February 20082008————Newsletternewsletter

February 20082008————NewsletterNewsletter

Midland Canoe Club

Inside this issue:

Club News 1

Scottish White Water 2 Diary—Easter 2007

What's On 5

What’s On 5 Situation Vacant- 5 Treasurer

News from the Training 5 Officer

Training Schedule 6 Who are the Vice Presi- 7 dents?

FAQS—Your Ques- 9 tions Answered

UK Freestyle Team 10 Above: Spring is just round the corner and in April, May and June, Marston weir is accessible for Selections paddling on Monday evenings. Matt Rodgers and Gabrielle Bates are seen here surfing the weir in May 2007.

MCC Development Plan another cable with the final Training objective of connecting the club house to the telephone The Committee have pub- network. We managed to do lished a draft five year This issue sees the draft train- our bit but are still struggling development plan. Donna ing timetable from Donna with BT to get them to get the and Andy Boothman have Boothman our training offi- job completed. This will then produced this document. cer. Please get in touch with provide us with options for It’s available to all mem- Donna if there is any special the burglar alarm amongst bers for comment. There training you require not al- other things. We’ll keep you are copies available at the Well Done!!! ready planned posted. pool or they can be emailed individually. Details have been published on the mes- Congratulations to Gabrielle New Phone Line Coach Update Day. sage board but if you’re Bates and David Bainbridge on reading this and still need a their selection for the UK Free- copy please let me know. style Team for the European On a Sunday in late January, This was hosted by the East We need comments back Champioships in July 2008. Full several members were pre- Midlands Region of the BCU by 24th February please. story of the selection event on sent along with picks, spades using the Darley Abbey site on and a mechanical digger with 26th January. page 10 the objective of finding and

underground cable, digging a trench and filling it in with

February 2008 Newsletter Pa ge 2

Scottish White Water—Easter 2007

This is a diary of a club trip to Scotland at Easter 2007. The Sunday 1st April paddlers present for the journey north were:- To start with Ian had selected the Spean Gorge. The weather Simon Pilbeam (Eskimo Kendo) was warm and sunny, six paddlers lead by Ian in his swanky Viv Glaves (Savage Maniac) new boots. We got in at Spean Bridge and warmed up on a small wave just upstream of the A82 bridge. I was the first to Jocelyn Philips (Dagger Mamba 7.5) swim here after being knocked over by Simon!!! Several small Matt Davenport (Liquid Logic Jeffe) shallow rapids required a little push here and there due to the low levels. The rapids started to get a little bigger until we Andy Rodgers (Liquid Logic Big Wheel) reached ‘Triple Steps’ or ‘Fairy Steps’. We got out to inspect Matt Rodgers (Jackson Star) this rapid and lots of discussions over possible lines ensued. Ian Scott (Dagger Redline) Ian demonstrated the correct line whilst we paired up to run it, the non-paddlers setting up safety. The two Matts demonstrated how to do it first. As Simon and I got on the water, a Introduction large student group arrived. After noticing the stopper on river left of the second drop I was drawn magnetically to it and

capsized. A rapid attempt at a role was unsuccessful and the Ian Scott was our guide for this trip. Ian is known to many rest of the rapid was swum, in text book fashion – feet first – I MCC members for the coaching he has done for the club and might add. Viv capsized and swam at the same place as did its members in the past. He has a vast experience of paddling several of the following student group. This provided good the rivers of Scotland at different levels. Matt, Claire and I met practice for using throw lines. him and his group in October 2006 in Spean Bridge. Matt and The next main rapid is called ‘Head-banger’. Viv capsized here I had paddled in Scotland that October with Andy and Donna and badly bruised her left hand. The following rapid is called Boothman. Fort William is a natural base for exploring the ‘Witches Cauldron’ and is a definite portage at these low levels rivers of the area which have fantastic access compared to the having undercuts both behind the drop and on river left. The rest of the UK due to laws passed by the Scottish parliament portage leaves paddlers the choice of a seal launch into a pool and implemented in February 2005. Normally it rains in Fort or a lower seal launch into aerated water followed by a small William for approximately 250 days a year however during our drop. Viv and I chose the latter whilst everybody else took the trip we only had 2mm of rain so were reliant on Ian’s experi- higher drop. The ‘constriction’ is a narrow gap after a drop ence to find rivers to run in low levels. into a small pool and failure to negotiate the gap first time leaves the paddler recirculating in the small pool. After a cou- Saturday 31st March ple of other challenging rapids the gorge begins to widen again with half a mile to the take out at the power station. Six swims (Continued on page 3) Six MCC paddlers met at Duffield and made several attempts at loading boats on cars and kit in cars, eventually managing to fit everything required on or in both cars. At about 8-30 we set off to pick up Ian at junction 33 on the M1. Stopping two or three times en-route, we got to Scotland via the A66, M6, Stir- ling and Callander. We crossed Rannoch moor and descended through Glen Coe at about 5-30 pausing for one last time with just half an hour left until arrival in Fort William. Our home for the week was a fantastic 5 bedroom house at Muirshearlich about 5 miles from Fort William overlooking the Caledonian Canal with fantastic views of the snow capped Nevis range. After the long journey we were too whacked to cook so it was back into Fort William for a Fish and chip supper on the main street.

Above: Viv, Ian, Matt, Matt, Andy and Jocelyn on the Garry

February 2008 Newsletter Pa ge 3

(Continued from page 2)

between us on our first day’s paddle. On the way back to the house we called at Morrisions supermarket in Fort William to stock up with food. Ian selected two chickens to roast (Trinnie and Susanah) and cooked a fantastic supper for us.

Monday 2nd April

River Etive – A 40 minute drive from Fort William down the A82 leads to the narrow road down Glen Etive, eventually several small lay-bys filled with vehicles with kayaks on the roofs indicate the get in at ‘Triple Falls’. Viv was not paddling today after injuring her hand on ‘Head-Banger’ rapid on the Spean Gorge. The sight of lots of students (lemmings?!) obvi- Above: Matt, Simon, Andy and Ian at the ‘Looping Pool’ on ously running it for the first time convinced me that I could do the Garry it. The levels here were so low that there was only one line at this and most of the other drops. The first two drops were run The next drop is ‘Rock Slide’ which slides over rocks for sev- one after the other followed by the third drop after waiting for eral metres before dropping into a pool with all of the water another group to move downstream. Some members of the flowing into a cliff. After this there was only one drop to go, group then ran the drops again in close procession, Simon Right Angle Falls. Here the river flows through a narrow slot getting stuck on a rock and descending the second drop after into a small drop that bends 90 degrees before a small eddy. the others had passed by. After a shallow section full of large Then the water drops off a 7 metre waterfall with a large pool boulders we portaged ‘Letterbox’ and seal launched 8ft into at the bottom. Only Matt Davenport and Jocelyn ran this the pool below. I demonstrated how this should not be done drop, both doing it in style. We stopped here for a while to by leaning back to tip the boat forwards and performing a watch almost complete beginners from university canoe clubs perfect face plant (unfortunately for me video evidence was running the fall, most of them swimming at the bottom. From captured). The ‘Ski Jump’ was a straightforward drop if ran on there we only had to walk up the hill to the car. We ate our the right, too far left hitting a rock one third of the way down, sandwiches overlooking the bottom of Glen Etive where we which is what I did. The next challenge was ‘Crack of Doom’. watched a herd of deer roaming. Due to the un-seasonable Due to the shallow water some manual assistance was required warm weather we decided to have a barbeque that evening. to negotiate the entry drop, then keeping left until turning right into the diagonal drop into a small slot then lining up for the drop into a pool. The next drop called ‘Crack of Dawn’ Tuesday 3rd April was portaged due to some large boulders at the bottom. An- other seal launch being required, which I made a much better Still no rain so we headed off towards Oban to try and find job of this time. the river Awe. The two navigators had either fallen asleep or Below: Jocelyn running ‘Right Angle Falls’. Matt Davenport forgotten their glasses so we inadvertently found the Connel was the only other MCC paddler to run this drop. Bridge under which are the falls of Lora. This is not a waterfall but a tidal rapid or over-fall generated when the tide level in the Firth of Lorn drops below the level of the water in loch Etive. We watched the wave forming but left to find the river before some students from Reading University got on. We got onto the river Awe at the Pass of Brander Barrage. Following a brief play at the barrage we passed down through several grade two rapids before coming across a really fast surf wave. Another mile of water followed until the get out at the smokehouse car park for lunch and coffee. Simon bought some smoked trout to form the basis of a fish barbeque for our supper complimented by some wild Wood Sorrel picked by Matt Davenport.

(Continued on page 4)

Pa ge 4 February 2008 Newsletter

(Continued from page 3) releasing today, the main purpose being to release cold water Wednesday 4th April from the dam to encourage the Salmon upstream – and not of course for the benefit of paddlers. He was a very pleasant chap and very informative. Tea and fruit cake back at the house fol- Twenty minutes drive from the house is the river Arkaig lowed by a brief look at Neptune’s staircase on the Caledonian described by Ian as a ‘one rapid wonder’. After paddling Canal and a bar snack and pint at the Nevis bar in Fort Bill. across loch Arkaig we dropped down some shallow rapids until rounding a bend we were faced with two drops in quick succession causing both of the smaller boats (Matt and me) Saturday 7th April to almost back loop. Ian had chosen not to warn us of this rapid beforehand! This rapid is in a really beautiful spot sur- Retrace our steps back down south. What a great paddling trip – rounded by rhododendrons and overlooked by a large Thanks to Ian for his excellent cooking and for guiding us and manor house. Several more grade two rapids followed and thanks to everybody for making the trip what it was. we then paddled into Loch Lochy to finish the trip. An afternoon walk along the road from the house to look at the River Loy was followed by a Curry for supper Andy Rodgers

Thursday 5th April

We had speculated amongst ourselves and other paddlers whether the river Garry would release today. On turning off the main road into Invergarry it was clear that there wasn’t a full release however our bank-side inspection revealed plenty of interest so we got changed and got on the river. Another comedy swim from me resulted in a bloody nose after the second rapid. We found another rapid suitable for front en- ders which we called the ‘Looping Pool’. We ate lunch and then some of us carried the boats back up to paddle the lower half of the river again. Pork chops for tea.

Friday 6th April

Spean Gorge – Viv didn’t paddle today. The level was a little lower than Sunday. I gave myself a real talking to before getting on the river and was determined to paddle as well as I possibly could in contrast to Sunday. We all got out to scout ‘Triple Step’. All ran successfully. All ran ‘Headbanger’ with- out scouting. Stopped for lunch at the ‘Witches Cauldron’. Seal launched from just below cauldron. Constriction too narrow to paddle as Simon found out. Ian got out and walked round to assist us through. Simon had climbed out of his boat and swam through the constriction rather than climb Above: Simon seal launching on the final day in the Spean over the top. Matt Practiced cartwheels again...and again... Gorge after portaging “Witches Cauldron” and again. Simon and I celebrated the end of six days of paddling with some handstands in the river – very cold. NO unintentional swims today however. Had an interesting dis- cussion with the man who lives at Mucomir Power Station by the get out. When we got off the river there were several minibuses outside his house. He politely pointed out a no parking sign that I hadn’t seen. He did however tell us how much it cost to fish the river. He also told us that the salmon lifts at the power station operate every 4 hours to assist the salmon upstream to spawn. He told us that the Garry was

February 2008 Newsletter Pa ge 5

What’s On

Date Social /Pad- Event Description Where to find details Organiser(s)

Wednesday Training Sea Kayak Rescues— Message Board (training) Kev Robinson 20th February Family Pool Quenn’s Leisure Centre 8 –9 pm Saturday 8th Training 3 star Kayak Assessment Message Board (training) Andy Boothman

Sunday 9th Training Introduction to Open Message Board (training) Donna Boothman March Boating Sunday 30th Paddle HPP Demo day—A Message Board (trips & Kev Robinson March chance to demo boats on events) the white water course Situation Vacant- Treasurer

At the 2007 AGM the post of club Treasurer was not filled. Club Chairman—Gill Robin- son volunteered to continue with this role that she had filled last year until another suitable candidate was identified. This is an ideal opportunity to help out with the running of the club. The treasurer’s role is really to oversee how the club’s income comes in and how it’s spent whilst maintaining records of this. The Treasurer is of course also part of the committee that meet once a month to run the club. If you think you could help please let one of the committee know. Don’t worry if you’ve never done anything like this before. There will be plenty of help and encourage- ment from the rest of the committee. Thanks in anticipation Andy Rodgers

News from the Training Officer

Are you getting the coaching you want? If not, come and talk to me. This year sees the introduction of new-style courses to match with the new star awards. Courses will run for 2, 3 or 4 sessions and cover a section of the relevant star award syllabus. Some courses will include trips as part of the course, but it is important that you join in other trips as well in order to get the necessary experience before assessment. Written feedback will be given at the end of each course to keep in your logbook, so that you will know which areas you need to work on specifcally. Provisional course timetable for 2008 Beginner – Improver – Intermediate – Advanced Skills / Leader – Advanced Leader

Pa ge 6 February 2008 Newsletter Training Schedule Course Start Sessions Location Coach Experience Re- Ratio Date quired Beginners / Im- February Sunday Darley Ben Seal No previous ca- 1:6 provers Canoe mornings Abbey noe experience

Skills necessary Advanced White February (long Devon Andy Booth- 3* White Water / 1:4 Water Skills weekend man have paddled trip) grade 2 Improvers March 3 – Sun- Darley Andy Rod- 1* level / basic 1:6 Kayak Skills days Abbey gers forward paddling

& boat control Intermediate May 3 Various, Bill Simpson Improvers Canoe 1:4 Moving Water Derby- Skills / 2* level Canoe Skills shire Beginners May 4 – Thurs- Darley TBC* None 1:6 day eve- Abbey nings Improvers June / 3 Darley TBC* Beginners / 1* 1:6 Kayak Skills July Abbey level Improvers Ca- July 3 Darley TBC* Beginners / 1* 1:6 noe Skills Abbey level Beginners Septem- 4 Darley TBC* None 1:6 ber Abbey Intermediate Septem- 4 Darley TBC* Improvers Canoe 1:6 Flat Water Ca- ber Abbey Skills / 2* level noe Skills Intermediate Septem- 4 Darley TBC* Improver Kayak 1:6 Flat Water ber Abbey Skills / 2* level Kayak Skills Intermediate October 3 Various Andy Booth- Improver Kayak 1:4 Moving Water man Skills / 2* level Kayak Skills Advanced White Novem- 3 – Sun- Various Andy Booth- Confident pad- 1:4 Water Skills ber days man dling grade 2

* Coaches – offers to run / assist on these courses are welcome! For the courses arranged, please contact the coach directly, or the training officer. For other courses not listed, please ask the training officer or use the course request sheets at the pool or clubhouse. Star Award Assessments Award Date Location Assessor R a - tio 3* White Wa- March Matlock Andy Booth- 1:6 ter man 2* March – April Darley Ab- Andy Booth- 1:4 bey plus trip man 2 days (1 training, 1 assess- TBD 2* September Darley Ab- TBC 1:4 bey

February 2008 Newsletter Pa ge 7

Now running in the pool sessions each Wednesday, and at Darley Abbey on PaddlePower Sunday 20th March Sunday 27th April

See Ben Seal for further information. Coaches – New purchases for your use! The following coaching resources have been purchased: BCU Coaching Handbook BCU Long Term Paddler Development Canoe and Kayak Games These are currently with the training officer but are available to borrow on request.

In addition there are a series of laminated cards that will be stored in the training room in the clubhouse and can be taken on the river during coaching sessions. Paddlepower Activity Cards Skills Courses Cards – containing the relevant sections of the Star Award Training Notes Assessor Cards – containing the key points from the Star Award Assessor’s Notes. Assessor Summary Cards – additional cards at 2* and 3* to keep track of the candidates’ performance in the assessment. Downloads Personal The new MCC Logbook and MCC Course feedback forms are on the Logbook website under Downloads > Training .

All star award syllabi, training notes and assessor notes are on the website under Downloads > Training > Star Awards .

Donna Boothman—Training Officer

as President by Albert Woods (now President of the BCU), Who are the Vice Presidents? and more recently by Dave Patrick until he retired to Corn- wall in 2001.

Vice Presidents – Who are they? Currently Don Charlesworth is in the process of helping Ernie Phillips to 'record' his memoirs, and I hope that over the next few months Pat A., Albert and John N. will be After understandable questions at the 2007 AGM we able to send us something also, however brief? asked the club's six Vice Presidents (VP) to write a brief résumé People used to ask, 'Why do we have Vice Presi- of their association with MCC, so that current members might dents?' One of the reasons given, way back, was that if and have a better understanding of who they are. The first of these when the club got into 'financial difficulties', we could call 'histories' was from Dave Patrick, in the January Newsletter, and upon them to dip into their pockets and bail us out. Well, the second, reprinted below, is from Bill Wallhead. Bill was also that was rarely required and those days have in essence long a club President, following in the footsteps of his father – 'Mr (Continued on page 8) (John) Wallhead' Snr – after he retired. Bill was then followed

Pa ge 8 February 2008 Newsletter

(Continued from page 7) My father eventually became the club Chairman and later served as club President. We lived 32 miles away from Trent gone, but clearly they aren't forgotten, because for the second Lock, but we were so keen that us boys often cycled to Trent time in the last couple of years – and Bill hasn't mentioned Lock, early on a Saturday morning, with camping gear on our this, which is why I'm doing so – Bill has 'dipped into his backs, just to get more paddling in. pocket' again and enclosed a generous donation (what Bill The two Suez/Gulf wars, along with petrol rationing called, 'a small cheque'). To put this in perspective, in effect it looked dismal, but being a builder, petrol for plant and cement- means that the mini-digger we recently hired to lay the duct mixers was unlimited, and so the club's transport was not affected. and cable for the BT phone line was effectively 'nil cost' to the club. By the mid-fifties and early sixties the club was becoming very involved in white water trips and slalom, and at the age of 14 Bill is another one of those MCC stalwarts we in my last year at school, I built a folding slalom canoe in wood- should never forget; solid and honest, built like an ox and work class – the skin was made by the senior girls in needlework with a work-rate to match, and as he says in his letter, he was class (well you have to push the boundaries a bit don't you?). (and still is) always wiling to help. I would like to thank Bill personally, but also on the members' behalf, for this 'rough I soon became involved in the committee as a junior résumé' (his words), for his continued interest in the club, and member, later I became senior member, then Touring Officer. for his tangible support yet again. I hope one day we might Through my contacts I acquired a Gestetner ink duplicator for the find his 'Hymer' parked down there at Darley Abbey… club, and I then started the club's first newsletter, typing the sten- cils and then producing 'MidCaNews'. The editing and publishing John C. of this was eventually taken over by John Chamberlin. By the 1960s my father was becoming less involved with 'The Wallhead Connection' the club, and I became the new truck driver – by then transport in the club had improved greatly, the trips to white water and slalom events were always well attended. I, along with many other club Thank you, members, for voting me in as a Vice members, became heavily involved in the slalom scene and we President for a further year. Quite rightly, you deserve to were soon organising and running our own events. For training know who that person is and what they have done to deserve and fitness in the winter, regular canoeing trips were organised the honour. and also walking trips in Snowdonia and the Yorkshire Dales. I first became involved with the club in 1952, along In the mid-sixties I came second in the Scottish Open with my father and two older brothers. Father was always Slalom Championships at Perth, and this promoted me into Div' referred to by everybody in the club as "Dad": I was eleven 1. I remained in Div' 1 for a couple of years and was greatly in- years old and officially too young to be a member at that time, volved in white water trips and helping with slalom course erec- but I hung in there anyway. tion and the running of events – for a few years I was the club's We arrived at the club HQ at Barton Ferry the official 'Starter'. By the end of the sixties I was less involved in weekend that the club was moving premises up to Trent the physical side of canoeing but remained active in the running of Lock. My father was a building contractor and our mode of the club. transport was a Bedford 5-ton truck: this proved very useful When the club was asked to leave its site at Trent Lock over the weekend moving canoe-racks and gear up to Trent Dave Patrick, John Chamberlin, and myself had the task of find- Lock. The canoes were towed upstream in a flotilla behind a ing a new site. Most of this fell on the shoulders of Dave and dinghy; this was powered by a Seagull outboard motor, and John due to the distance that I lived from the club. Once a new the noise and smoke arrived at Trent Lock before we did. site had been found and surveyed by us, we set about finding a At this time the club had very little transport, most suitable sectional building. We looked at second-hand, but even- members having either cycles or motorcycles. We con- tually negotiated for and bought a 'Vic Hallam'-type sectional pa- structed a rack to fit the back of the truck, and could then vilion. Because the club site could be prone to flooding it was carry about 14 canoes plus camping equipment, and occasion- decided to put the new HQ up on pillars. This put considerably ally a few bodies as well. Soon the club was getting more more work into the project, but with willing hands, and some of touring trips and holidays. us working in the construction industry, the job was soon completed. The club became closely involved (through Rex Bloor, the then club President) with the Trent Boating Asso- I was still involved in the club in the early 1970s with ciation and the CCPR (Central Council for Physical Recrea- regards to its running, etc., and still did some winter sea canoeing. tion), many events were attended by club members where the I still continued to provide transport, scaffolding and my services club gave displays, demonstrations, and coaching, for which and help in the running of slalom events. In 1976 I retired as the club was reimbursed financially. This income and the Club President when I moved to the Orkney Islands with my fam- increased membership through these events, helped the club ily. Life in the islands was very nice and relaxing and I actually get 'up on its feet' and improved things greatly. (Continued on page 9)

Pa ge 9 February 2008 Newsletter

(Continued from page 8) In the late 1980s I suffered a health problem with my neck and back, and this put my paddling days at an end. I was managed to get more paddling time in – Scapa Flow was at the later diagnosed as having osteoarthritis in my neck and told that bottom of the garden. Still maintaining a loose contact with I could be in a wheelchair within two years. The worn vertebrae the club, with Newsletters and some of its members, I then in my neck were trapping nerves and I was sometimes spending became a Vice President and was honoured at this privilege. (Continued on page 10) FAQS—Your Questions Answered

CONFUSED? NOT SURE WHERE TO GO OR WHO TO ASK?

I’d like some coaching when I’m at the pool. Contact: MCC Coaches [email protected] Ask Derek (pool manager who takes your money!) or a member of the committee to direct you to a coach, or ask a coach I’d like to get into coaching. directly. Names and photos can be found on the notice board. Fantastic. Speak to any of the other MCC coaches or the training officer. I am under 15 and would like some coaching. Contact: MCC Coaches [email protected] or Ben Seal, the community sports coach is running the Paddle- Donna Boothman [email protected] power scheme which is aimed at younger paddlers. Contact: Ben Seal – [email protected] What sort of trips do you run? A variety of trips are run covering flat water, white water, sea How do I find out what courses are being run? kayaking, open boating & surfing. All depend on what members Courses are advertised on the message board and also on the are interested in, availability of coaches/leaders, river levels & notice boards at the pool and clubhouse. (There are often a weather conditions. limited number of places on training courses and they may be Contact: Kev Robinson [email protected] filled via the website message board before a notice is seen at the pool. If you are particularly interested in something it is best to register your interest with the training officer – see be- How do I find out about which trips are being run? low) Trips are advertised on the website message board. Posters are Contact: Donna Boothman [email protected] displayed for trips organised sufficiently in advance, however many river trips are dependent on river levels and so are often organised at short notice via the message board. If you do not I can’t see a course advertised that I want to do. How do have internet access and would like to be informed via some I ask for it to be run? other means (such as text messages), please make yourself There are sheets on the notice boards at the club and the pool known to the trips coordinator. where you can put your name and contact details down along Contact: Kev Robinson [email protected] with the course you would like. Contact: Donna Boothman [email protected] How do I know if I have the ability to go on the trip? Speak to the person who is organising the trip. I’d like to improve my skills but don’t know which course to do, or if I need a course. Can I make a suggestion for a trip? Speak to one of the coaches who are down the pool or at the clubhouse in the summer months. Names and photos of the Of course. Please pass your suggestion to Kev or a member of coaches can be found on the notice boards at the pool and the committee. clubhouse. Contact: Kev Robinson [email protected]

Pa ge 10 February 2008 Newsletter

(Continued from page 9) in my Hymer motorhome, and walking the hills and fells. I travel winter and summer and, remarkable as it may seem, I weeks laid in bed on my back. I moved back down to Notting- can walk all day, so long as I do it fast and don't stop. 'Pause hamshire approx' 1995 to be in a warmer and dryer climate, and for thought': too much paddling too young?? I wonder!! now after medication, physiotherapy and the right exercise I have retired into a reasonable lifestyle, although I have to be very careful what I do. My best wishes to all you paddlers out there. I am still very interested in the progress of the club and do occasionally bump into members on some of my travels. Bill Wallhead. If my help or advice was ever needed I would always help where

I could. Nowadays I cannot stand for long and need a chair with good support. I now spend my time cruising the country

UK Freestyle Team Selections

Back in July 2006 at Holme Pierrpont in Nottingham The Junior Men had 13 competitors. Matt was visiting Hurley club member David Bainbridge won the C1 ( a kayak paddled for the very first time and had a brief practice run before his from the kneeling position with a single bladed paddle) class of first timed ride. On his second run he managed to score a loop the European Freestyle Championships. This competition is finally ending up in 8 th place with 94 points behind leader Joe held on a biannual basis and next July is being held in Spain Bradley with 331 points. Watching some of the senior men in although for various reasons the venue is in doubt. As reigning their runs showed the juniors the standard that they need to champion David is pre-selected for next year’s event. aspire to. Returning to the HQ in the car park in Hurley vil- The event to select the UK team for the event was lage we waited for the judges to decide whether the competition could go ahead the next day. We were all told to meet at held on the weekend of 8 th and 9th December. The plan was to hold the first part of the event at Hurley weir on the River HPP the next day but with no guarantee that river level or Thames on Saturday and the second part on the inlet gate fea- pollution level would be low enough to go ahead. ture of Holme Pierrpont on the Sunday. Competing for Mid- Arriving at HPP, it was decided that the event could land Canoe Club were Gabrielle Bates (Gromit) in the Junior go ahead despite the river being so high. Gromit managed 3 Ladies category and Matt Rodgers in the Junior Men. consistent runs to top the girls’ leader board with 269.5 points th Hurley weir has four gates that are opened and closed also leading overall now. Matt scored 438 to be in 10 place at th to control the water levels in the Thames. After plenty of rain, HPP and 9 overall. The top 4 junior men qualified for the all week in the Thames Valley all four gates were fully open and team with one reserve and two squad members. The top 3 during the afternoon the red boards were put out which means junior ladies qualified for the team with one reserve. that the river flow is enough to make navigation dangerous. The Senior men competition was won easily by This caught out many competitors as they had been training on James Bebbington with an incredible run which linked to- the feature all week on three gates. gether several high scoring moves. First up were the Junior Ladies. Gromit was up against As team members, David and Gabrielle will attend 3 other paddlers. After three rides, the best two of which were several team training events before the European Champion- scored Gromit was in third place with 14 points with Islay ship in July Crosby in the lead on 60 points. All was not lost however as there were still plenty of points up for grabs the following day. Andy Rodgers

Please contact me with articles, news and reports (and photographs), items for the diary for the Next newsletter at:- In the next Issue…... Andy Rodgers 14 New Zealand Lane Duffield, Belper All sorts articles of interest to you MCC paddlers. Derbyshire DE56 4BZ Phone: 01332 841696 .Happy paddling and don’t forget to send me those E-mail: [email protected] trip reports Or … talk to me at the pool or clubhouse. Or … use the suggestion box in the clubhouse.