Dinner after the Progressive Racing Group paddle session on Tuesday.

• Paddler of the Week - Bronwyn Martin
• Aussies at the World Cup Race
• Aussies at the World Cup Slalom Race
• WAs Perth White Water Centre a Step Closer
• Jessica Fox - 3 Golds in a Weekend
• Upper Swan Marathon
• Paddling the Yukon River -20 Years ago - Terry & Ed
• 2013 Australian Marathon Champs
• 2019  Australian Marathon Champs
• Coming Events

Coming Events

• 23rd June 2024 - Wild Water Race #4 The Drain Race Again.
• 29th June 2024 - IOP Downwind Winter race #1
• 30th June 2024 Slalom Winter Series #1
• 14th July 2024 - Northam to Toodyay
• 20th July 2024 - IOP Downwind Winter race #2
• 28th July 2024 - Walyunga N/P to Middle Swan

Paddler of the Week

Bronwyn Martin

In her early years Bronwyn was an extremely good paddler and as she approached her 20s she let paddling slip a little and did other things. Although she has always been around paddling in the last few years she hasn't taken it so seriously as in her teenage years. Well that has all changed.

When Bronwyn joined the Progressive Racing Group on a Tuesday night at Ascot in December 2022 her time for our 3.8km course with six turns was 22.30.  Now it is 18.55. It was about then that she decided to get back into training with the goal of doing well at the Australian Marathon Championships, especially the 2025 championships.

Her times in the last 6 months have escalated and she is getting quicker everyday and I don't think there is any stopping her. With the support of her paddling parents, Judy and Peter and all the paddlers around her, Bronwyn I believe will be a real competitor at the next marathon championships in Perth 2025.

She's back!

Bronwyn started paddling in a guppy at 8 years of age, 20 years ago.

Her father Peter got her involved in paddling and soon after he created one of the most impressive and successful guppy programs at Ascot.

At 12 when Bronwyn graduated to a K1 she was coached by Julie and Rob Jenkinson, followed by Amanda Simper and Jenny Bateman. Her dad, Peter and mum Judy were always there backing her up.
Bronwyn claims that a lot of her racing tactics came from learning from the old guys (Darryl Long, Rob Roll, etc) in training and racing at Ascot.

Bronwyn was part of the Olympic Hopes team which went to Poland in 2011, in the U16s.

Bronwyn was also part of the Australian Marathon Team, U18 K2 in Copenhagen 2013.

She did a trip to South Africa as part of a developing paddlers team and took part in the South African National Championships.

She was the fastest woman in the paddle leg, in the two years she did the Blackwood Relay Marathon.

In 2018 she went to South Carolina to help with a summer camp. The camp was a Girl Guide/Scout run event. She ran the water activities section, canoeing, sailing and swimming.

Bronwyn has been a Scout at Bayswater Sea Scouts since age 11 and continued through Venturers and Rovers and participated in statewide master mariners contests several times, leading the winning team one year. She also held a Coastal Skippers Ticket.

When not paddling or coaching juniors, she is often volunteering.

She is currently Commissioner for Paddling with the West Australian Scout Association. 

Bronwyn loves a bit of white water paddling.

She has paddled the Avon Descent in a K2 with John Hilton and came 2^nd in the mixed double. Her other Avon Descent race was part of a 4 person team.

Bronwyn has been part of Ascot Kayak Club for 20 years.

Bronwyn at the 2013 Australian Marathon Champs.

2013 10km marathon.

A few weeks ago Bronwyn was chasing Ashley at the PRG race night. Now Ashley is chasing Bronwyn and not keeping up. 
On our 3.8km course with 6 spit post turns she did a time of 18.55 which is the second fastest time on that course so far. 

A few months ago even I could keep up with her. Now I have no chance.

Bronwyn took part in the 2024 Australian Marathon Champs.

WA Slalom Paddlers in Europe

Imagine if our local paddlers didn't have to go to Penrith to train.

Maybe in a few years they won't have to.

Paddle WA are super excited to announce that the 
Perth White Water Centre Business Plan 
is due for completion in the 3rd quarter of 2024!

This is a huge accomplishment and paves the way for us to push forward into stage 2 of the project development.

This achievement is all thanks to the incredible efforts of numerous volunteers who, over the years, have dedicated their time, expertise, and a variety of skills to research, planning, networking, and the development of vital evidence and information that bolster the proposal for a White Water Centre in WA.

Joining the project in late 2023, Rob Riggir has made remarkable progress in personally crafting the Business Plan, volunteering numerous hours to its development and leading the project towards the next stages. 

We have never been closer

We know it’s been a long road, but we have never been closer. With Rob’s ongoing involvement, now is the time to get behind the project and help him get the proposal in front of the right people.

WAs George Pankhurst

WAs Brody Crawford

Jessica Fox

3 World Cup Gold Medals 

in One Weekend

The smiles of a champion

K1 World Cup Champion

C1 World Cup Champion

Kayak Cross Champion

Upper Swan Marathon

The leader Josh Kippin well in the lead.

Photo Rob Lindgren

Kent Jenkinson 2nd.

Photo Rob Lindgren

Peter Tomczak / Brett Mcdonald first double.

Photo Rob Lindgren

Beau & Connor Jacob and Brendan Rice.

Photo Rob Lindgren

Gary Nagy and Coran Longwood and Kelby Murray.

Photo Rob Lindgren

Bronwyn Martin, Rob Jenkinson, David Berglund and Genevieve Stanley.

Photo Rob Lindgren

Kate Martin, Julie McDonald, Steph Smith & Kris Smith paddling the 13km course.

Photo Rob Lindgren

Me paddling the 13km course.

Photo Rob Lindgren

Manny Carabott paddling the long course in a plastic.

Photo Rob Lindgren

Twenty years ago this week

Ed Vaneer and I 
started our paddle of the entire 3350km Yukon River 
as well as racing in the 750km Yukon River Quest Race 
which was about to take place.

At the start of our journey.

Our route starting from the mountains upstream of the start of the river.

Our goal was to paddle the entire length of the Yukon River, but as the water shed off mountains into lakes well upstream of the river entrance we decided to paddle from as close to the source of the river as we could. This meant starting at the mountain end of Bennett Lake, some 30kms upstream from the community of Carcross and 150 plus kilometres from Whitehorse, the town that the Yukon River Quest Race started and which we had entered.

To get right into the mountain range we first had to put in at Carcross and paddle 30kms up Bennett Lake into the mountains to get as close to the source as we could. Then at that point we would turn and paddle back and start our 3350 km journey proper.

Day 1. Carcross

After taking several photos it was time to begin our journey, fasten our spray deck and paddle away. No one was there to wave goodbye as we headed south into a strong wind and choppy waves. It seemed crazy to be heading in the opposite direction to our ultimate goal at 6.30pm at night, but we just couldn’t wait any longer to start our journey.

The nearest mountain had a few streaks of patchy snow in the higher gullies and the sky was heavy with cloud. The mountains in the far distance looked cold and laden with snow; it made us shiver just to look at them. We were rugged up in our waterproof paddling jackets and Kokatat PFDs heading to the first corner where a large stand of pine trees were dominating the sky line. As we pushed on towards the far reaching snow line, several white capped waves broke over the bow of the canoe spraying Ed with icy water and causing him to shiver.

It was cold and windy as we paddled towards the mountains and the source of the Yukon River.

The wind got stronger.

The paddle was rejuvenating and we were physically pounding away all those lazy days of the last few weeks and it felt really good. Ed and I had only paddled together in a canoe four times back in Australia, so this was our first real test of compatibility. We also hadn’t experienced such cold, windy weather for some years, and in 19 year old Ed’s case this was probably the coldest weather he had experienced in his short lifetime. We struggled on for one and a half hours and had covered little distance against the strong wind, so when rain threatened we stopped at the nearest suitable place to camp. Minutes later, just as we were erecting our tents the heavens opened and the rained poured and never stopped. Once in our tents though, we didn’t come out for the rest of the night.

We were in bed by 9.00pm listening to that wonderful sound of the rain hitting our tents. It was a cosy feeling being warm and dry after such a trying day. Here we were in the wilderness facing the elements with a storm raging outside and I was relishing it. We were on a journey that thousands of people dream of doing, but very few attempt it. How lucky we were to be here.

Even with the storm raging it was still light outside. And as there were no curtains or blinds for us to draw in our tents to shield us from the midnight sun; the only way I could achieve some darkness was by placing my T shirt or underpants over my face. The T-Shirt was more acceptable, I didn’t think my underpants would help induce a good night’s sleep! I soon fell into a deep sleep and by morning I was trying to remember all the weird dreams I had dreamt. For some reason I always have vivid dreams when I camp.

Our first camp.

Tuesday 15th June. Day 2

Our comfortable warm sleeping bags enticed us to stay in bed until 9.00am. The rain had gone, though the sky was full of violent clouds and the wind was still howling, so I knew that paddling today wasn’t going to be easy.

We had a leisurely breakfast using nearby railway sleepers that formed a table and bench. Later Ed returned from toileting in the bush declaring that this was the first time he had been to the toilet in the outdoors. Being a fisherman, I couldn’t believe that he hadn’t dug a hole and squatted before. By the time we had sorted ourselves out on that first morning, it was nearly 12.30pm.

We took off and within seconds we hit the headwind and our progress was immediately stalled; in fact when Ed stopped paddling, it was impossible to make headway paddling myself. Because of the slow speed, we had plenty of time to look at the patchy snow that was melting before our eyes on some of the nearer mountains. But it was the snow-clad mountains in the distance that were beckoning us. They looked majestic and inviting but unfortunately they seemed to be getting no closer. We needed to be right amongst them to be at our destination near Bennett Station.

It wasn’t long before Ed’s first blisters developed, so he covered up with gloves. We focussed on points ahead, which became our goals, but with the incredibly slow pace it seemed to take forever to reach them. Rocks, boulders, sleeper piles, railway signs all became important markers in the distance ahead of us. We would judge our speed by them. Many were only a few metres away while some were a hundred metres ahead. When we reached them we knew that we had moved. Our pace was literally so slow that I’m sure a snail would have travelled faster.

We passed by a point where an old hut and steel boiler stood. We didn’t stop but instead kept on paddling being tossed around by the larger waves. The lake was at its widest just before it split into two arms and it was here that we had to paddle even harder to avoid being pushed back towards where we had started.

At another point of land we stopped on the sheltered side and slid our boat in a watery hollow between a build-up in gravel and the shore. We tried shielding ourselves from the wind behind some trees to have our lunch of bread and cheese.

Thousands of miners climbed the mountains from the seaward side to reach this lake to the take boats through the lakes and the Yukon River to reach the goldfields.

As soon as we returned to the water and moved out into the channel, we gave it our full power, but covered no distance. Waves rolling towards shore had us on the edge of our seats as we smashed through them and trying to keep control. Ed was getting the full brunt of the water that lashed over the bow and soaked him. It was cold and I felt sorry for him, but someone had to be at the back where it was much drier!!

Our gruelling ordeal continued and kilometres gained were very few. The wind gusted and as we moved around the various points of shoreline we would almost come to a standstill. Looking at the rocks and other markers on shore only reinforced that we were moving at a snail’s pace. 

By 6.00pm the sun was trying to peer through the clouds which brought us some joy, however the wind was still howling with a mighty force. Three ducks sat in line, the only wild life we had seen all day. We forged on to the next point to see if we could see any camping spots further along the shore, but there was nothing but white caps, rocky shores and an island several kilometres away.

The snow-capped mountains still beckoned but the rough, exposed conditions and the site of a good camping spot nearby encouraged us to call it a day. We erected our tents in a sheltered part of the bay, on the flattest spot of the gravel beach. Foot prints riddled the beach, but fortunately they were only moose and not bears!

Ed was tired, and after nursing several blisters all day, he was decidedly happy to set up camp, light a fire for warmth and have some hot food. In five and a half hours we had only paddled 11kms. It was truly heart breaking; it was the slowest five and half hours I have paddled in my life.

Second night camp.

 In five and a half hours we had only paddled 11kms because the wind was so strong.

2013 Australian Canoe Marathon

Building the on-ramp.

Coming up to the portage.

Photo Lawrence Greed.

Mike Leverett at the portage.

Open Men K1 Distance 31.4km 
1 Michael Leverett VIC 2:15:14.37, - 2 Trevor Murray VIC 2:18:39.46. - 3 Josh Kippin (Under 23) WA 2:20:40.44

13 year old Matthew & Nicholas at the portage.

Pontoon at the perfect height.

5th Mens K1.

 Mathew Dean (Under 23) WA 2:23:11.14

Open Men K2 Distance 31.4km 

1 Bennett Maxwell / Dale Thompson SA / SA 2:09:44.70, - 2 Michael Leverett / Kate McGrath VIC / VIC 2:09:45.30, -  3 Andrew Hosken / Trevor Murray VIC / VIC 2:09:58.07

K2 race which included Michael Leverett & his now wife Kate McGrath who came second in the mens K2 and only a second behind.

Bronwyn Martin & Kayla Whinray

Under 18 Women K2 Distance 18.8km 
1 Nell Cuthbertson / Penny Young VIC / VIC 1:25:40.02, - 2 Bronwyn Martin / Kayla Whinray WA / VIC 1:26:52.12, - 3 Brea Roadley / Tess Watson VIC / WA 1:31:31.44

Under 18 Women K1 Distance 18.8km 
1 Penny Young VIC 1:31:22.49, - 2 Kayla Whinray VIC 1:32:38.10, - 3 Bronwyn Martin WA 1:34:11.23

Josh Kippin getting in from a pretty high pontoon.

This pontoon was a lot harder to get in than the lower version.

Coran Longwood at the portage.

A few boats trying to get in.

John & I.

Okay John how do we get in!

You can see we weren't that serious!

Veteran 50 Men K2 Distance 23km 
1 John Hilton / Darryl Long WA / WA 1:47:49.84, - 2 Terry Bolland / John Breed WA / WA 1:51:47.69, - 3 Alan Clark / Craig Kentwell NSW / NSW 1:59:23.91

2013 Results

Microsoft Word - Official Results.docx (paddle.org.au)

2019 Australian Marathon Championships

Tom Rogan volunteered to build two ramps which was an enormous job.

First part nearly finished.

The board walk to the ramp.

Ready to go.

Josh leading up the on-ramp.

Michael Leverett about to go down the off-ramp.

Josh on the off-ramp.

Open Men K1 30km 
Place Name State Time.
 1 Josh Kippin WA 2:12:41.9, - 2 Glenn Rypp SA 2:13:09.4, - 3 Mick Leverett VIC 2:15:49.1

A busy off ramp.

The doubles down the off ramp.

Open Men K2 30km 

 1 Hamish Young / Isaac Johnson VIC / VIC 2:07:48.8, - 2 Jesse Phillips / Josh Kippin WA / WA 2:08:19.3, - 3 Brett Greenwood / Brett McDonald NSW/WA 2:10:18.4

Masters Men 65-74 K2 15.2km 
 1 Ron Clarke / Terry Bolland WA, - 1:14:48.3 2 Paul Genovesi / Robert Roll WA 1:15:08.0, - 3 Geoffery Horsnell / Geoffrey Baggett NSW/ACT 1:21:43.8

Josh and Steph happy with the result.

2019 Results

Microsoft Word - 2019 Official Results.doc (paddle.org.au)

Thousands of Little Black Cormorants and a few egrets form a long line and pass the front of our house. They have been passing and feeding for over 6 weeks. They will be gone in a few weeks.

Coming Events

• 23rd June 2024 - Wild Water Race #4 The Drain Race Again.
• 29th June 2024 - IOP Downwind Winter race #1
• 30th June 2024 Slalom Winter Series #1
• 14th July 2024 - Northam to Toodyay
• 20th July 2024 - IOP Downwind Winter race #2
• 28th July 2024 - Walyunga N/P to Middle Swan

Wild Water Race #4

https://bit.ly/2024WWR4-b
If you missed last week's race, you're in luck! WWR #4 returns to the Caning River this Sunday 23 June in lieu of the traditional Amiens Race with river levels remaining too low to proceed.
Competitors will enjoy a course that starts in a more restricted part of the Canning River and opens out into more open pools as you race towards the Hester Park finish line.
So why not grab your Avon boat and come give WildWater racing a try. Seriously some of the best fun you can have in a boat.

Change of Date

Welcome to the first of the 

2024 IOP Winter Series races. 

Thanks to Brad Hardingham - Realmark for the continued season sponsorship.

Sorrento SLSC  Saturday 29th June 2024.

Race check in will be at Sorrento SLSC from 7am with race start around 7.30am. Further details of the start format will be provided at the race briefing.

Cost is Free for IOP members. Non IOP members $15 and there is a race day insurance surcharge for those not belonging to any Paddle Australia club. Take the opportunity to sign up with IOP when you register to save on race insurance costs.
Leg leash and PFD mandatory.  

For further details take a look on the IOP Facebook page.

Enter here:-

https://paddleaustralia.justgo.com/workb.../public/events...

If you don't want to paddle the main Avon Descent and want a shorter distance.