt make great viewing but here she is!

Hopefully tomorrow is time to learn K2 :-) now that could be intresting :-)

Learning to K1 Day 3

2011-01-12T22:58:00.001Z

Day 3 went well with a nice paddle round half the lake really getting the hang of it,

Until I stopped to look at the plane hmmm…. lose concentration for 2 seconds and … Splash

Day 4 im going to look at using an indoor machine… at least I cant get wet

Day 5 On the water K1 Practice

Day 6 Might even get a shot in a K2

Day 7 3 laps of the lake :-)

Learning to K1 Day 2

2011-01-11T20:51:00.001Z

Day 2 of my challenge and I decided to try winged paddles......

I found them nice and powerful in the forward stroke but nothing on the back of the blade, They have a nice pull through the water but I did find them a little trippy on entry

so after a successful K1 paddle I decided to really test them out :-)

Next up I think I need to learn some technique :-)

Learning to K1 Day 1

2011-01-10T20:00:00.000Z

Well ive set myself the challenge im going to learn to paddle K1 this week!

From no experience to doing 3 laps of the lake next sunday.

Day 1 Didnt start too well a couple of swims but luckily being the only K1 Paddler in a drysuit has got its advantages!

anyway check out the video!

Tomorrow im going to attempt the use of wings!

Wavesport Sluice Rodeo 2010

2011-01-07T14:29:00.001Z

Saturday 16th October the Skys were clear and the sun was slowly illuminating the quiet tranquil river Liffey, in a small village on the outskirts of Dublin the countries freestyle paddlers were descending. From novice through to seasoned international they came.

The sluice as it is affection known is Dublin’s premier play spot it is seen as the marmite feature with mixed feelings between the locals who love it and everyone else who hates it but respectfully try it

The feature itself is formed by the river Liffey once in flood the water constricts through an old sluice gate wall forming a hole/wave feature allowing opportunity for all freestyle tricks.

Competitors travelled from all regions of the country to participate in one of the biggest events of the year,

As the mist Rose the water flowed with a good 2.5meg release from the Leixlip dam the banners were raised the music was beating through the trees and the flashes of colour mixed with the White foam meant the arrival of paddlers ready to lay down their best tricks and moves to take home the win

The heats kicked off with the junior men, this was probably the most hotly contested event of the day with the Sluice Crew really out to prove the local advantage and this they did with well defined rides huge loops and big cheers they really let the rest of the field know they were at home. That said there were 18 junior men the largest category by a long way with a few new faces to competition coming from far and wide, Cork, Kilkenny, Sligo all their to cause an upset.

The heats kicked off with huge loops cartwheels and waves to the judges with the juniors mixing new school tricks with old school fun, showing the crowd what they love to do best.

After the junior men the junior women got underway with a straight final between three young friends the whole competition took a fun format in the way of 15 minute jam sessions between 5 paddlers with a score sheet made up of variety including both tricks and fun elements. This Format allows a lot of pressure to be taken off of the paddlers and gives people the chance to try bigger and more complex tricks with only the 5 highest scoring moves counting.

The Girls Final as always was a close affair with Caoimhe just pipping her sister Emer and good friend Niamh into 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

The Sport classes followed suit with a new category for this year the Masters comprised of over 35’s with a fun feeling about the event the guys took to the water to strut their stuff with loads of paddle spins, waves, rail grabs and even the odd air guitar the scores were bound to be close. This year Garvan Smith a local lad (over 35) took the win in his first competition having been paddling just over a year and spent many hours over the summer “sluicing it up” Garvo really showed what this event is about lads with big smiles paddling with friends and no one could deny the fun and energy of the whole event.

The Women’s expert was another low attendance meaning that it went into a straight final only problem all three Ladies managed after 15 minutes to walk away with the SAME score meaning the prizes had to be shared amongst the three! Last heat up was the Expert men this is really where the men and separated from the boys, After the juniors heats the men really had to be on their game to prove why they are the experts and this they did with some high scoring Rides from Tom Dunphy and Adrian Durrant entertaining the crowd the experts really worked the feature proving that experience and practice really does help in a tricky feature like sluice even in perfect levels its nothing like any other feature and takes some knowledge to really tame it! The men showed their class with huge space Godzilla’s and air loops even the odd donkey flip going in for good luck the rides were linked with big aerial blunts and flurries of ends. From to cool and controlled style of Ronnie to the high powered, fast rotating rides of Wongy. The men’s heats had it all.

During a short interval in the main competition saw the 2^nd Sluice Old School Rodeo with Dancers and whip-its showing massive pop outs and vertical enders even the usual swim from Kevin gave the event the fun it deserved that linked with the classic music meant everyone had a blast.

Out of the heats the Top 5 were to be pulled out to the finals in the afternoon these kicked off with the junior men.

Of the final five lads 2 were locals and part of the increasingly famous “Sluice Crew” would this home advantage really pay off,

Robbie showed that practice makes perfect with a high scoring 265 landing loops and blunts with great vision and skill the 2^nd place also fell to a local lad in Alan Murphy who was Junior League winner in 2009 and in 3^rd place a new lad on the scene Billy Brett from Kilkenny. With all of these lads they are still improving quickly with many of the senior men now standing up to take notice of them.

Next was the women’s expert, Due to the numbers this was a straight final but unfortunately all three girls were evenly matched all scoring 110 points and scoring exactly the same tricks meant that the three of them had to share the spoils

Due to time and numbers the only Final left was the Expert men having cut the field from 13 to the top 5 the final commenced for a spectator this was to be the highest scoring final with high scoring tricks being landed and linked both left and right, leaving blurs of colour for the spectator to savour, For a competitor this was 15 minutes of fun and friendly banter watching a master class of some of Irelands top paddlers lay down moves rides. The event was hard fought again with the Local Lads coming out on top with Tom Dunphy 100% Sluice Nut, coming out on top with a huge score of 450 in second place Adrian Durrant event organiser and team manager. Managing to stick some big points to keep ahead of the field. In 3^rd place Moogie a monster of a man paddling a Gui Gui, showing glimpses of how big a composite boat will and can go in the Dublin Sluice.

After the finals was time for the Boater X this is a fun event whereby ALL the paddlers start upstream paddling down and through the Sluice with the first one making it to the bottom eddy winning, In writing this sound easy, in reality theirs 50 paddlers forcing their way through an 8ft gap and did I mention spray decks were banned!

This caused some massive upsets with Derek Polo Conway taking the victory in a slalom boat brought along just for the occasion in 2^nd was Ger O Reilly my head rescue ranger for the day and in 3^rd was Niall (I beat my son) O Broin, in an epic race with the majority of the field submerged or filling it was a photo opportunity not to be missed!

The Evening Party was held at The Canoe Centre, Palmerstown and sponsored by Wavesport Ireland, we had a warm marquee with the world renowned Rough Stuff Bar what more could you ask with the tunes beating until the following morning and the kegs flowing. The party did its job and rounded off a truly amazing event for all.

The Event could not have happened without the help of

The Irish Canoe Union

South Dublin County Council

Fingal County Council

And our Event Sponsors

Wavesport Ireland

I-Canoe.Com

Kayakhut

Track and Trail

East Coast canoe and kayak

Munster dive and canoe

Junior Men Sluice Rodeo 2010 www.sluicerodeo.com
Place	Name	Points
1 Final	Robbie O Shea	265
2 Final	Alan Murphy	215
3 Final	Billy Brett	210
4 Final	Ciaran Martin	105
5 Final	Niall “Mclovin” Cockbill	75
6 Heats	Tom Gallione	150
6 Heats	David Mclure	150
6 Heats	Daniel O Broin	150
9 Heats	Eoin Keyes	145
10 Heats	Shane Little	140
11 Heats	Paul Deering	105
12 Heats	Eoghan Dunne	100
13 Heats	Conor Macken	90
14 Heats	Donal Ryan	80
15 Heats	Luke Healy	75
16 Heats	Osin Mchugh	70
17 Heats	Adam Doyle	55
18 Heats	Daniel Murphy	50

Junior Women Sluice Rodeo 2010 www.sluicerodeo.com
Place	Name	Points
1 Final	Caoimhe Farrell	100
2 Final	Emer Farrell	95
3 Final	Niamh Cleary	90

Sport Men Sluice Rodeo 2010 www.sluicerodeo.com
Place	Name	Points
1 Final	Andrew Reegan	120
2 Final	Eoin Hurst	100
3 Final	Ken Hynes	85
4 Final	Derek Conway	80
5 Final	Kevin Denny	30
6 Heats	David Higgins

Sport Women Sluice Rodeo 2010 www.sluicerodeo.com
Place	Name	Points
1 Final	Aisling Goff	90

Masters O 35 Sluice Rodeo 2010 www.sluicerodeo.com
Place	Name	Points
1 Final	Garvan Smith	135
2 Final	Richard Reid	110
3 Final	Bernard Walsh	105
4 Final	Niall o Broin	95

Expert Men Sluice Rodeo 2010 www.sluicerodeo.com
Place	Name	Points
1 Final	Tom Dunphy	450
2 Final	Adrian Durrant	380
3 Final	Alan “Moogie” Moore	360
4 Final	Colin Wong	355
5 Final	Barry Loughnane	240
6 Heats	Ronnie Brennen	265
7 Heats	Dave o Sullivan	200
8 Heats	Peter o Sullivan	195
9 Heats	Mark Ahern	170
10 Heats	Eoin Farrell	165
11 Heats	Mickie Barry	115
12 Heats	Neil Niall Quinn	95
13 Heats	Kevin MCcabe	45

Expert Women Sluice Rodeo 2010 www.sluicerodeo.com
Place	Name	Points
1 Final	Muireann Lynch	110
1 Final	Aisling Griffin	110
1 Final	Erykah Hennigar	110

Boater X Sluice Rodeo 2010 www.sluicerodeo.com
Place	Name	Club
1 Final	Derek “Polo” Conway	WWKC
1 Final	Ger O Reilly	ICU
1 Final	Niall o Broin	WWKC

Event Coverage in Uber Dog Magazine

Turkey Race 2010

2010-12-19T14:53:00.000Z

As tradition dictates the end of the year means the Christmas Turkey race from templemills to Salmon Leap CC

Me and old man river Sir Bernard Walsheee decided it would be a great idea to do it together in an open canoe (This was decided approx 2am the morning before)

So dressed as santa’s off we went! the competition was hot and we were left mid table in the results,

But we won what mattered the best dressed!!

Go Team Santa-Canoe :-)

New Job, New Challenge!

2010-12-02T22:09:00.001Z

Right well December is here and ive got a new job. Probably the only person in Ireland to get a job at the moment so pretty stoked.

Im moving on after nearly 2 years full time in I-Canoe but no fear il still be about (Colm cant get rid of me that easily!)

Ive now taken on a Sport Development / Club Coach Role with Salmon Leap Canoe Club.

“Salmon Leap is the premier canoe racing club in Ireland and caters for those new to the sport all the way up to top international racers. Most members compete in Marathon and Sprint racing, but many also compete with great success in Slalom and Wild Water Racing.”

This is a really huge challenge for both myself and for the club which will hopefully be a massive success.

At present I have little K1 experience but look forward to the coming year I may even get to compete in one!

With the winter weather upon us heres a few pictures from my first day in the new job Cold but Beautiful!

.Ad

DIY Neck Seal Repair The Walshey Way!

2010-12-02T21:48:00.001Z

One of our regular Liffey Swimmers Mr Bernard Walsh popped into the store to give us an insight into his neck seal repair technique.

Armed with his sons football and a

Kokatat DIY Neck Seal Repair kit Available Here

The video in almost real time shows a neck seal replacement in approx 10 mins!

Thanks Bernard! Repairs ARE quick and easy!

Collign Gorge Games 2010

2010-11-19T15:24:00.001Z

Colligan gorge games seemed to take over where over boater X’s in Ireland were being a premium Irish paddling and party weekend.

The Boater X itself take part in a section of the Colligan Gorge which is fairly continuous grade 2/3. As always the Colligan Gorge Games Crew had worked hard in the build up tapping in suppliers and sponsors for prizes and support. With 200 pre registered it was looking for a high attendance.

On a cold Saturday morning I left a dark Dublin for the long trek south to deepest Waterford. To my surprise the route which used to take forever has a nice new shiny motorway the whole way down so even in the I-Canoe truck it cut down the journey time considerably.

Along the way the dawn was breaking in the east with the sun melting off the ground frost and showing us the extent of the previous nights rain with the Barrow notably “in the fields” As we approached the morning was upon us bright sunshine lit up the road. I arrived at the Colligan guest house to roads full of paddling cars and vans full of boats and personnel donning wetsuits and dry suits galore. With the work van I cruised through the masses to a nice close area for sponsors :-)

After unloading a supply of demo boats and hanging banners and flags around the course I took to kitting up myself, With well over 150 people there it was an equipment explosion from people looking cold in damp wet suits to the dapper in their dry suits. I personally chose to use separate cag and trousers choosing the Sandiline splash range as is light and nimble and the twin neo seals not only insulate but do not chaff or rub, This with my K1Pro PFD I felt gave me an advantage as opposed to the lads in the full suits and rescue PFD’s. The games opened with the Men's sport as the many men made the long trek up the river over the bridge and up to the start the experts gathered around the final drop looking for lines and extra tactics.

after the men's sport went ladies sport, junior men, junior women, expert women and finally expert men. This was to be a hotly contested event after the Crana event 2 weeks previous and colligan events of previous years this event was sure to call in all the big names from all over the country.

The River was low with lots of rocks causing people to get stuck up and bouncing off the drops were low with tricky exit lines causing lots of bracing, and the competition was quick.

My first heat started badly getting myself spun at the beginning whilst paddling backwards with the pack I took the opportunity of an outcrop to fire the tail of my boat into giving the boat momentum to turn also blocking off the approaches from behind, after this fun I was sitting in 2nd just behind the leader, Having taken part on a few of these events now I've learnt the key is persistence the top two go through so stay close to the leader and if the opportunity to take the lead arises go for it. In my heat this game plan paid off with the leader just catching a eddy line losing speed I lifted the bow onto the slow moving water and charged forward into the lead and headed for the last drop and safely to the finish line.

The reward for a win the long walk all the way back to the top of the course for the next heat.

My second race put me against Dave o Sullivan, Conor Healy in the Flash C1 and Brian Keogh one of the pre event favourites this was one of the toughest races with Dave taking the lead at the beginning leaving myself and Keoghser to get tangled up with boats and blades entangled and the persistent threat for Conor in his C1 we fought our way down at one point pushing each other to the point Conor saw a gap and went for it before we blocked his move, Back to the game tactics I kept on his tail waiting for the error and once again it came with a small drop just taking the bow of Brian's boat slowing him just enough for me to get ahead as we entered the final drop I caught Dave powering to the finish right on his tail not giving up whilst still defending from the continuous threat behind coming home in 2nd place put me into the Semis.

Once again into the semis this time I faced a strong field containing more of the favourites Paddy and Wongie. From the start the lads forced me left and into the wall of the gorge slowing me down pushing me into last place as I came out I could see the lads steaming on, I put down the hammer and went for it, Around the halfway line I made my move into 3rd taking at an eddy from here all i could do was paddle with Paddy monstering ahead just out of reach making no mistakes at the finish I cruised through and finished up 3rd in my semi leaving me in 5th Place as i did in Crana.

Next up was the team event for this I pulled in Ronnie and Jemma to make my team. Jemma had flown over especially for the event all the way from the Custard County. We cruised to the start and got in the queue with each team going in a timed run to determine the winner.

As we headed off we set a good pace keeping the team tight and strong as Ronnie went for the roll I moved to the front like the mighty ducks in formation I hit the river left eddy as Jem went by I made my move smoothly to the river right eddy where i hit the banner, I watched Jem wave to the judged as Ronnie bailed down i eddied out back into the flow before powering for the finish line.

We had a clean run completing all the tasks and smoothly with no problems. We made our way back to the van.

This is where the drama started with a solid days paddling behind us we climbed the slope up to the top this had been getting progressively muddier as I reached the top I lost my footing on the mud and slipped forward trying to regain my balance with my paddle, I managed to hit myself in the face with the blade, I can confirm AT2’s are a very stiff and solid blade, resulting in a split lip and cracking a front tooth. So as a warning to everyone don't try to eat your paddle!!

While I was cleaning myself up the final took place with an all star cast, Paddy McGovern, Colin Wong, Rob Coffee and YanniMan The Greek. With the Paddy/Yanni rivalry fired up after the Crana event here was the rematch. In what was a close and powerful race all of the lads gave it their all, But Paddy took the win to make in 2 wins in 2 events, With Colin Wong 2nd the same as last year and YanniMan The Greek in third place and Rob bringing up the rear in 4th.

In a side not I can honestly say I was very impressed with the sandiline splash range with lots of good feedback it looks great and really did keep me dry and warm the perfect kit for boater X and adventure racing where the performance matters!

The event was hugely successful even with the low water levels and lower than expected numbers, everyone had a great day and the prize giving was really good with Prizes from I-Canoe, The Great Outdoors, Total Experience, MDAC, Bantry Bay Canoes, and lots more The most notable class was the junior men with Neil Slevin and Eoin Keyes taking the top two places winning themselves Peak creek Cags also taking the junior men's team title to win Peak throwlines and then the Event award of a Palm PFD for their club these two will step up to the experts men next year and will take no prisoners in their quests for back to back titles, These two are some of Irelands best young paddlers.

The evening party took place back in Waterford with most people choosing to stay at Villa de Travelodge, It was warm and cheap :-) the party started in the rooms before moving to the road and down to the club, unfortunately due to my terrible injury I found drinking to be painful but was helped greatly with the aid of a straw. With the band rocking and the Nintendo themed fancy dress sporting Mario's, Luigis and various other blasts from the past.

The event was run professionally and smoothly with a knowledgeable team who have a system which works. This event has potential to continue to develop and improve, Roll on 2011

Thanks to the Colligan Gorge Games Crew

Crana Canoe Weekend

2010-11-01T23:21:00.000Z

Crana Weekend is an action packed weekend of all aspects of paddle sport in a small town in the North West of Ireland Called Buncrana.

The river running through the area is called the Crana a dam released section containing grade 2 up to grade 4 drops it is here we find the venue for the event.

The event kicked off Saturday morning with the Sea kayak races having spent most the night driving I gave this a miss instead psyching myself for the freestyle event.

Next up was the open canoe skills where participants had to paddle pole and track themselves and their boats upstream against the flow a very interesting event to see.

Slalom popped up next with lots of classes for everyone to take part. The event went well with top paddlers making the long journey North to participate,

Last up was the freestyle a new event added this year and an event I was keen to participate.

The location selected was shallow but useful with lots of juniors strutting their stuff using the same scoring as the Sluice Rodeo gave lots of incentives for paddlers.

Up next was senior men with 2 heats into the second heat we noticed someone may of turned off the water leaving the feature increasingly shallow and the roll area below unsuitable for anything other than rocks but despite this we continued waving, kissing and high fiveing the judges with the odd helix attempt and a couple of Donkey flips for the brave.

Luckily I had done enough to take the Win with Declan O Donnell in 2nd and Ronnie in 3rd.

After a night out on the town and the arrival of Yanni The Greek, We were prepared for the Sunday highlight to the weekend! The Boater X

Up first were the intermediate and junior boater X using a section downstream of the main drop once over the attention moved upstream where spectators flooded the bridge and sanctions to take a glimpse of the carnage about to ensue.

The race format takes first rounds top 2 into the Gold event and the Bottom 2 into a silver event. With a few big names taking the hit and falling into the silver left the events with 20 in each from now on it was a straight knockout with the top 2 advancing each time.

I started the event well paddling fast picking a clear line through the bolder garden and cruising into the final drop with the field behind me taking a perfect line and into the lead this put me into the Gold event where I managed to face the same chap twice both time he tried his best to spin me off line but taking boater X rules as anything goes as long as no one gets hurt I may of let go of my paddle to give him a sharp shove in the opposite direction this didn't please him too much but he was behind me which was all that mattered. I had a small scare in the semi catching a rock and finding myself at the back of the pack had to work hard to push my way back into contention unfortunately I was left in 3rd and missed out on the Final :-(

The final was won by Paddy McGovern, Barry Loughnane 2nd and Yanni in 3rd. Due to a disqualification to the leader for changing boats this meant that we all got bumped up leaving me and Ronnie in joint 4th for the event

a great result from a great weekend.

Sluice training session

2010-10-10T11:40:00.000+01:00

Sluice 10th October 2010 from DUKC Productions on Vimeo.

Sluice Rodeo Training 2010

2010-10-06T00:49:00.000+01:00

With only a couple of weeks to go everything is falling into place for what is to be the largest freestyle event of the year.

Now time for me to get training!

At the moment doing a session at sluice pretty much every day either on the feature or a flat session depending on releases as well as this to build fitness currently running every day.

few pictures below

Liffey Descent September 2010

2010-09-06T00:07:00.000+01:00

The largest annual event in Irish marathon racing was once again upon us with over 800 paddlers over a variety of classes either battling it out for the win or purely their for the Craic. The morning of the race came and with it brought wet and miserable weather with lycra and neoprene being donned and numbers applied to the boats, last minute tactics and lines were being discussed.

I had already set up my boat.

I was to paddle the I-Canoe Exo Fastwave which with some light sticker application became the SpideyFastwave

This added to my Spidey mask made me invincible!! :-) (I hoped)

So with Zero Training and never paddled the boat before I made my way to the get on at the K-Club with hundreds of people around to fall in would be embarrassing (Lucky I didn't)

The start line was pushing and shoving with paddlers all fighting for the start line.

As the horn blew the group moved forward with great spirit. Boats and paddles being caught up on one another making their way towards the first weir at straffen.

The rescue were standing by waiting for the lemming like paddlers hitting the weir.

my race continued without much fuss, I quickly got used to the boat and found a rhythm that worked. I paddled on using the weirs as excitement as I paddled on down looking out for friends on the way.

As the race continued the flood caught us giving us an extra burst of speed propelling the boats through the water.

Once I reached Lexilip The lake was their a slow slog through open water this is where the wavehopper slowed with no water the boat seemed to drag. once through the portage at the dam I could relax being on my home straight, Between sluice and palmerstown I felt at home, Probably the trickier of weirs but I took it in my stride with no real problems a quick eddy out and chat at Sluice and leant the wrong way at Lucan but quickly recovered and carried on paddling.

Once past the home turf came a couple more weirs and another flat section towards the finish. As I approached the finish line I could feel the buzz and excitement of paddlers already finished and waiting for friends.

I finished 19 in a time of 2:52 which I was very happy with and will definitely try and beat in the future.

A special mention to the rest of my team with colm and wai har completing with No swims, Mark Coleman powering into 2nd in C1 and John and Lynda the last canoe home after suffering a large crack in the hull and taking on water well done for still completing the race!!

Well maybe Colm took a quick dip!

European Championships Report 2010

2010-07-03T14:35:00.000+01:00

In June 2010 Irish Freestyle sent a team of 14 to the European Freestyle Championships in Lienz, Austria. The team had been training hard for what was to be their biggest event of the year.

Freestyle is a discipline of white water kayaking or canoeing where the paddler performs various technical moves in one place by using a feature to move their boat over 3 different axis to score points for different tricks. The boats are designed to pop and bounce out of the water usually under 6feet in length the boats rotate quickly around themselves to score maximum points.

The Competition this year took place on the River Drau, a large river, running through Lienz, a quiet town in Austria. The feature was a river wide hole which was deep, fast and steep making it a composite boats dream feature.

Being that the Irish summers are known for their wet and overcast weather the team fled the emerald Isle in search of sun and crystal blue water of mainland Europe. With people travelling from all around Team Ireland met up on Sunday 12^thJune this was the first time we had managed to get the whole team together and was a special moment for everyone.

Team training was due to start on the Monday with free practice time beforehand and the competition set to kick off on Wednesday.

The team Comprised of

Team Manager/ Coach/ Physio/ Masseuse/Anything else

Adrian Durrant

K1 senior Men

Thomas Dunphy, Barry Loughnane, Brian Cahill, Rónán O’ Braonáin, Paul Lydon

K1 Senior Women

Jackie Ferguson, Dee Ni Dhroighneain, Siobhan Mcgriskin

K1 Junior Men

Neil Slevin, Daniel O Broin, Eoin Keyes

C1 / OC1

John o Rourke, Kevin Mccabe

Squirt

Adrian Durrant

Overall we had taken the 3^rd largest team behind only GB and Spain quite an accomplishment for an Island less than half their size

On the Sunday we took the opportunity to flood the feature with the Irish team getting every paddler we have on the water, this worked as a successful tactic with only a couple of stray paddlers from other countries staying on the water. This gave us the opportunity to evaluate and reflect on where people’s levels were, as since selections there had been no real coaching sessions so it was a great opportunity to see everyone together.

We would video every training session this would give a point of reference to the athletes initially it would be used to work on individual moves and techniques and see where each person is going wrong and how they can improve, then during the team training sessions on Monday and Tuesday the athletes would look at building rides from their individual moves knowing what will score to include and what wouldn’t score to scratch then by practicing these rides as a whole would give the athlete the confidence to perform them in a competition.

During the prelims the athlete only has 2 rides and the combined total of the two rides gives them their score with the top 20 moving onto the quarter finals or the top 10 move to the semi finals.

Tuesday night saw the opening ceremony an official affair with organisers and leaders of organisations in attendance. This was to be the largest European championships with over 170 Athletes from 19 Nations across Europe.

The Wednesday morning, The first day of competition and up first Irelands own Kevin McCabe to be the first ride of the 2010 championships with John o Rourke in the 2^nd heat of OC1.

OC1 is a cross between a bath tub and a canoe the idea is to move your craft through various axis with a single blade to score points before you fill up.

Both lads went out with fierce competition and unfortunately neither got onto the score sheet but there were no swims, breakages or loss of dignity making the first event a true success!

Next up were the Senior women this is a category where Ireland are very strong with some of the world’s best ladies paddling in Ireland. This year was no exception with Jackie a veteran of both Freestyle and Surf world events , Siobhan competing at European and world championships and a new face on the team this year Dee who is a girl with motivation she trains hard but had a rather close encounter with a few rocks earlier in the week bounced back with a big smile.

The girls were up with unfortunate flushes and harsh but fair judging leaving the ladies way down the order with Siobhan managing to get a solid ride to boost her up to 13^th none of the ladies made the semi final cut.

Junior men were set to go with Eoin Keyes and Neil Slevin fresh from completing their level 5 proficiency awards in Italy and Daniel o Broin showing off his brand new Pyranha Molan.

Daniel put down his best ride of the competition really using the feature moving around nicely but just not quite scoring leaving him on zero points following this Neil made some silly mistakes and flushing also not getting on the score sheet. But hope was not lost Eoin stepped up to the plate working hard all week on his loops sticking them sweetly in the competition this along with a few cartwheels and spins left him up in 8^th place making the cut for the Semi Final.

Last event of Wednesday was the C1 Competition this is another event where the competitor kneels in a kayak with a single blade. The moves these guys pull are unreal with more leverage and higher centre of gravity always leads to large scores. With the absence of the current European and world champion this was an open event with everything to play for.

Orky was up, landing his spectacular loop we’ve been watching him practice all week. But unfortunately he may have spent too long practicing a single trick, leaving him below the cut off.

Kevin McCabe at his first big event had a couple of disappointing flushes leaving him without a score.

Thursday was the day of reckoning when the testosterone of Europe lay down their rides, man to man. With 60 senior men the cut would be top 20.

Up first was Adrian Durrant as a last minute reserve for Thomas Dunphy who had been training hard all week had to head back to Ireland the day before for family reasons this was a massive loss to the team as Tom had been putting in some massive practice rides really working hard leaving it to the Team manager who’s training had been limited to step up. Adrian worked the hole scoring loops and cartwheels with unfortunate flushes on his second ride leaving him with 100 points a very noble effort.

Next were Paul Lydon and Rónán O’ Braonáin being drawn in the same heat giving them an added motivation to perform well. Paul kicked things off but couldn't make things stick until the last 15 second when he laid down a flurry of ends and loops to get the points on the board. As Ronnie dropped in the pressure was on. The usually cool and relaxed man from Maynooth was a bag of nerves and it showed his first ride was pretty poor by his standards as the heat moved along both lads relaxed and began to enjoy the occasion putting down solid second rides of loops and cartwheels to leave them in the points.

Brian is a veteran of past events and it showed, as he dropped in looking composed he stuck an awesome air loop, the first we'd seen from him all week. Brian paddled as he'd practiced linking ends with clean bonuses and splits to rack up the points.

Last up was Barry, this is a lad for the future he has a fantastic style and loves to go big..... But has issues with stopwatches he hates paddling with limitations. Barry laid a solid ride out but just couldn't bring the boat around for the mcnasty leaving him with a good score.

As the scores came in the whole of Europe held their breath. The competition was tough with none of team Ireland making the cut for the quarter finals.

Brian 210 points, Paul 150 points Barry 136 points, Ronan 111 Points, Adrian 100 points

This left team Ireland with only two competitors left Eoin in the junior k1 men’s semi and Adrian in the squirt event.

In the Semi Finals Eoin paddled superb again really getting his ride together consistently but with the standard improving , leaving him in 10^th Position overall a great result for team Ireland!

With the last day of competition upon us first up was the squirt event

Squirt boating is a form of free ride the athlete must use the river and its features in a specified area to score points through a smooth series of vertical rotations followed by using the feature to submerge the boat and sink, by submerging the boat and paddler the athlete gains a multiplier of up to 2x their score.

The event started bright and early with three runs for each competitor. The water was cold and the skies overcast the event was hotly contested with the reigning European and world champion in attendance there were sweet linking cartwheels and washouts followed by smooth mysteries. Adrian paddled well coming in 4^th place just off the podium.

As a fun event Teva sponsored a cardboard boat race this involved building a craft out of cardboard boxes and parcel tape to get a crew down the river and through the feature. Team Ireland took this event seriously building a huge craft with four crew successfully making it down the river in full view of the gathered crowds. This was an excellent performance from the Irish team paddlers.

The European championships was a successful event for team Ireland with many gaining competition experience while others used the event as a warm up to upcoming events.

Next year the world Championships are being hosted in Plattling, Germany to which Team Ireland hope to be able to send a full squad to compete at the biggest event in Freestyle kayaking.

.Adrian Durrant

Europeans Video Austria TV

2010-06-30T15:33:00.000+01:00

Small clip of me squirt boating at 3:20 Adrian

Teva Cardboard Boat Race the Video

2010-06-30T15:26:00.000+01:00

heres the video team Ireland and their Giant Penis

Adrian, Daniel, Brian and Kevin