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My Challenge has finished.
I paddled
from 13,000 kms to 14,000 kms in two weeks.
Second last week - 450 kms paddled.
The last week - 550 kms paddled.
90 kms paddled on the second last day.
Total 14,002.54 kilometres.
So far I have raised $15,810.00 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
Thank you for your donation.
Thank you to all those people who paddled the last few kilometres with me at the end of my 7000 and 14,000 km target.
And thanks to all those people who weren't able to be there because they had covid or were away.
Photo Lawrence Greed.
- Paddle for Prostate
- A Decline in Kayaking
- Dave & Harry - Wild Water
- WA Slalom Camp
- Who's Out There - Danny & Helen
- Upper Swan Marathon
- Australian Sprint Championships
- On My Paddles - Birds Along My Way
- Coming Events
Paddle for Prostate Cancer Foundation
Double the Distance – from 7 to 14,000 Kilometres.
Most of you may know that my one year, paddle every day, 14,000 km paddle challenge has finished. It started as a 7,000km challenge but I got carried away and kept paddling long distances just because I could and it ended as 14,000 kms.
The challenge got bigger as the year moved on. When I realised I could paddle more kilometres in the day I did. Although I didn’t tell anyone I was secretly planning my attempt on ‘Doubling the Distance’ to 14,000 kms. It was not an easy task as in those last few weeks I had to increase my distance from the mid 40s to 50+, then 60+ and then to 70 kms. As I had done several big expeditions that involved paddling all day long
distances I wasn’t fazed with the target. I must admit though I couldn’t believe how well my body stood up to the challenge and how quickly it recovered especially on the days I raced and still had to paddle 30 odd kms afterwards.
I also thank those people who have wished me well, and who have commented on my posts throughout the challenge. I do hope it has inspired people to get out there and create a challenge for themselves, be it physical or some other challenge. I also hope it has inspired older people and for them to realise it is not all doom and gloom when you reach 70, it could be a start of something good.
The challenge is finished.
Look how happy Nigel and Nikki are.
I finished the challenge on Thursday evening, 2nd June at Ascot Kayak Club where several paddlers joined me at 5.00pm to paddle my last 5 kms, and have celebrations afterwards, which was great.
I think I was the most excited when I finished a 90 km paddle on the Wednesday evening leaving only 64 kms to paddle on the Thursday. I didn’t stop paddling until 11.40 pm that Wednesday evening, got home, had a shower, Jenny had my dinner ready, did a facebook post and didn’t get to bed until 1.20am. I was up on Thursday morning at 5.30 am to paddle the 64 kms. Unbelievably I felt really good paddling those last
kilometres.
Other expedition paddlers have paddled a little further in a year, (I’m not sure how many, two or 3 maybe) but I don’t think anyone would have paddled every day for a year. I also doubt if anyone has paddled that distance who wasn’t on an expedition.
- With 14 days to go I had 1000 kms to paddle to reach 14,000 kms. But to reach 14,000 kms I would have to paddle 71.5 kms every day for 14 days.
- In the second last week I paddled 450 kms, an average of 64.3 kms a day.
- In the last week I paddled 550.00 kms, an average of 78 kms a day, paddling 90 km on the second last day of the challenge having a late night and finishing at 11.40 pm.
- I paddled every day since starting the challenge on June 3rd with no rest.
- I had no injuries, no massage and no physio.
- All but 300 kms have been on flat, non-moving water of the Swan River, in Perth, WA.
- My lowest kilometre week (WA lockdown week) I paddled 145.20 kms.
- My highest week was 550 kms.
- My daily average paddled since starting is 38.4kms.
- In the last 6 months I have averaged 47.00kms a day.
- The first 7000 kms I paddled in 7 months – the next 7000 kms I paddled in 5 months.
- I would have spent at least 2000 hours paddling and made 7200000 paddle strokes.
- I intended to paddle 20 – 35 kms each day but after 4 months I realised that if I paddled 44 kms or more every day for the following 3 months I could paddle the 7000 kms in 7 months, which sounded better, so I did.
Once I completed the 7000 kms I thought I would ease up with the amount of kilometres I paddled, but I got so used to paddling 40-50 kms each day I carried on paddling those distances and increased them even more in the last month.
To help ease the boredom of paddling for hours I decided to take photos of the local birds and I managed to get some excellent photos. The best parts of the day have been early morning and late evening when the colours are crisp and in the evening when the sun is setting. I also paddle a lot in the dark and I love when the winds calm, the moon is out and the stars are bright. I’m usually the only one on the river to take in the experience.
It hasn’t been easy as it has meant being on the river 5 to 12 hours a day in rain, storms, floods and heat waves. The winter was one of the wettest and summer was one of the hottest but it was the constant strong wind that was the most annoying. Luckily on the last 3 days when I needed to paddle the most distance, the wind had been calm.
I’m grateful that I can still paddle so well into my 70s. I’m also grateful with the great life that I have lived. And I’m especially grateful that I have always had the support of my wife Jenny.
For most of the time I paddled an Australian made, Grafton Paddle Sports, Time Bandit Kayak which was stable enough for me to take photographs. I also used a Grafton Paddle Sports Alchemist Kayak which was more unstable but better for racing and times when I didn’t want to take photos.
The last few weeks I was increasing the distance to have a chance of
Doubling the Distance.
A Decline in Kayaking?
Have you ever thought what Marathon and Wild Water kayaking are going to be like in ten years’ time?
With so many paddlers now taking the easier option and paddling skis on flat water, will there be a Josh Kippin in WA to win the Australian Marathon Championships and showcase at the World Marathon Championships in ten years time? And will there be a Brett McDonald to represent WA and Australia
at a Masters World Championships. We need champions to inspire us. We need competitions to make us better. We need kayak paddlers to keep the tradition going.
Not only are we attracting fewer and fewer paddlers to our clubs who want to race, the few that do take up racing seem to pick a ski rather than a kayak to paddle because it is easier and more available. In a way that is fine because at least they have got into paddling, but we must start swaying
them and anyone who paddles a ski to get into kayaking as well. If everyone starts paddling skis on flat water, and we don't sway paddlers to paddle kayaks who will represent WA in a World Kayak Marathon Championship or a Masters Championship in the future where kayaks are only allowed?
At the moment WA still has good representation in the Australian Marathon team but do we want to see the decline of kayak paddling in the future or should we make more effort to entice paddlers to paddle kayaks. Not just juniors but more importantly senior paddlers. The more kayak paddlers on the
water the more that others will be attracted to paddling them. (Sprint kayaking attracts more juniors as it's an Olympic sport with more money, programs and coaching available.)
Admittedly kayaks are more difficult to master and it takes longer to get to a proficient stage but that’s the challenge and that’s part of paddling is being challenged.
Skis do play an important role in WA because of our different waterways, open waters and the ocean and in a perfect world, if we all had the finances we would all have a kayak and a ski.
Kayaking has been around a long time so let us not watch marathon, wild water and slalom decline to a few paddlers, let us promote kayaking as much as we can to newcomers before the art of kayaking is lost.
Two West Australians are at the Wild Water Championships at the moment and 10 have been selected (if they can afford it) to go to the World Marathon Championships this year.
I and many other marathon paddlers from WA got the opportunity to go to the 2019 World Marathon Championships in China and it was a great experience and like several others came away with a medal.
One day if you paddle a kayak you could be chosen to compete at an International Marathon Kayaking Championship. It doesn’t matter how old you are, because there are the Open and Masters World Kayak Championships to take part in.
At every chance we should promote paddling kayaks or skis, but it's the kayak competition that is at most risk of dying out.
So if you paddle on flat water competitively, why not give a kayak a go if you don't already paddle one.
Dave & Harry
at the World Wildwater Championships
The 2022 ICF Wildwater World Championships gets underway this weekend, as the event returns to the venue of the very first wildwater world title more than 60 years ago.
Australia has two athletes representing the green and gold on the River Vézère in Treignac, France, with Harry Langley and David Burdett both making their World Championship debuts.
With it being the first full wildwater world titles since 2018, 20 nations will come together to compete across sprint and classic events this weekend.
A 22-year-old Langley said he’s really proud to be representing Australia on the world stage.
“It’s a really big deal to represent Australia, this has been a culmination of a lot of training and a lot of hard work, so I’m so stoked to be here and it’s a beautiful place in Treignac as well,” he said.
“I just want to get out there, give it my best shot and have a lot of fun.”
The team arrived in France in late May to have some time to get familiar with the course ahead of competition starting on Friday 3 June.
“The runs are pretty crazy, the river is really big,” Langley said.
“The bottom of the sprint course I’ve found particularly tough. I am pretty confident in my classic runs but that bottom sprint section for me has been a bit of a learning curve.
“I’m taking a bit of a different line to what I initially thought I wanted to take because I think I’ll be able to get a bit more power and speed from the right side rather than the left.”
“The river is definitely big and rocky,” added Burdett. “It’s different to what we’re used to back home, but it’s been a good change so far.
“My goal is to just do my best.”
Thursday saw the Aussies march in the Opening Ceremony through the streets of Treignac ahead of the Sprint qualification starting on Friday.
WA Slalom Camp
DATE: Saturday 18th to Sunday 19th June, 2022.
WHERE: Walyunga National Park.
SESSION TIMES
• SATURDAY (AM) AND (PM) session time to be advised later.
• SUNDAY (AM) Brevis Choate race followed by final session.
• GROUPS TO BE ADVISED AFTER REGISTRATION
CAMP FOCUS
• NDS/WASPS Athletes
• Experienced Paddlers
* Juniors (who have had previous whitewater experience)
• Adult Beginners
.
Camp Fees include all coached sessions, lunch Sunday and race registration.
PLEASE NOTE: A national park pass will need to be purchased. Day park passes are available for purchase at the entry to the National Park. Longer park passes can purchased through the Department of Biodiversity or through RAC (good discounts apply).
Registration link
https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=27842
Brevis Choate Race
Registration link
https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=278427
Registration in now open for the WA Slalom Annual Camp - June 18-19th at Walyunga National Park (water levels permitting).
All Welcome - beginners (equipment supplied) to experienced paddlers.
Some of the Ascot female slalom paddlers back in 2015. And most of them are still paddling at Ascot.
Slalom paddlers putting on a show at Elizabeth Quay.
Who's Out There
Danny & Helen Hocking-Murphy
Welcome Back
About 11 years ago Danny and Helen left Perth to live in England where Helen's family were. While there they really got into multi sport challenges. Danny was heavily involved in kayaking before he left Perth and paddled in several Avon Descents.
Now they are back.
Danny getting back into kayaking in Perth.
Helen & Danny on a Ultra Challenge in Africa.
The paddle leg in Africa.
Helen, Grant Pepper, Joel Tate, & Danny taking on an Ultra Challenge in India.
Grant & Joel are even more involved in Ultra Challenges.
Just don't talk to Grant or he will convince you to be on his team.
Grant & Helen on their recent Ultra Challenge in Queensland.
9 year old Rachel Killen.
Photo Selena Lloyd.
Doug Hodson, David Griffiths, Chris Hollier & Ben King.
Photo Selena Lloyd.
Brendan Rice and Jeremy Doney.
Photo Selena Lloyd.
Matt Jones, Dave Berglund and Martin Watson.
Photo Selena Lloyd.
Chad Sorensen, Sal Weyers and Kris Smith.
Photo Selena Lloyd.
Me and Tony Power.
Photo Selena Lloyd.
Results 2022 Upper Swan Marathon:
Main race:
Novice & Guppy Race:
Marathon End Season Awards Dinner,
Sat 18th June, 4.30pm
Please join us at the 2022 Paddle WA Marathon End Season Awards Dinner, for an evening of great company and great food at a reasonable price. We hope to have the fires going and some videos and photos from the 2021-2022 season to look at. You may also be in for an award !
Ascot Kayak Club, Saturday 18th June, 4.30pm
Menu:
Mains
Roast Pork Dinner
Chicken Cacciatore & Rice
Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Delicious Vegetable Polenta Bake
Dessert:
Gluten Free Apple Crumble
Ticket Prices:
Adults [Over 18] $25
18 & Under $15
BYO Plates, Cutlery, Drinks & Chairs
Awards to be made on the night::
Age Group and Overall Single Awards for:
Paddler of the Year, Doubles Paddler of the Year & Best club
2022 Australian Canoe Marathon Team
Juniors at the
Australian Sprint Championships
Harriette Alexis, Sammy Lourey, Abbey Major, Selma Alibegovic.
Kate Lockley, Olivia Berson, Femke Negus, Sammy Lourey
Albany Surf Boat Challenge
June Long Weekend.
Olympian Jesse Phillips and future Olympian Beau Connor at the finish line.
On My Paddles
Birds Along The Way
This pelican looked sick.
It kept falling forward.
I rang the Sea Bird Rescue.
They came out and caught the pelican and told me it had swallowed a hook.
Dave Tuplin and Kevin Johnson meet up with a mass of
cormorants and pelicans in a feeding frenzy.
An Osprey nesting on the tower.
Register Rod Fry Race,
19th June
Swan Canoe Club
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