The Ladies Paddle Symposium 2015 is coming up this weekend, and some last minute places have just opened up; if you’re interested, please call 07737 040 785.
Here are some words from Susanna Rickard about last year’s event!
I hadn’t realised a jaw could really, physically drop until Fran read out my name as winner of a Pyranha kayak at the 2014 Ladies Paddle Symposium. Then came a mixture of disbelief, amazement and complete joy before some tears of happiness shed on Lowri Davies, who had the (damp) experience of sitting next to me.
Learning to paddle something this short!
The LPS is fantastic. Not because I came home with a boat, but because it’s the only weekend like it in the kayaking world. In a male dominated sport, a weekend of female-oriented coaching and networking is great for our confidence and development as paddlers. It’s also a great weekend away in itself, full of laughs and good times.
Kayaking can teach us a lot about ourselves. When I started learning in 2013, it was the first time I’d taken up anything new in about a decade. I came to it after a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, as part of a recovery process. It quickly became obvious I was shy about getting things wrong, didn’t like making mistakes (especially ones that led to swimming!) and put huge pressure on myself to do things right as fast as possible.
Early days, learning to roll it…
The sport has built my confidence and taught me a few valuable lessons along the way, including ones about my concentration, patience, and empathy for others in a group. Paddling definitely demands a less self-centered outlook than we might otherwise have. What I really like is that the stuff it teaches us applies to life outside paddling.
The LPS manages to capture all the elements of this great sport and brings them together in one weekend. The fantastic set of talks on the Saturday night in 2014 covered everything from boat design (built for average male measurements) through to Deb Pillinger speaking on the paddling ethos – surmising that if bankers were paddlers, the banking crisis wouldn’t have occurred.
Friends were made, and I reckon everybody headed home with a smile on their faces.
Since winning my Jed, I’m certainly happier spending a lot more time upside down, and indeed getting thoroughly trashed in waves. And after all, if it comes to it: “if you’re not swimming, you’re not trying hard enough.” So a huge thank you to Pyranha, a huge thank you to the LPS and all who make it happen, and bring on LPS 2015!
Fun at Lee Valley