I just had a brilliant weekend at the TDU female kayaking weekend
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We started off at Wildwater canoe club near Palmerstown on the Liffey in Dublin for some slalom training. 26 ladies showed up on the day ready to explore a discipline in which most of them had little or no experience. Junior Development Slalom squad members Niamh, Erica and Caoimhe put us through our paces with some slalom drills and tips. They really ran a great session and most of the paddlers came away feeling like they had learned something new and exercised a few lower ab muscles that hadn’t been used in a while! Also on hand was the chairman of the slalom committee Colm and Kris from the ICU helping with boats, gear and tips. Thanks guys! Also thanks to Wildwater canoe club for the use of their fab facilities. Anyone wishing to continue with some slalom training can come to Wildwater at 7pm on a Wednesday night or 10am on a Saturday morning for some more training. I’m looking forward to making a few of those sessions.
Sunday was dedicated to river running and safety. I don’t think Lynham’s car park has ever seen the likes of it before as 27 ladies fully kitted out gathered with their boats ready to take on the Avonmore river. It was quite a sight to behold and I couldn’t help smiling and feeling proud to see such a brilliant group of women aged from 12 to ..well you know quite a few years older than 12..ready to paddle the river. Good water levels meant that there was plenty of opportunity to practice the skills learned at the slalom site the day before as well as practicing river running, safety and rescue techniques. Huge thanks to everyone involved including the instructors, trainee instructors, paddlers, cheerleaders and Eimear’s dad for driving my van to the end! As it was getting late, we finished the sessions with some rope throwing and a few jellies and a big cheer for Laura Griffin who did all of the work organising the weekend.
After that 8 of the girls who had been instructing decided to make a dash back to Annamoe bridge and paddle the upper stretch of the river to take advantage of the good water levels. We didn’t have much time before dark so we made our way down relatively quickly. I really enjoyed paddling with the girls who are all paddling at such a high standard. After that it was back to Lynhams for soup and a bit of a chat before heading home.
Looks like there is going to be good water for the rest of the week…mmm maybe the upper liffey tomorrow in between teaching a few bootcamp classes and doing all the admin that needs to be done!! Planning to head west later in the week for some surf, playboating and river running woooo hoooooo 🙂