Canoe Kayak UK, CK women article

I was interviewed for the CK women feature in January's issue of Canoe Kayak UK magazine:

CK Women speaks to top freestyler Fiona Jarvie

Emily Wall: I remember the biggest compliment somebody paid me when I started out competing as a junior some 8 or 9 years ago; they told me I paddled like Fiona ‘Flea’ Jarvie. I was over moon with this because by then Fiona had become somewhat of a regular feature on the GBR freestyle kayak team and she was my biggest inspiration. After twelve years of representing her country, Fiona has this autumn stepped down from international competition. Her time on the scene saw her collect, amongst a whole host of national wins, 2 bronzes in both World and European Championships, gold and silver finishing in World Cup competitions, and she was the 2008 European Champion.

With her wealth of experience, I decide it was time CK Women had a chat Fiona…

Your competition career has seen you gain plenty of medals, what’s been your highlight of being on the freestyle team?

There are so many to name just one. Every championships/event is a highlight in its own way, from the parties in New Zealand and Spain, to surviving that horrendous hole in Graz, to my first Championship medal (European Bronze 2002: Thun). I think the words from both Dave (Newport, team manager) and Pete (Caterall - coach) when I finally won my first championship Gold in Ourense, 2008 will stand out: ‘about time, Jarvie!’

I’ve seen the GB team change so much from a group of individuals making their way over to New Zealand in 1997, to the team atmosphere and support (from coaches, team manager, parents/partners etc) that is available for the team now.

How do you think freestyle has changed for women?

There are so many things that have changed for female paddlers since I started competing, some positive, some negative. The boats have become lighter and size-specific, which has been the biggest development for women and has made it so much easier for us to do bigger and better moves. This has also made the learning curve so much faster for those starting out in playboating. I think it took me a good 3 years to learn to cartwheel, in the days of the pyranha blade and dagger vertigo, (although that could have just been me!), where as now, with a good coach and the right sized boat women can learn to cartwheel in just a few sessions.

The introduction of variety only scoring has had mixed effects for women’s freestyle competition. At the top end of the sport it has been great because the women have been forced to learn more moves and have a go at the same moves that the men are doing. However, it does have its limitations - some of the move definitions make it very hard for women to score the moves (e.g mcnasties requiring air), so I think the scoring system could still go some way to give the incentive to women to go for higher scoring moves.

Unfortunately, for those getting into freestyle competition, it is very hard for many women to score points, if the international scoring system is used and I think it may put people off – when there was a technical element to the scoring system it was never obvious who was going to do well in a competition, and whilst it would have helped to do the big moves, it was still possible to get a good score through being controlled in the feature. However, now it is very much a sport where you know exactly what your maximum score could be before you even get to the competition – which may put some women off, if they feel they can’t do as much as other women. Though, don’t be put off! - anything can happen in those 45 seconds, which is what makes the sport so exciting!

Currently in British Freestyle competitions we are using a modified system for open (non-elite) events where easier moves are scored that would not be available in the international system (e.g enders, half-cartwheels). Hopefully, this will encourage the participation of beginner-female playboaters at freestyle events.

I think the sport has become a lot more competitive for females, both on a national and international level. The number of women boating full time, either as ‘kayak bums’ or as a profession (coaching/rafting etc), has increased and this has made it far more difficult to remain competitive for those of us who generally boat on a part time basis, especially when that boating is in the middle of winter, in the dark!

What do you think of women’s freestyle now?

It is fantastic to see women going bigger than ever and getting a huge variety of moves and taking more risks during events to get the bigger scores: go big or go home! The top female paddlers in the world are impressive to watch. However, so are the men! There is still a big gap between the moves that the women can do compared to the men and although Emily Jackson and Tanya Faux are currently doing today what Deb Pinnegar did in 1998/99 – closing the gap between the women and men, there are only ever a handful of women at that level, and I don’t think the gap will ever totally close, due to such huge differences in power.

You’ve already seen the sport change over the years, where would you like to see freestyle go next?

I think carbon boats will open up a whole new variety of moves for women (even more so than for the men), because they are so light to throw around. So hopefully we shall see a wide range of carbon boats being made for the female form!

Many people think that another hole competition for the World Championships in 2013 will ‘kill’ the sport. I doubt it – there were many who said the same thing when Spain was chosen as a venue over the Zambezi in 2001. 10 years later and the sport is still growing (competitor numbers only decreased following Graz 2003, due to decreased team sizes and have since got bigger and bigger).

Another change of rules may be necessary sometime soon though, to increase the attractiveness of the sport for spectators. Unfortunately, people watching the sport don’t really know what’s going on! So the rules need to be made simpler, giving highest scores to runs that look good, rather than those that that include those ‘high-scoring technical flippy upside downy things that look a bit like a flopping in’.

More big-air competitions would be good too.

I would love to see more female participants on the UK scene. The standard at the top is high, but we need more competitors coming along to the Youth Freestyle events and open events.

What do you think has been the ‘secret’ to your success?

Determination, in learning new moves, but also never taking things too seriously, freestyle has always been a ‘hobby’ for me, rather than a ‘career’. So, although that has meant I have had less time to train as I’ve had to earn money somehow (most recently, by teaching) to get to the next event, or onto the next holiday, I have never had any outside pressure to perform. Though I am so competitive I have always put myself under my own pressure!

Have you any advice for girls out there interesting in getting into playboating?

Don’t be afraid of trying something new, it doesn’t matter what others are thinking! Go for it!

Thanks Flea!