tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-100176262012-02-26T06:54:24.190Zfleanoreply@blogger.comBlogger1121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-17663088163783202402011-02-21T11:31:00.003Z2011-02-21T11:50:18.927Z

I was interviewed for the CK women feature in January's issue of Canoe Kayak UK magazine: p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } CK Women speaks to top freestyler Fiona Jarvie Emily Wall: I remember the biggest compliment somebody paid me when I started out competing as

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-46767894871594036362011-01-02T18:11:00.005Z2011-01-16T18:40:32.492Z

After 12 years competing on the GB team, 2 World Championship bronze medals, 2 European Championship Bronze medals, 1 European Championship, 1 World Cup win, 1 World Cup silver, a couple of handfuls of international finals/medals and 10-years-worth of national wins, I have decided to retire from international competition (for now, at least).I haven't had much time to boat since the Worlds in 2009

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-19071170847421534082010-06-21T19:59:00.017+01:002010-06-24T21:40:32.328+01:00

(photo: Jamie Austen)I took part in my 6th Championship (European/Worlds) final on Sunday with the aim of landing just two moves: air loop and helix (aka felix), followed by whatever else I could. Helixes look rubbish in a hole, but at 100 points I wasn't going to pass them by. Other moves were tricky and very flushy in this hole, in fact I was flushing more regularly on cartwheels than I was on

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-12369886144782806902010-06-20T21:56:00.001+01:002010-06-20T21:57:37.829+01:00

Bronze medal for me! Will update more and post some pictures when I've had some sleep :)

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-2042674268157297652010-06-17T20:09:00.006+01:002010-06-17T20:33:32.732+01:00

The GB guys did well today. Pringle took 1st place with some great McNasties and a textbook phonics monkey (although everyone was holding their breath as he flushed twice on his first ride). Sam Anderson had two consistent rides and took 4th place.In the junior ladies Rachel Bovill went through to semisHere's a few pics:Sam Anderson: Huge space godzillaSam Ward: coaching

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-50398392327213382772010-06-17T08:28:00.007+01:002010-06-25T20:33:36.390+01:00

Team GB The weather went from fickle to persistent cloud with light rain, but thankfully it stayed fairly dry for the opening ceremony, as it was an outside venue.Team GB on the way to the opening ceremonyI have been to many an opening ceremony in my 12 years (!) of competing for the GB team and the relative lack of faff, the free drinks, free food, short speeches and castle setting all ensured

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-35255427837709665412010-06-14T15:04:00.006+01:002010-06-14T15:49:25.535+01:00

I am out in Lienz, Austria to see if I can defend my European Freestyle Championship title. The hole is fickle, and so is the weather: Rain/sun/rain/sun; Flush/stick/flush/stick. Most people are finding a really good run is often followed by several immediate super-clean flushes - unfortunately I have perfected that move quite well! However, I'm starting to work out the sweet spot on the feature

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-19250904514832062792010-06-06T18:35:00.002+01:002010-06-06T19:46:04.128+01:00

This year there are a number of GB national league events that are counting towards selections and also to decide who will be British Champion 2010. The first of these events took place at the Tryweryn on May 22nd. I managed to get an hour of practise in the day before the comp, but wasn't holding out much hope due to my recent lack of boating (due to back problems, work and a recent lack of

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-8542932369457991242010-05-30T11:43:00.001+01:002010-05-30T11:44:35.676+01:00

I now seem to be on www.fionajarvie.blogspot.com I'm not sure how that will work. Will try it and see.

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1008544296866254152010-02-20T21:13:00.002Z2010-02-20T21:44:59.514Z

It's been a while (the Worlds, beginning of Sept), since I was in my playboat, and only the one session in a creekboat in that time - a short trip to the River Dart for the Gene 17 weekend back in December: photos: Paul Wilkinson My physio (I've been having sessions to resolve some long-term back problems) gave me the all-clear to go boating just the day before it snowed, but.... it snowed....

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-48125757991411381452009-11-15T10:34:00.002Z2009-11-15T11:01:24.838Z

It has been a long time since I have been in my boat- apart from a 1 hour splash at Boulters, I have not been paddling since Worlds (early Sept). This is mainly due to a lack of water in the Thames valley - Hurley has been shut and my one trip to Boulters wasn't inspiring enough to make me want to get back in my boat until it rained enough for Hurley. However, I have also been seeing a physio to

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-82898227185546790042009-09-10T10:58:00.006+01:002009-09-10T15:35:04.732+01:00

There has been plenty of hype about the New Star series when it first came out - videos of the Jackson paddlers going huge, lots of talk of 'this is the best boat ever' etc. etc. It's shorter, it must be better (though that didn't quite work for the Dagger FX!) Team paddlers were raving about it and so were the Jackson 'faithfuls' (i.e those that aren't sponsored but will always only paddle

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-37951821219660126612009-09-08T11:59:00.001+01:002009-09-08T13:08:16.944+01:00

A 4th World Championship final was not to be for me as I just couldn’t get the points to make top 5 – I was fairly happy with my rides compared to how I had been paddling throughout the rest of the competition, but I was sure I could have been paddling better on the wave – my back blunts were fairly non-existant, I forgot my rails and couldn't find the airblunts that I was landing a couple of

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-54821212220618677932009-09-05T10:46:00.004+01:002009-09-05T11:13:00.500+01:00

A write-up is on ukfreestyle websiteI have made it through to the next round, once again in 9th place (consistent!), though I seem to have misplaced my box of verticality - last seen on the Nile in June - if anyone finds it please return to me, Gwatt Campsite by 17.00hrs Saturday at the latest.Ruth Gordon got some huge air on a donkey flip/airscrew, though she took 2nd place just behind Emily

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-74303501249806264302009-09-04T09:30:00.004+01:002009-09-04T10:43:51.326+01:00

I have updated www.ukfreestyle.com with what has been happening in the rest of the competition. Yesterday was the ladies heats. I was grateful of an early heat, as that meant I could then watch the rest of the ladies paddling (I hate watching when I am yet to paddle).My rides were OK - a couple of blunts (thankfully I found my edges 2 days before the competition and started mainly gettting blunts

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-18452586270075117272009-09-02T12:34:00.002+01:002009-09-02T12:57:20.064+01:00

(I wrote this on Tuesday morning - but only just got round to posting it!) We had our last team training session yesterday, although for us ladies we have another 2 days before we are competing (Thursday). Last night we attended one of the best opening ceremonies I have been to (and I’ve attended a lot!), mainly because it started just about on time (no sitting around in the heat waiting for

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-62118591442933094472009-08-29T16:46:00.005+01:002009-08-30T09:27:46.326+01:00

We managed to get a few more rides in on today's training session, unfortunately this was not due to extra time or anything equally as exciting, but due to a super-flushy wave leading to short rides. In fact the wave disappeared completely for 15 minutes during our training slot (which was conveniently split between each of our groups - saving a little bit of moaning amongst the team!) and there

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-55171279942175341752009-08-28T15:05:00.002+01:002009-08-28T16:10:40.112+01:00

I have been at Thun for the 2010 World Championships for a few days now, starting to get used to the wave although 4 to 5 rides in team training slots and 4 rides per hour (in a quiet hour) outside that time is not the best way to get used to a feature, especially when paddling a new boat and a wave that has so far changed daily (hopefully it has settled now)!Having paddled a mixture of the 'old'

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-19544813842061100862009-08-14T10:09:00.004+01:002009-08-17T14:46:33.557+01:00

Downhill Mountain Biking may not be the best preparation for a freestyle kayaking World Championships (2 weeks before heading out to the event), but I knew it would be fun, and I figured all I needed to do was 'not break myself' and it would all be good! It was good, I didn't totally break myself, just one slight injury..Myself, Cam and 10 of our friendsheaded to Les 2Alpes and then Alpe d'Huez

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-67486483685374523502009-07-22T15:39:00.004+01:002009-07-22T16:10:23.060+01:00

Well, club wave came back in which was great for all types of moves and we continued to surf the flushy Nile Special in the afternoons. We also spent a bit of time surfing the piddly waves near NRE and on the silverback run, as well as a few sessions at superhole - all of which, although not very exciting, and certainly not what you assume the waves on the Nile to be like, were probably great

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-40009433935687827402009-06-30T10:35:00.002+01:002009-06-30T10:47:23.608+01:00

So, whilst in Lyon I had to decide where to go next to find some waves. Canada, Uganda or staying in Europe were the choices. I chose the option that was logistically easy and certain to have waves: Uganda. I thought Canada would probably be busy and Uganda, although busy with British & irish uni paddlers, would probably be quiet in terms of international paddlers who tend to visit Uganda in Jan/

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-88686162333497493972009-06-17T18:14:00.003+01:002009-06-18T18:53:48.384+01:00

I've just returned from a couple of weeks in Lyon.The levels were low, but it was great to be in my boat and on a wave (which has not happened since March!). The wave has changed a lot since I was last there in 2006 (?or was it 07?), for the last Lyon River Festival and it took a good couple of days to really get the hang of catching it.The main difficulty was positioning from upstream, as the

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-88976033445440736992009-05-05T18:18:00.007+01:002009-05-17T16:26:33.637+01:00

Nearly 2 months without rain :( has meant no Hurley, no boating, which is a shame as this is the first year in several when March/April (and most probably May) has been dry, and this is the year I could really do with Hurley being open to practice for the Worlds in August.So..... where shall I go to paddles some waves?

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-46411907186310207352009-04-14T15:20:00.007+01:002009-04-17T20:41:39.083+01:00

How unusual, a bank holiday weekend in North Wales without rain - how did that happen? Because we took our boats. Yep, weather witch strikes again - metcheck had predicted loads of rain for N.Wales for Thursday, which then changed to Friday, neither of which materialised.As we were dusting the cobwebs off the creek boats and loading them onto the car roof, and later when we were driving 2o mins

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-19528106767793208022009-03-15T18:37:00.005Z2009-03-16T15:59:17.852Z

This year was really hard to make the team, I think I said that last year, but this year I really felt under pressure as the selection event was being held on my local playspot: Hurley weir. The level was what is usually termed a 'perfect 3-gater'. However, whilst 'perfect' for an afternoon paddle in the sunshine with a couple of people in the eddy it was, unfortunately, not quite so 'perfect'

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-48216596879468242112009-03-09T10:13:00.009Z2009-03-13T12:09:12.739Z

I was recently back in Uganda for my regular short winter trip to sunnier climates. Being the weather witch that I am the water levels dropped pretty much the day we arrived, having been at perfect paddle-on levels for Nile Special since November!This did mean that club wave was good, Pringle clean blunts on club wave Peter Csonka - air screw on club wave. though it also meant that the

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-84451403934255748742009-01-05T18:28:00.004Z2009-01-06T12:11:50.793Z

'I'm glad we left the boats at home' was repeated several times during the week especially when looking at numerous frosted boats on top of car roofs in Morrison's car park, Fort William. There were apparently some crazy people that were desperate to paddle even on just a trickle of water amongst a whole lot of ice. Madness.  I was constantly reminded of the time we were in the same area over 10

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-88927351863104307672008-12-23T10:50:00.008Z2008-12-24T14:09:25.905Z

The Hurley rodeo used to be the biggest event of the British Freestyle calendar. Unfortunately, following a couple of cancelled March-events (due to low water), the event became a more low-key event in December (more reliable water-levels, but jolly darn chilly). With the event now being just one-day and the air temperature being a bit nipsome, and the water temperature being a little on the 'too

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-29848898969767164562008-11-14T19:03:00.003Z2008-11-14T20:31:23.422Z

Pg 271 of  this Adventure Sports Physiology textbook.  Full text here

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-56753448275849782972008-10-11T18:04:00.007+01:002008-10-16T21:06:23.880+01:00

Apart from Spain and Thun every other competition I have been to this year seems to have been plagued by the rain and the recent British Champs were no different. The horrendous weather was probably a factor in dissuading paddlers from entering, along with other events happening that weekend, and the competition field was small - it was however no less difficult as plenty of the top guys and

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-48428259975621289542008-09-01T19:21:00.005+01:002008-09-03T21:32:31.780+01:00

The Thun finals all kicked off on Sunday (in more ways than one). It was all very exciting to watch and I was more than glad I wasn't judging. First up were the OC1s and this time James Weir hadn't quite got used to the wave so didn't throw down like he usually does - he came 3rd. Jez from Oz won. In the junior ladies Nouria from France was quite a way ahead of her competitors and took the

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-51919797321978317992008-08-30T17:32:00.002+01:002008-08-30T18:37:22.300+01:00

Here we go again, another final sat on the sidelines! This time I couldn't quite get my blunts going, I think the 'fear of flush' factor was in there (again) and with just one throw-away ride I played it too safe instead of spending time setting up properly to get blunts - therefore I just got roundhouses meaning I dropped from 2nd to 7th, just behind Querine Wegman (NDL). Top 5 were Emily

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-72334467343902790962008-08-30T09:00:00.003+01:002008-08-30T09:22:11.727+01:00

Once again there was a lot of flushing going on yesterday in the men's prelims but also some really impressive rides, particularly from Stephen Wright who threw a couple of huge aerial McNasties/pistol flips and Peter Csonka who powered back onto the wave after it looked like he was off, he scored just a few more points than Stephen to take 1st place. EJ's run plan looked risky - straight into

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-30678210154343368032008-08-29T09:27:00.003+01:002008-08-29T09:45:34.670+01:00

Another day, another competition! The wave at Thun is set against a picturesque backdrop in a pretty Swiss town. The feature is a fun, smallish wave but quite difficult to get anything vertical (its difficult for me, though the guys make it look quite easy) as the wave is quite flat, it also seems to lack any shoulders and it can deal out some random (and sometimes not so random) flushes. We

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-84694683783700815082008-08-29T09:06:00.002+01:002008-08-29T09:26:16.323+01:00

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-52082942703329823432008-08-26T15:43:00.002+01:002008-08-26T15:55:18.098+01:00

It feels like the Augsburg finals happened quite some time ago now as we’re now in another country and surfing on a wave instead of a trashy hole. They were very exciting though. Emily Jackson got a really high-scoring 2nd ride which included an entry move and McNasty giving her the gold medal. Ruth didn’t quite get it together like she had done in the semis and flushed a few times but she still

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-88649053785474283912008-08-24T10:58:00.004+01:002008-08-24T11:48:28.287+01:00

Familiar scenes of umbrellas and wet kit started the day yesterday. A little ‘de ja vu’ from last week as once again I reluctantly put my damp thermals on, which for some reason I left on the line in the rain rather than putting them under the tarp where it wasn’t raining! 30 women started in the line-up including a couple more Brits: Claire O'Hara and Flic Meares. My first ride was a good

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-42732317990462474512008-08-22T17:43:00.004+01:002008-08-22T18:21:46.329+01:00

It seems like we've only just left Prague and already the next competition has started in Augsburg. The hole is very different to the one in Prague and for me there is a fine line between flushing, a beatdown, or landing a move nicely! However there is a definite opportunity for going big and some paddlers have been getting ridiculously huge air including junior Jonathan Shales from the US (

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-34745989596230184192008-08-18T16:23:00.004+01:002008-08-18T17:12:29.679+01:00

Yesterday was the finals of the first World Cup in Prague. The format was 3 rides 1 counts. We weren't reseeded after each ride which meant, as I had won the semis, I was last up in each round. I was up against some really strong paddlers and despite winning the semis with the highest ride of the ladies competition and getting the 2nd highest scoring ride of the comp in my prelims, I was not

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-23278555707186896262008-08-17T10:18:00.002+01:002008-08-17T10:30:17.999+01:00

Last night’s men’s semi final was pretty spectacular and thankfully it stopped raining long enough so the big crowd could watch without umbrellas/getting soaking wet.The atmosphere was fantastic, almost as good as the floodlit semi I remember at the Sort Worlds (2001), only lacking in the big firework display after the event! The competitors seemed totally fired up to be out there and the

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-34555821325112833622008-08-16T19:09:00.002+01:002008-08-16T19:48:21.156+01:00

It is STILL raining!! Everything is wet: my kit, my towel, my clothes...brrrrr!  Thankfully the competition for me has been a lot more positive than the weather. The ladies were up this morning with a lot of heats! I was in the last one and it seemed to take forever before I was on (I've recently been used to just 3 or 4 heats, but there were 6 today). I had a really good first ride getting a

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-4159371997872343342008-08-15T15:17:00.002+01:002008-08-15T16:19:26.138+01:00

Its been a little damp outside today, to say the least, so there was some tough decision making as to whether to do this (cafes, pancakes, sitting in the van/tent, staying warm/dry inside whilst watching the torrential rain): or watch this (Junior Mens & Mens K1 prelims whilst getting soaking wet in the torrential rain):  I'm

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-57737396464448690322008-08-13T14:30:00.005+01:002008-08-15T15:17:21.246+01:00

This is Prague.  Nice.  As well as wandering around the city and looking at buildings and statues we have also been doing a bit of paddling.  The feature for the first World Cup, starting on Friday, is on an artificial whitewater course in Prague. Obviously a great training spot for slalom paddlers as we've spent a fair amount of time avoiding

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-90811696001882339042008-08-11T15:13:00.004+01:002008-08-11T15:20:47.028+01:00

Photo: James Reeves/Kate Just before I went out to Europe I, along with 300,000 other people, attended the Bedford River Festival. This was a huge event -  a big river-side festival held in Bedford (hence the name!) with fairground rides, food stands, numerous stages with various bands playing and a number of different sporting demonstrations/come-and-try it sessions. A few of us from the UK

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-36040272072048209682008-07-26T16:42:00.006+01:002008-07-28T15:19:22.727+01:00

Today I became European Champion! Pete and Dave both congratulated me in the eddy with words along the lines of ´about time Jarvie´. This was my 1st international Gold medal (they have mostly been Bronze till now!) and 1st European Champs medal since Thun 2002, so it has been a long time coming.The knockout finals for the ladies produced the usual up and down performances and I believe from

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-87126573886005673332008-07-25T16:59:00.002+01:002008-07-25T17:07:29.942+01:00

The quarters (men K1 only) and semis (ladies, Junior men, men) were today, unfortunately we lost a few more Brits out of the competition. However, well done to those who made it through: 2 junior men (Tom Turner - with some big air loops and Joe Bradley with really consistently big blunts and back blunts) and 2 ladies (myself and Lowri - both with fairly similar rides and an identical score!).

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-23313962672186677012008-07-23T16:37:00.002+01:002008-07-23T17:37:58.251+01:00

The European Championships, taking place in Ourense (Galicia region of Spain), kicked off today with the mens and ladies prelims. I´ve been here just a couple of days to figure out the feature which unfortunately is very flushy very slow, flat and small. It is mainly a wave feature with a left-hand shoulder. Hole moves are also possible (but very flushy) on the players right side and there is

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-19191385263725350822008-07-18T19:02:00.004+01:002008-08-11T14:59:32.541+01:00

Photo: James Reeves/Kate  Just before I went out to Europe I, along with 300,000 other people, attended the Bedford River Festival. This was a huge event -  a big river-side festival held in Bedford (hence the name!) with fairground rides, food stands, numerous stages with various bands playing and a number of different sporting demonstrations/come-and-try it sessions.A

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-33666104437333544262008-07-15T20:25:00.004+01:002008-07-15T21:32:43.898+01:00

For the second year in a row the British public are starting to complain about another 'wash-out' summer, especially those that have only just got their properties back together after last year's floods. But the paddlers are happy as many rivers come up and Hurley, once again, makes a 4, 3 & 2 gate appearance in July.  Which is a whole lot nicer than the place I am going to be next week for the

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-11468971114040977532008-06-28T21:11:00.005+01:002008-06-29T17:18:48.691+01:00

Alas, my Dagger Europe car (I bet you can't guess which of these images it is) is no longer. It was MOT time and sadly, since some thieves tried to steal it (don't think it would have given them much street cred to drive around in a beaten up Nissan Micra!!) the windscreen washer lever was snapped off and temporarily (for 6 months) fixed with a screw and the passenger door didn't open any more.

fleanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-67146053088554531302008-05-26T18:54:00.010+01:002008-06-04T17:44:56.609+01:00

Our friends, Dan (currently our housemate) and Laura recently got married in Virgina, US.We thought we'd make the most out of our trip over there by taking our playboats with us and figured we could get on some rivers in and around our frequently-visited haunt of Fayetteville, West Virginia home of the New and Gauley rivers.We were initially hoping for some New River Dries action but typically

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-13388075292715804252008-02-24T21:48:00.007Z2008-03-15T12:49:43.326Z

Unlike many other Brits, spending lots of money on a week-long holiday on a winter sport that I would only ever do for 1 week every year never really appealed to me. Especially as I could spend the same amount of money to go boating somewhere warm for at least 2 or 3 or more weeks. However, this year Cam and I had the opportunity to go to Colorado, with some good friends, and really splash the

fleanoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-19854016136318294992008-02-08T00:21:00.001Z2008-02-08T00:25:02.472Z

I was interviewed for the latest edition of Canoe Focus. Online here

fleanoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-43413253027587890942007-12-23T11:50:00.001Z2007-12-23T15:54:49.061Z

Another year, another selection event (this time for the European Championships in Galicia, Spain - July 2008), another place on the team - just! I'm pretty sure jumping into my boat just 2 weeks before the competition (having only been in my boat on one occasion - the British Champs - in several months) was not really the best form of training!The event on Saturday was at Hurley on 4 gates, in a

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-91322227444552879902007-11-01T17:18:00.000Z2007-11-04T18:39:17.102Z

The end of series Youth Freestyle event was at Boulters some weeks back now (but I've only just got chance to write about it - I may be able to put the rest of the photos on my website at some point although I don't think I have a spare afternoon until just after Christmas!).A fantastic series with over 100 youngsters entering over the 5 events (and 70 at one event - Nottingham) throughout the

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-5744112164819481312007-10-12T18:46:00.000+01:002007-10-14T12:17:00.930+01:00

British Champion. That's me! Despite winning numerous selection events and a variety of other national competitions, I had never achieved the title of British Champion - mainly because I've not been at the last 3 out of 4 British Championship competitions. So, as I was in the country for this event, I figured I'd give it a go. Although, I had my excuses ready before the event: no paddling for

fleanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-64715835338954654432007-09-28T18:45:00.000+01:002007-09-28T20:00:01.108+01:00

Well, it could have been. Unfortunately I spent my 6 week summer 'holiday' working in an office. A very good thing for the wallet (after all, I have 4 holidays from the first half of this year to pay for!), but not so good for my boating. I chose the one year to work the 'holidays', when Hurley was running for pretty much all 6 weeks of it. In fact, being the weather witch that I am, Hurley came

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-37741349892311787432007-08-15T18:47:00.000+01:002007-08-22T21:25:37.428+01:00

There's no doubt about it, women are different to men. This revelation helped me decide to spend my hard-earned cash on a week of women-only mountain-biking instruction, guiding and eating really nice food, in the Morzine region of the French Alps - famous for its downhill trails. Women-only activity holidays/groups (Mtn bike/kayaking/climbing/skiing) seem to be a popular thing at the moment. But

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-37275459888549713872007-06-28T18:42:00.000+01:002007-07-01T16:17:22.965+01:00

Last Tuesday brought back a few memories as I went for an evening paddle (another very rare summer evening with Hurley running!) with James F and Ed Hopper - the two people I started my 'Hurley paddling career' with, nearly 10 years ago. It wasn't the fact that we hadn't been boating together for so long that made me feel old, nor the fact that it was a 3-gater and there were 20 people in the

fleanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-81929573714828977402007-06-11T18:47:00.000+01:002007-06-12T19:13:59.740+01:00

I was recently helping out at another fantastic event of this year's Youth Freestyle Series. This time at the Nene WhiteWater Course. An interesting (very tiny) place for 70 youngsters + coaches! It was a little bit crowded, but was amazing to see so many under-18 skilled freestyle paddlers (all of whom had a fairly solid white-water roll and a huge number, embarrassingly, a whole lot better than

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-51791694478244054532007-05-30T17:45:00.000+01:002007-05-30T18:35:36.225+01:00

Everyone knows me as the weather witch - when I go away the heavens open here, the weirs come up and the water levels at my destination become unusually 'wrong' (too low, too high); when I come back the rain stops; when I get a full time job the rains start etc. etc.This year, apart from the Ottawa having some 50+ year snow-drought, and Shepperton/Sunbury mostly being at the wrong levels when I

fleanoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-48925251351978103262007-05-24T17:41:00.000+01:002007-05-24T19:04:02.838+01:00

Straight after the World's I travelled to Slovenia and then Austria for a couple of weeks of chilled out river running with Cam and some ex-RUCC friends. One of said friends - EricaIn Slovenia we ate lots of pizza and ran different sections of the crystal-clear waters of the Soca river. We then drove to the Landeck area of Austria where we ate lots of pizza and ran a number of different

fleanoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-33661504010341384102007-05-07T15:21:00.000+01:002007-05-07T16:35:13.387+01:00

After an awesome surf on Wednesday night on a greening buseater, the water level dropped gradually throughout the remainder of the competition. The hole started to get a bit bigger, which did make the wave more retentive, but also made it a bit harder to get the huge bounces that were really easy to do on the greener wave. We were lucky to still have water by the end of the men's finals, and

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-80029315144044566232007-05-02T01:22:00.000+01:002007-05-02T02:03:10.750+01:00

The opening ceremony on Sunday night kicked off the World Championships 2007Team GBR gather for the start of the official opening cermony. All dressed in some gratefully received nice warm down jackets (thanks to TOG24 and Terry Best) and Madyaker T-shirts. Monday saw the first competitors take to the water in the form of squirt boating. The whole squirt competition was completed on one day

fleanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-90261282552512547912007-04-19T19:48:00.000+01:002007-04-19T20:23:55.491+01:00

Arrived at Wilderness Tours a couple of nights ago. I'm sure someone said it was snowing here a few days ago, well if there wasn't still some ice on the ground, and pictures as evidence I wouldn't have believed them. We have bright blue skies and fairly warm temperatures: I've even been walking around without a coat, and despite paddling in the sun for the last couple of weeks at home have

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-81866247980791314342007-04-12T18:14:00.000+01:002007-04-12T19:08:38.633+01:00

A few rare events: summer arrived early; the weir (Hurley) stayed on a peachy 3-gater for weeks; I had no teaching work; I was in the country paddling every day. The hardy local paddlers tried to cash in their 'I was paddling here in the snow three weeks ago, where were you?' queue-jumping tickets, which for some reason didn't seem to work. Luckily, though I timed it right and the queues were

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-28659026273278736352007-04-01T18:17:00.000+01:002007-04-01T19:16:15.925+01:00

Photo courtesy of Kayakojacko 3 things have happened this week that seem to have hugely improved my boating:1. Hurley on a perfect 3-gates. Hurley can be a really depressing place to be after returning from the big, fast waves of the Nile, but after 4 weeks of not a lot of boating (due to too much water - and incorrect timing of arriving at the weirs), it is a fantastic place to be - renewed

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-56729403640420483282007-03-07T12:14:00.000Z2007-03-07T12:34:41.701Z

Frustrating times as I haven't really been in my boat in the 3 weeks I've been back from Uganda, and am extremely jealous hearing reports of people paddling on big waves in warm places. As usual there have been some fantastic water levels, but each time these have occured when I have been working/away. At the moment, bizarrely, I'm hoping it will stop raining soon!I have the prototype 'Dagger

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-76802131774260727952007-02-22T18:36:00.000Z2007-02-22T18:55:27.251Z

Following a very unsuccessful trip to Sunbury, (which consisted of: at least 20 mins putting spraydeck on - one reason not to paddle alone; just 3 surfs before getting off - it was relatively cold, I didn't want to get my head wet; and finished with a really scary cag-moment in the car park - another reason not to paddle alone) I had a slightly more successful trip to Devon at the w/e, although

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-87675914744576464332007-02-13T16:21:00.000Z2007-02-14T16:42:46.339Z

Air-time at Nile Special - can't beat it! I have just returned from my annual pilgrimage to the White Nile. We had a bit of a girly training trip going on, as I was joined by fellow GB-team ladies: Lynsey Evans, Jenny Chrimes and Claire O'Hara, for 3 weeks of surfing. This was just long enough to learn the basics of some new moves and refine some old ones, but by the end of the trip I wished I'd

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-66443603400897488442007-01-11T16:53:00.000Z2007-01-11T17:13:49.956Z

Well just a couple of days after submitting my last post I received a text message which included the magic words: "Shep's running, it's starting to bowl". It did also include something about needing lots of energy but I decided to ignore that bit.Hooray!The level it was at formed a super fast wave, which provided crazy aerial front-surfs and uncontrollable everything - much fun! However, after 8

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1167766731722928042007-01-02T18:25:00.000Z2007-01-04T11:28:52.988Z

The trials and tribulations of a weather (or, more accurately, 'water') witch:In the last month I've visited several Thames Valley weirs' in the hope of some good wave surfing. I'd heard reports of the Thames Valley's very own Nile Special (although obviously slightly smaller and just a little bit colder and browner) - in the form of Shepperton on 9 gates and Sunbury on some mystical but magical

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1165252138132982472006-12-04T16:04:00.000Z2006-12-05T12:49:05.443Z

The Hurley rodeo was the very first competition I entered back in 1998, and as I'm a Hurley local it is always one of my favourite events. After 2 cancelled events, due to low water levels, this event nearly didn't happen due to too much water! On Thursday the weir was very high and in the stantions, but Jacko (from Kayakojacko - chief organiser) was determined for the event to go ahead, and

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1164385296118569272006-11-24T15:46:00.001Z2006-11-27T10:21:20.446Z

It's time to dust off the earwig and the pogies for the winter paddling. The water temperature seems to have dropped in the last week, and yesterday I had major ice-cream head for the first time since March. Thankfully though, this is all due to the huge amounts of rain we've been getting. Hurley has already been on 3 gates for more days than the whole of last season, so things are looking up for

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1163010315796486602006-11-08T18:23:00.000Z2006-11-08T18:54:04.856Z

I've been meaning to get across to Ireland for sometime now to test the rumour that Guinness tastes better over there. Well, I managed to finally book my flights to get across the pond and, as a bonus, there was a White-Water Boater X thrown in with the weekend's Guinness-drinking partying. Unfortunately the wet stuff (rain that is, not Guinness) had not been falling from the sky and once again

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1162819638955405402006-11-06T11:58:00.000Z2006-11-09T17:14:19.656Z

....ContdI had been put in a hard heat, with local paddler Kim Siekermen. She had a good position at the start whereas I started too far into the eddy and had to push my way into the flow. Kim managed to get a good few power strokes off my chest as I was hitting the back of her boat with my paddle. I thought maybe I could go for a sneaky left line, but it was too shallow and I got stuck up on

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1161082871391126342006-10-17T10:39:00.000+01:002006-10-17T12:01:11.553+01:00

The muncher, Nottingham - site of many a selection eventThe GB team selections were held last weekend. Despite rain of biblical proportions, Hurley did not come up in time for the decision to be made for the event to be held there, and no one expected it would hold on 2 gates for the weekend. So, Nottingham it was. A whole load of controversy as to whether we should be selecting for a wave event

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1160583260808962872006-10-11T16:54:00.000+01:002006-10-11T17:14:21.090+01:00

As you can probably tell (from the unprofessional style and bits that don't work) I designed and built my website all by myself (with just a little help from my friends!). I have no knowledge at all of these things so my friends started this blogger page for me and connected it to the rest (thanks Rew and Blokey). Recently though, I changed the design of the rest of the site, and was then faced

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1160497547262776772006-10-10T17:13:00.000+01:002006-10-11T15:51:41.336+01:00

Following the World Cup we hung out in Asheville, N.Carolina for a few days. I managed to get a run in on the Green, thanks to Andrew for taking me down and to Anna for the loan of the creek boat. Then we headed to West Virginia for some runs on the Gauley, New and Yough. Unfortunately when Cam arrived for Gauley fest the weather turned to torrential rain (not enough to get the rivers going

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1158594679435642992006-09-18T15:57:00.000+01:002006-09-18T16:51:19.593+01:00

Tenessee is a long way from Watertown, and has had a drought this summer so we didn't have any water release until Friday. This meant we had a few days to find some paddling. Most of us headed to the upper Yough in West Virginia, and had a fun day on the river, paddling in a group of over 30 paddlers! The following day, after a fantastic breakfast at Cathedral Cafe, Fayetteville, we had a chilled

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1158591433085715632006-09-18T15:40:00.000+01:002006-09-18T15:57:13.263+01:00

Unfortunately I'm a little slow on the updates, I don't have one of those new style electronic equipment things (laptop) to regularly log onto the internet. So, the 2nd of the World Cup events was at Watertown on the 9th September. On Friday we were told the event was going to be held at 'hole brothers' feature rather than Route 3 wave due to water levels. I found hole brothers to be a better

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1157651194312533002006-09-07T17:10:00.000+01:002006-09-07T18:46:34.403+01:00

I was sure this year's World Cup, the first ever, was set to be a big event. 3 competitions on 3 different features in Canada/US meant that international paddlers didn't have to travel for just one single competition. 120 paddlers from 20 countries showed up for the first event on Garberator on the Ottawa river. A good number, but not as many as I had expected, and far less than previous '

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1155553836247738042006-08-14T10:53:00.000+01:002006-08-18T09:48:17.816+01:00

Photo: PobFor the first time since 1998 I have been on holiday abroad without taking my boat. It was fantastic! I spent a week in the French Alps with 15 friends, all of whom were once boaters (Reading uni canoe club cling-ons - ex-members/associates, most still living in Reading), but no longer. They have now relegated their boats to the shed/e-bay and replaced them with shiny new and mainly

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1151946303816049972006-07-03T15:47:00.000+01:002006-07-04T12:00:29.873+01:00

Team GB Well, my first place was good for the day it lasted. I'm not quite sure what happened on Saturday, I just couldn't get the boat to move round like I had done previously. Perhaps I should have stuck with going for the right-hand ends to get in the cleans and supercleans instead of switching to left. My loops didn't work again, so maybe I should have left them out completely, although if I

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1151688677125929762006-06-30T18:22:00.000+01:002006-06-30T18:31:17.143+01:00

The Europeans are on this week. Thankfully the weather is fantastic, and the feature is not too bad - definitely an improvement from before. Pete has done a great job with the event so far. The event started yesterday (see www.ukfreestyle.com for full GB write-up, and www.eurofreestylekayak.com). The ladies heats were on today and I had a couple of nice rides. Unfortunately I didn't get my loop,

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1150890753918383452006-06-21T12:36:00.000+01:002006-06-21T12:52:33.940+01:00

Despite living only a relatively short distance away from Lyon, I had never actually been there to visit Hawaii Sur Rhone, the wave. But, I had heard good things: a big wave, with big air being a realistic possibility. So, especially with reports of a good season, I was looking forward to spending a few days out there before the 2006 Lyon River Festival. Amazingly I navigated myself through the

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1149158969593331462006-06-01T10:57:00.000+01:002006-06-01T11:49:29.620+01:00

We may live in a fairly small country but Scotland is a relatively long drive away, especially on a bank holiday weekend (still, probably just a wee trek down the road for anyone used to driving around Canada). 10 hours after leaving Reading we reached the muddy field that was base for the Liquid Life Festival. This event is now in its 3rd year, based around 4-at-a-time extreme racing, on the

fleanoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1149099679103638002006-05-31T18:37:00.000+01:002006-05-31T19:21:19.150+01:00

Team TrainingA couple of weekends ago we had our last GB team training event at Nottingham before the official European team training starts. The feature was finally ready, and was a lot better than it had been. Most hole moves are now possible, although some are difficult, with right hand cartwheels/moves being easy and left hand moves a bit more flushy. Thankfully it is a lot more consistent

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1145466579931800992006-04-19T17:12:00.000+01:002006-04-22T18:04:51.850+01:00

Holidays are always over too quickly. I was back to work this week after the Easter hols, it has some advantages though - there is no holiday pay with supply teaching, so a few days of work are actually more than welcome after a two week break from earning!I managed a fair amount of boating though; 5 more days of Hurley, before it rapidly decreased to one gate. Some fantastic paddling in the

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1144062021428319232006-04-03T11:00:00.000+01:002006-04-03T12:04:54.286+01:00

Cancelling the Hurley Classic Freestyle Event was a good way of ensuring rain. Dutifully the river came up only a few days after the event was postponed, in fact it came up a lot. Thursday saw a high 2 gates at Hurley - very flushy, hard to get into the corner gate, and even harder to stay on. By Friday mid-morning it was on 4 gates, with a very reasonable temperature. It was great to go upside

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1143051991627038292006-03-22T17:49:00.000Z2006-03-22T19:23:24.950Z

Every year the canoe and kayak manufacturers and retailers of Great Britain gather together at the National Exhibition centre, Birmingham, to show off their new boats/new kit and provide a good bargain. Well, thats what used to happen. Since the 'ICE' has been part of the 'National Outdoors Show' the prices for stands have increased steadily each year. Unfortunately this has lead to fewer

fleanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1142442659967234142006-03-15T16:50:00.000Z2006-03-15T17:10:59.983Z

Finally it rained! 2 gates at Hurley last Wednesday evening, which surprisingly didn't feel too cold (this could have been because I avoided going upside down for the first 40 mins). It went up to 4 gates on Thursday which was good fun for some looping practice, which definitely did feel cold. On Thursday and Friday I managed to work during the day, earn a load of money, and still get a boating

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1140877530432324792006-02-25T13:37:00.000Z2006-02-25T14:31:04.496Z

Brrrrr. Back home and yesterday it snowed (that doesn't happen all that often in this country). It seems that East Africa is not the only place lacking in water, the South East of England is having its driest winter since the 1920's... not much paddling to be done at the moment then.I had a good last few days on the Nile. We went to check out a wave that Steve Fisher had found on the left hand

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1140171176689682302006-02-17T09:59:00.000Z2006-02-17T10:12:56.700Z

Have spent a few days staying at the Lemon and surfing on Nile Special. The low water levels have meant a really flushy wave which you can only get on by tow rope, or by dropping on from above. I am not retaining many moves but it is still possible to go big and still good fun. The biceps in my left arm are getting a good work out from the tow rope and I'm sure it will end up longer than my right

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1139570573457726742006-02-10T10:58:00.000Z2006-02-10T11:22:53.476Z

A mellow couple of days were spent at NRE following the incident. There was a nice memorial for Marc on the river bank on Wednesday evening, (his body was recovered and has been sent home) lots of people turned up to pay their respects, Marc had met a number of people out here and even those who hadn't met him came along to support their fellow paddlers. I will pass on all of your kind comments

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1139219886688743532006-02-06T09:56:00.000Z2006-02-06T10:18:22.806Z

Very sad news yesterday, as we were returned from our day trip down to Itunda, we were told one of the French paddlers had swum on the standard 'hump' line (the holes are quite sticky at these low levels). He was swimming towards the eddy and then disappeared into the seamline between the water flowing from ribcage and the water coming out from the hump (not a major eddyline by any means), he did

fleanoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1138800381558206672006-02-01T12:53:00.000Z2006-02-01T13:26:21.570Z

Having finished my teaching job in December, I have spent a few weeks remembering how to paddle again. The water and work situation together did not allow for many days on the river, however I am now making up for it! After Christmas I spent several days on Hurley on a good two, trying to get my blunt back and get my boating muscles back into use. I have now arrived in Uganda and I am spending 4

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1133807588700517882005-12-05T17:54:00.000Z2005-12-05T18:33:08.720Z

I remember writing in my last post 'the Hurley season has started'. Well, 4 days later it promptly stopped again, and I hung my playboat up for another few weeks. I was planning to keep fit by going to the gym etc, but it didn't happen - I got a cold, I had to do work, I had to go shopping after work, it was too cold to leave the house etc. etc. excuses, excuses (very poor ones as the gym is just

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1131564284737520862005-11-09T19:06:00.000Z2005-11-09T19:24:44.756Z

November: cold; damp; dark going to work; dark by late afternoon; but also a whole load of rain (well, this week at least), Hooray. Whilst the rest of the Northern Hemisphere paddlers get ready for the ski season, or head to warmer climates to go paddling, we Monkey Islanders start our paddling season - madness.After six weeks or so of not being in my boat (due to lack of water, time and

fleanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10017626.post-1128452569992299922005-10-04T19:08:00.001+01:002005-10-04T20:02:52.883+01:00

This year the GB team was only being selected for the European Championships (as opposed to Europeans and pre-worlds as it used to be), which are to take place in Nottingham in July 2006. There were 3 events, each on a different feature at Holme Pierrepont, with the best two placings out of 3 counting. The Europeans are proposed to be held in the looping pool (which has, from discussions on the

fleanoreply@blogger.com0