FLOWSTATE Issue 3

CANOEING IRELAND GETS A NEW CEO 

DARRAGH CLARKE WINS EUROPEAN GOLD 

NEW HIGH PERFORMANCE STRUCTURES 

FLOWthe ISSUE #3 DECEMBER 2018 

official magazine of 

CANOE POLO 

OVERLOAD! - Get involved 

in team kayaking for 2019 

Meet Jenny Egan, 

Ireland’s Canoe Sprint history maker

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 

FROM THE BOARD 

CLUBS & MEMBER’S 

CONSULTATION CONTINUE 

On behalf of the Board of Canoeing 

Ireland, we would like to take this 

opportunity to wish our members, clubs, 

paddlers, volunteers, athletes, coaches, 

staff and stakeholders a Merry 

Christmas and Happy New Year. 

As another busy year comes to a close, 

we can look back and be proud of all our 

achievements in 2018. 

It has been a strong year of positive 

change with good progress made in 

delivering our ambitious strategic plan, 

implementing additional resources and 

seeing a continued growth in members 

and clubs. We especially thank Paddy 

Boyd whose leadership has helped 

transform Canoeing Ireland during his 

tenure as Interim CEO and we wish him 

all the success as he moves to new 

ventures. We welcome Moira Aston as 

the new CEO and the Board look forward 

to working with her in this challenging 

and exciting role. 

We would like to wish Jon Mackey well as 

he moves into the role of High 

Performance Director for Canoeing 

Ireland. Jon’s extensive experience in 

performance coaching will undoubtedly 

help create an athlete centred 

environment where success can 

flourish. Jon and his team are currently 

laying the foundations for the High 

Performance structures within 

Canoeing Ireland and we wish them the 

very best in this new and exciting 

endeavour. 

2018 has been a year of asking and 

listening to what the paddling 

community want and understanding how 

best we as a National Governing Body 

can address these requirements. 

Communicating and consultations with 

our members is a priority and the Clubs 

and Members regional workshops held 

throughout the year have provided 

valuable insights, which are now being 

actioned. Furthermore, three editions of 

Flow State were published and 

showcase the best of what our sport is 

about. 

We would like to congratulate all our 

athletes who have competed so well in 

all disciplines throughout the World and 

in particular, to those who have 

supported and assisted them to their 

success. This year has seen exceptional 

performances and results at 

International level. At our Inaugural 

Awards Gala on the 26th January 2019, 

we will endeavour to recognise the work 

of those athletes, volunteers and clubs 

who work so diligently to promote our 

sport throughout the year. 

As a community, we have made good 

progress and continue to develop for 

the better. 2019 will bring new 

challenges, but equally new possibilities. 

The Board look forward to embracing 

these opportunities in a year that will 

see the 60th 

anniversary of 

the Liffey 

Descent. 

Very best 

wishes for the 

festive season, 

enjoy the 

water and 

safe paddling. 

B Oе 

HONORARY SECRETARY 

CONTENTS 

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT 

Interview with Moira Aston, Canoeing Irelands new CEO 4 

Spotlight on Jenny Egan 5 

National Coach Profile - Jonathon Simmons 6 

Darragh Clarke Euro Champion 11 

PADDLING NEWS 

Liffey Descent 8 

Paddlesurf Report 2018 10 

The Blueway 10k Challenge 11 

Special Olympics Ireland Games 14 

Overload! Junior Canoe Polo is Spreading 16 

THE MORE YOU KNOW 

Jon Mackey, New High Performance Role 7 

Open Canoes Morning Chorus Paddle 12 

Lord Mayor of Dublin City 

Officially Opens Royal Canal Kayak Club 13 

2019 Canoe Polo Junior Development Programme 17 

Canoeing Ireland Inaugural Awards Gala 23 

Results Round Up 24 

FLOWSTATE FOCUS 

Whitewater Kayaking in the Altai Mountains 18 

Club Spotlight - Inny Kayak Club 22 

As part of Canoeing Ireland’s ongoing 

campaign to travel and meet with local clubs 

and members, we met again with the 

midland’s clubs on the banks of the Inny 

River in Ballymahon Co. Longford on 

Saturday 17th November. 

The meeting was hosted by the lovely 

people at Inny Kayak Club with club 

representatives from Abbeyshrule and 

Tullamore present. 

The meeting followed a similar format to 

previous meetings and allowed the 

members to offer feedback to Canoeing 

Ireland on everything from membership 

services to training, communication and 

everything in between. 

The meeting lasted 3 hours with tons of 

constructive debate, advice and feedback 

all delivered on the back of some homemade 

scones and tea. 

After the meeting, Canoeing Ireland’s 

development officer, Jon Mackey had this 

to say. “These meetings are a crucial part of 

our campaign to reengage with the 

membership. Canoeing Ireland is a 

member-centric organisation, how we 

interact with our clubs and our members is 

of utmost importance to us.” 

When asked what struck him most about the 

feedback from the meetings Mackey noted 

that there was a lack of information within 

the membership about the positive benefits 

of being a member of a national governing 

body – “There has been such a disconnect 

over the years in some parts that members 

aren’t entirely sure why they should be 

members of Canoeing Ireland. The benefits 

of Canoeing Ireland aren’t widely known, and 

this is something that we will fix in the near 

future.” 

Other discussions centred on communications, 

training and insurance cover. 

One of the great ideas suggested by the 

members at the meeting was about the 

running of cross discipline development 

days. Canoeing Ireland will be piloting this 

with the midlands in 2019. 

Our next and last meeting will be scheduled 

for the west and North West. 

ON THE COVER: Canoe Polo Overload! - Full story on pg16 - Photo credit: Edita Insodiene 

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CANOEING IRELAND WELCOMES 

IT’S NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE, MOIRA ASTON 

SPOTLIGHT WITH JENNY EGAN 

Moira Aston was recently appointed as Canoeing Ireland’s new Chief Executive Officer. After spending over 

10 years working with Athletics Ireland, Moira took up office with Canoeing Ireland earlier in the month. We 

caught up with the new CEO to find out a little bit about her, and what her goals are for Canoeing Ireland. 

You’ve been with Athletics Ireland for over 

10 years. How did you initially get involved 

with Athletics? 

Probably in the same way as most parents. 

The family moved to Trim in 2001 and sports 

clubs are a great way to meet people and 

make friends. The club was quite small at the 

time and before I knew it I was pulled into 

coaching and administration. The boys are 

adults now, but I remain involved on the 

periphery of the club and have built 

enduring relationships in Trim with club 

members. 

What are your most favoured 

achievements while working with 

Athletics Ireland? 

My job with Athletics Ireland started out 

with membership administration and over 

the years I moved into Child Protection, 

Competition and Operations. There were 

challenges with each of the roles; 

introducing online membership, setting up 

the Child Protection department, improving 

engagement with technology for 

competitions and many more. The 

enthusiasm of volunteers to work together 

and embrace change was instrumental in 

achieving great results. 

Rumour has it you were a competing 

athlete in own right within Athletics, what 

did you compete in? 

It might be more accurate to say I 

participated! I loved taking part in the 

Masters (Over 35) competitions, 

particularly the throws (Javelin, Hammer, 

Discus and Shot), with a great bunch of 

athletes who cheered each other on with 

time for a chat in between the rounds. 

You will be the first female CEO of 

Canoeing Ireland, the landscape of Irish 

sport is changing in relation to gender 

equality across the board, how do you feel 

about this direction and what more needs 

to be done? 

I agree that women are playing catch up in 

the more senior roles within companies, 

however, I believe that jobs should be 

awarded on merit, not gender. In recent 

years a number of high profile roles have 

been won by women in the sporting arena, all 

of whom are doing an outstanding job. This 

role is important to me, not only because I 

believe that together we can elevate the 

sport to a new level, but also because each 

female appointment changes the landscape 

and opens a world of possibility for future 

female leaders. 

What do you see as your key objectives for 

the year ahead within Canoeing Ireland? 

We have an excellent strategic plan in place 

and we need to work towards achieving the 

goals laid out in it. I place particular 

emphasis on governance and building trust 

with our members and partners. The Board is 

supportive and skilled, and I have been made 

feel very welcome by them. The staff are 

doing trojan work in a number of areas with 

limited resources. I will be energetically 

supporting them and working closely with 

the Board and the membership over the year 

ahead. It is important that we manage the 

support our high performance athletes 

across all of the disciplines to the highest 

possible standard. The appointment of Jon 

Mackey as HP Director was an excellent 

first step in this regard. 

In your opinion, where does the strength 

lie in the direction of Irish sport, how do 

you see Canoeing Ireland playing its part 

in all of this? 

The government National Sports Policy 

2018 – 2027 has set out 57 actions with the 

aim of transforming the sporting landscape 

during the term of the policy. The document 

emphases increased participation, both 

active and social, as a priority. Canoeing is a 

low impact sport, suitable for all ages, great 

for improving aerobic fitness, strength and 

flexibility and it’s fun! There is huge 

potential to increase participation in the 

sport across all demographics. 

If you were to name three important tenets 

that guide your philosophy as a person in 

leadership, what would they be? 

1) Ethics and accountability – do the 

right thing, take responsibility for 

actions and decisions, acknowledge 

mistakes and exhibit integrity at all 

times. 

2) Strong communication – listen to 

the views of others. Encourage 

openness, honesty and collaboration. 

3) Passion & Commitment – energy, 

enthusiasm and excitement are 

contagious and serve as the driving 

force of motivation. 

What is your favourite Irish sporting 

moment of all time? 

That’s a hard question…my most recent 

favourite was the Ireland V All Blacks game. 

I’ve been around long enough to remember 

the country shutting down for Italia 90. The 

heroic performance of the women’s hockey 

team, I’ll have a new favourite next week! 

Sports management and leadership aside, 

how do you like to wind down in your spare 

time? 

I’ve recently fallen into a Netflix rabbit hole… 

I’m hoping to emerge sometime soon. 

Pictured: Egan celebrates as she crosses the finish line winning 

the bronze medal in the K1 5000m at the ICF Senior Canoe 

Sprint World Championships in Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal. 

Egan creates history winning Ireland's first medal ever at an ICF Senior Canoe Sprint World Championships 

Jenny Egan became the first Irish athlete 

to win an International Canoe Federation 

(ICF) Senior Canoe Sprint World 

Championship medal on Sunday the 26th 

of August, 2018 in Montemor-o-Velho, 

Portugal, winning a bronze medal in the K1 

5000m event. 

The competition course consisted of 1 long 

lap of 1000m and 5 short laps of 800m. 

Egan did not get a great start and found 

herself back in 15th position after the first 

300m, however, she showed her strength 

and determination by catching the 

competitors group by group over the next 

3000m. With 1700m to go before the 

finish line Egan put in a massive sprint to 

get up into the leading group of four 

athletes which comprised of Lizzie 

Broughton of Great Britain (World 

Championship medalist), Maryna 

Litvinchuk of Belarus (Olympic bronze 

medalist from both London 2012 and Rio 

de Janeiro 2016), Caitlin Ryan of New 

Zealand (multiple World Championship 

medallist) and Emma Jorgensen of 

Denmark (Olympic silver medalist from Rio 

de Janeiro 2016). 

Shortly after Egan caught this leading 

group both Jorgensen and Ryan were not 

able to keep the increasing pace and lost 

contention with the group. Egan dug deep 

and stayed in the leading group in which 

the order of the medals would be decided 

in the final 300m. Broughton sprinted for 

the line winning the gold medal with 

Litvinchuk winning the silver and Egan the 

bronze. 

Egan was delighted after her race saying "I 

am so happy to make history becoming the 

first Irish athlete to win a Senior Canoe 

Sprint World Championship medal, it is a 

dream come true" 

Both of Egan's parents were at the event, 

Tom Egan was Team Leader for the Irish 

Canoe Sprint Team and Angie Egan was 

there as part of her support crew. Egan 

who is a member of Salmon Leap Canoe 

Club, Leixlip, is coached by her brother 

Peter Egan and her boyfriend Jon 

Simmons. 

This was not the only success Egan 

achieved this year, as at the Senior Canoe 

Sprint European Championships in 

Belgrade, Serbia she qualified in the K1 

500m the only Canoe Sprint athlete 

quota place for Ireland for the European 

Games which will take place in Minsk, 

Belarus in 2019. Egan also finished a very 

creditable 5th place at the Senior Canoe 

Marathon Championships in Portugal, 

only 43:91 seconds off the gold medal 

after 26.2Km. 

Egan is currently in the depth of winter 

training, she trains two to three times per 

day, six days per week, completing 

fourteen sessions consisting of six gym 

sessions, three on the water canoeing 

sessions, three running sessions and two 

swimming sessions. Egan's main training 

base in the winter months is Salmon Leap 

Canoe Club and in the spring she will go 

away on a warm weather training camp to 

Florida to train with some of the best 

women athletes in the world. 

Egan is currently a carded athlete with 

Sport Ireland, she states that " the support 

I get from Sport Ireland is second to none 

and it is crucial to me in order to continue 

to win major international medals for 

Ireland". Egan would also like to thank 

Canoeing Ireland, Canoe Sprint Ireland, 

Canoe Marathon Committee of Ireland, 

Salmon Leap Canoe Club, the Sport 

Ireland Institute and the Olympic 

Federation of Ireland for their continued 

support. 

Egan is looking forward to the 2019 

competition season which will begin for 

her at the end of April and she hopes that it 

will also be a "dream come true" season. 

If you would like to view Egan's historic 

bronze medal win in the K1 5000m event 

at the Senior Canoe Sprint World 

Championships in Portugal this year 

please see link below: 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HfaHAZ 

qdYOo 

Egan's race starts at 1hr 35minutes into 

the coverage. 

4 

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NATIONAL COACH PROFILE 

NAME: 

CLUB: 

DISCIPLINE: 

JONATHAN SIMMONS 

SALMON LEAP 

CANOE CLUB 

Improving all paddling 

members ability to 

paddle better 

working or studying. It’s hard, it’s really hard! but it’s worth it. 

What are your future goals for you and competitive canoeing 

in Ireland? 

My future goals are to increase the success and numbers competing 

at International and National Level both Junior and Senior, to help 

others enjoy our sport as much as I have and hopefully bring home 

some nice medals along the way. 

How do you wind down after a solid days training or 

competing? 

A Good cup of coffee with friends, It truly is the simple things in life. 

If you could offer advice to young aspiring paddlers reading 

this, what would you tell him? 

When your coach is telling you something; Pay attention and Listen, 

it’s for a purpose, it’s for your own benefit, any good coach only wants to 

make you better! Finally, do not waste a minute, you will never get that 

minute back and that could be the time you needed to get that result 

you hoped for!!! 

When did you start paddling? 

Twelve years of age was my first experience in 

a canoe – it was amazing, and I was hooked 

immediately. Canoeing has brought me on a 

fantastic journey in terms of friendships and 

places I have been lucky to visit. 

How did you get involved with racing? 

My folks home backed on to the river Wey and 

there was a fantastic club just up the road 

which I joined and have been a member of for 

over 18 years now. 

What are your achievements to date? 

I still love paddling and helping others to 

enjoy the sport. Some notable ones include 

World Cup Bronze medals in Rome & 

Germany, 4th at Senior Europeans and 7th in 

the World. More recently it is the 

achievements of the athletes that I coach 

including Ronan Foleys incredible 

achievements (Gold Europeans, World Silver 

Medal, Bronze Junior European Marathon), 

the junior sprint squad achievements and 

Jenny Egan’s success (Bronze Sprint Worlds, 

Bronze Senior Marathon World 

Championships & Senior Sprint European 

Championships) 

What are your interests outside of racing? 

Outside of canoeing today I find myself 

behind a camera and trying to make good 

videos. It’s all for fun and hopefully the 

paddlers I coach can all look back at what 

they have achieved to date and the good 

times we go through whilst training and 

racing. It really is too easy to forget the good 

times when results may not be going the way 

you want them in a block of training. 

Which sporting athlete inspires you the most and why? 

The athlete who has inspired me in so many ways is Ivan Lawler, his results within the sport are 

fantastic. Also, the fact that Ivan to this day is heavily involved in the sport coaching youngsters 

and helping everyone and anyone who asks for help is a credit to what he was as an athlete and 

now as a coach. 

I aspire to be like him as a coach with a great eye for technical work. He taught me so much when 

I was an athlete and how to get your head around racing and training and I will give the same to 

the athletes I am coaching. 

What is your current coaching schedule? 

My current coaching schedule is typically 7-10am then again at 3-7pm Monday to Thursday, 

then the weekends 9am-1pm. This is where I am working with the athletes and advising them 

in sessions. 

Then there is the time I spend outside of the training sessions where I spend time planning 

and preparing as to how I can improve them as paddlers. I will always try to find the best way 

for the athletes to reach their goals. 

What is the best sporting advice you have received? 

Never give up on something you love… It’s far too easy to forget why you were doing 

something in the first place, especially when you are trying to fit in 12-14 sessions alongside 

JON MACKEY TO SPEARHEAD NEW 

HIGH PERFORMANCE ROLE 

Canoeing Ireland are delighted to announce 

that Jon Mackey will be spearheading the new 

High Performance role within the national 

governing body. 

Jon brings a wealth of experience to the role 

from his time as a high performance coach with 

Kickboxing Ireland and will work towards 

developing a modern high performance strategy 

for Canoeing Ireland. 

Speaking after the appointment, Mackey said; 

“We have huge potential within canoe sport in 

Ireland. One of my key objectives is to ensure 

that our high performing athletes have the 

necessary support systems in place so they can 

perform and achieve on the international stage.” 

Following on from Mackey’s appointment the 

Canoeing Ireland High Performance Unit (HPU) 

was established which will direct the new HP 

strategy, oversee HP budget allocations and 

work with the disciplines to ensure a coherent 

joined up strategy for all of our high performing 

athletes. 

As well as representations from the discipline 

national coaches, the new Canoeing Ireland 

High Performance Unit will consist of Lynda 

Byron and Ciaran Maguire. 

Lynda is a former chairperson of Wild Water 

Kayak Club, she spent much of her professional 

career with the Irish Management Institute, 

where she designed and delivered open and 

tailored programmes to a wide range of clients in 

Ireland as well as the UK, France, Finland, 

Switzerland, Holland, Germany, Cyprus and the 

US. 

Lynda is now a Director of Leadership Journeys, 

a boutique company founded by a community of 

professionals who share the values and 

approach of positive psychology. Lynda and her 

colleagues use strengths-based methods to 

develop authentic, effective leadership in high 

performing teams. 

Ciaran ‘Kipper’ Maguire Has been involved with 

canoe sport for over 30 years. Having started 

out in schools kayaking where he competed in 

Canoe Salmon, Canoe Polo and the Junior 

Liffey Descent. 

On gaining his level 3 instructorship he went on 

to instruct and coach for many years, while at 

the same time competing in Freestyle kayaking. 

The discipline of Freestyle suited his powerfully 

fast style and he became National Champion 3 

years in row. He also represented Ireland in 

European and World Championships as a high 

performance athlete in his own right. On his 

retirement from Freestyle he coached the 

national team. He has co organized a charity 

expedition to India where a team of six did a 

seven day paddle on the Zanskar Gorge. He has 

also paddled in America, Canada, New Zealand, 

Australia, Morocco, and Norway, all around the 

European Alps and all over Ireland. Kipper is now 

a Level 5 kayak instructor. As someone who has 

been around Canoe Sport for so many years, 

Ciaran brings a wealth of knowledge and 

experience to the HPU team. 

“I approached Lynda and Ciaran to be a part of 

this new exciting project for a couple of reasons. 

They both possess a huge amount of 

experience in the field of leadership, however 

and most importantly they are individuals who 

are well known in their respective fields for their 

integrity and professionalism. For me, these 

values underpin everything that we do at HP 

level.” Mackey said. 

6 

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Initially the talk was about what sort of world 

class international crews we would get from 

overseas with the race being brilliantly placed 

on the weekend between the Canoe 

Marathon World Championships in Portugal & 

the Irish Coast Paddling Championships 

which was bound to draw some of the top 

racers in the world with its huge cash prizes. 

As we went through the summer, soaking up 

the sunshine the talk turned to water levels & 

if the race could run at all. Thankfully the 

decision was made that the race would go 

ahead regardless just like the Dusi Canoe 

Marathon & the Sella Descent which are the 2 

other world renowned marathon races that 

both have ran in extremely low water levels. 

LIFFEY DESCENT 

The 2018 Liffey Descent is a race that will live on in memory for quite some time. From months out 

there was plenty of chatter about the race this year. 

From this point on the talk turned to “what 

boat am I willing to potentially trash” & “what 

lines can be taken in such low water”. The 

Lower Liffey Ranking marathon took place 2 

weeks before the big race & provided a 

valuable insight into what lay ahead. Sections 

of the river that you wouldn’t normally bat an 

eyelid at, like the 1km below Leixlip Bridge 

became make or break depending what lines 

you took as you could get beached and loose 

valuable time. 

Finally race day came& there was a great 

sense of excitement in the air as we pulled 

into the K Club. Everyone was talking about 

what weirs they had scouted in the days before 

Author: Colin Caffrey 

& what lines they thought might be 

‘shootable’. It was great to see a huge portion 

of the entry was international competitors, 

many of them looking at Straffan weir 

wondering what lines they should take. We got 

on the water & the normally stressful paddle 

up to the start was a doddle with the lower flow 

on the river. There was no pressure to beat 

your time from previous years. This race was a 

wild card race where you never knew how it 

was going to go. 

I was paddling the Masters K1 class which was 

in the 2nd start. We watched the K2 boats line 

up & race away. An impressive sights to see 

such a large field of racing K2’s take off 

together. It was like watching some of the old 

RTE coverage of the Liffey back in the 90’s. 

The K1’s lined up & got ready. Everyone 

chomping at the bit to get going but we were 

told to wait, and wait, and wait. Word was 

feeding back to the starters that there was 

absolute carnage going on at Straffan with 

the K2’s. Some were scrapping down it, others 

were jumping out at the top and walking or 

sliding down it while some were falling in at the 

top! The race starters kept us well informed of 

what was going on & held the group very well, 

After about 6 minutes the K1’s were set off & 

the frantic scurry to get as far up the pack 

before the 1st weir begun. 

challenging both mentally & physically than any Liffey I had previously done. You 

constantly had to watch your own lines but also the lines of other paddlers around 

you. This was especially true in the Jungle where there were some very shallow 

sections early on & paddlers were packed closely together, with many ending up in 

the trees. At many weirs the choice of multiple shootable options was taken away. 

It was a case of portage or try to shoot. For myself the answer was always going to 

be shoot if at all possible. Some of it wasn’t pretty with plenty of scraping of boats 

and paddles but the key was momentum. Sprint at every obstacle and hope the 

momentum takes you over. 

As the race went on & we made it through the portage it was clear the lower section 

was going to be just as difficult as the upper. Having done the lower Liffey race 2 

weeks previous I knew some of the lines needed to get through the extremely 

shallow sections below Leixlip Bridge. As the weirs got ticked off one by one I was 

finding the sections between them more challenging than many of the weirs 

themselves. In sections between weirs you usually just paddle through without 

thinking, you always had to have your wits about you or suddenly you hit a rock you 

never knew existed that is just below the surface & it nearly sends you over. This 

happened about half a dozen times between Lucan & Chapelizod. I passed at least 

3 K2’s that swam on sections between weirs due to hitting rocks in places like this. 

By the time I got to Chapelizod I had shot everything with the exception of Lucan. 

There were about 3 K2’s on the top of Chapelizod Weir portaging but I said I’d give 

it a go. I had a nice shoot down it until I went nose first into a big rock positioned 

right at the bottom of the weir. I didn’t like the sound of it but I couldn’t see any 

major damage from where I was sitting. Below the weir there were another 5 or 6 

K2’s with exhausted paddlers scrambling to get back in to make it to the finish. 

The paddle down to the finish was a killer. It had honestly felt like a 40 or 50km race 

rather than the 30km. When I crossed the line my times were about 20 minutes 

slower than previous years but with no swims. Everyone who got off was just 

knackered after it but there was a great sense of achievement in making it to the 

end. Almost everyone you spoke too had the same view “God that was terrible when 

you were doing it, but it was also brilliant looking back on it now that it is over”. There 

were smiles all round. 

Later that evening the after party kicked off in the Garda Rowing club & it was great 

to see a good turnout, with many of the international paddlers turning up to 

celebrate with plenty of the local paddlers. The race organisers had organised a 

great band & the place was hoping more than any Liffey after party in a long time. 

This will go down as one of the toughest races I’ve ever done but also the most 

satisfying to date. Yes the boat took a few scratches but no major damage. Yes the 

times will look terrible in years to come when people look at the results, but it truly 

was an experience. It will be a race that stands out from every other year. Would I 

like it to be like that next year? No way!! But would low water turn me off doing it 

again in the future? Not a chance. 

From that point on the race was much more 

8 

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PADDLESURF REPORT 2018 

It has been a busy Autumn for all at Paddlesurf Ireland. It was jam packed starting with the Wave Ski 

World Championships in September. 

The Wave ski worlds were held at Pantin in Galicia. Pantin beach is amazing with a fun 

wave you can really see why they call it the wave factory. Aidan McElhinney, Marty 

McCann, Guillaume Desprez and Mark Taylor were competing at this event. Aidan 

finished in the Junior Semi Final narrowing missing out on the finals. Marty, Guillaume 

and Mark made to round 2 in Senior and Masters. Well done lads. 

The flagship event the Irish Open ran at the start of October. The Irish Open took place at 

Easky with a good turnout in all classes. There were good conditions on the day with 

tough battles to make it through the heats. At Easkey the local community have opened 

the toilets up and are keeping them well maintained. It is fantastic to see well done to all 

involved. Thanks to everyone who came and took part. Well done to Donie and Darragh 

and Alan Dorgan for running great comp and thanks to the Judges. For full results in all 

classes go to the facebook page. 

Aisling Griffin and Brigette Egan travelled to Thurso in Scotland to take part in the Home 

Internationals and the British Championships. In the Homes they were part of "The Rest 

of Team" placing 3rd. The two rounds of Home Internationals were run off at Farr Bay with 

some good conditions all day. The "Rest of Team" started with a first round win but 

dropped to 3rd in the second. There was some great surfing from everyone on the team 

In the British Champs Brigette took the win in Both Woman's Masters short and 

Woman's Master long boat along with 2nd in the Women's Open Short boat. Aisling 

finished 3rd in Women's Open Short boat and 3rd in Women's Open long boat. Well done 

and thank you to Ian & Tracy and all the Scottish Crew for running a Fantastic event. 

The last event of the year Development squad meet up was held on the 17th of November 

in Clare. Lovely clear sunny weather on the day at Lahinch beach. Plenty of small clean 

waves to share with the local surf schools and other surfers. A great way to end the 

season. 

We are all looking forward to the World Championships in Peru in July 2019. 

To keep up to date for 2019 follow the Paddlesurf Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/Paddlesurf-Ireland-186716358023500/, the events 

page on the Canoeing Ireland http://canoe.ie/surf/ and the Paddlesurf Instagram page. 

THE BLUEWAY 

10K CHALLENGE 

This year Canoeing Ireland and Waterways Ireland decided to change the Blueway 

10K format. This year it focused on club and paddler participation in a non-competitive 

environment. Socializing, and gaining appreciation for your local environment and 

increasing a grá for our waterways through exploration was one of our key objectives. 

The Blueway Challenge was made possible again this year due to the support of Waterways 

Ireland. Without such extensive support through funding and logistics the Blueway 

Challenge wouldn’t exist in its current format. 

Our first event took place in in August and was a fun and festive event with warm and 

inclusive atmosphere. Clubs, providers and members from across the paddling community 

got together to explore some of Irelands beautiful designated Blueway’s. 

Beginners around the country participated in a 6-week course, 1 day a week for 3 hours. 

They learned how to manoeuvre their crafts effectively, how to safely travel and to explore 

their local environments by Rivers or Loughs. These courses were run by Local Sports 

Partnerships, Clubs and Providers. 

After all of the training and dedication from the new paddlers, the National Canoe & Kayak 

week saw two final day events, one in Scariff Co. Clare on the Scariff River into Lough Derg 

and the other in Clondra Co. Longford on the Camlin Loop. 

Clondra Co. Longford, Camlin Loop 

This Event was held on the 11th of August 2018. The group took to the waterway in Clondra, 

then moved onto the Shannon to Tarmonbarry, and returned on the loop back up to 

Clondra. 

This event marked the beginning of National Canoe and Kayak week and was the first event 

for novice kayakers who had been training in Leitrim and Longford over the summer. 

The Training and Blueway 10km Event was supported by Longford Sports Partnership and 

was rolled out by Inny Kayaking Club. The event wouldn’t have been a success without the 

motivation of the participants from the two training programmes; Women on the Water and 

10km Blueway. 

Over 120 kayakers from across the country took part in the 10k event on the Camlin 

Blueway in Longford. 

Scarriff River to Lough Derg Blueway 

This Event was held on the 18th of August 2018, the starting and finishing point was at the 

Waterways Ireland Regional HQ in Co. Clare. 

The event was a great success with 100 people on the water. Canoeists from Get West & 

Shannon Paddlers, Clonmel Canoe Club, Inny Kayak Club, Lough Derg Water Sports and 

Tipperary Sports Partnership all enjoyed exploring the Scarriff River together. 

The paddlers had to change the route on the day due to high winds, which stopped them 

from paddling out onto Lough Derg, but it couldn’t stop the eagerness and enthusiasm of 

this group!! They paddled 8.5km and stopped half way at the Derg Isle Adventure Centre, 

where they enjoyed a cuppa tea, a few biscuits and some socialising. 

We look forward to running the Blueway Challenge again in 2019 where we hope more 

clubs will get involved. 

DARRAGH CLARKE 

EURO WIN 

Darragh Clarke closed off the International 

Wild Water Racing season with a 

phenomenal 

performance in Macedonia. 

The Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has honoured 

wildwater canoeist Darragh Clarke for his 

achievement 

in taking gold at the junior European 

Championships in Macedonia. The 

18-year-old from Chapelizod 

was invited to meet the Taoiseach at 

Government Buildings. 

Clarke took a silver medal at the junior world 

championships in Austria in 2017. Though 

he can 

compete for the rest of the year as a junior – 

he will take on the Liffey Descent on 

September 15th – 

he says he is already preparing to campaign 

in the under-23 ranks. 

Reference Afloat 

10 

11

OPEN CANOES 

MORNING CHORUS PADDLE 

a fleet of open canoes to make our way along 

the north coast, past the Giant’s Causeway & 

head for the Carrick a Rede rope bridge. We 

pulled on to the quay wall in Portrush & “I’m not 

going out in that”, 5 metre waves breaking in 

through the mouth of the harbour, alas it was 

not meant to be. 

Wednesday evening July 10th. That perfect 

summer evening, warm & long. We came 

around the corner in to Ballintoy harbour to a 

scene of a light sea mist. Ten canoes, twenty 

paddlers, nine different paddling clubs, CANI, 

CI with the anticipation of that “we’ve never 

done this in an Open Canoe before”. 

serious surf out there & we’re out for a gentle midweek paddle. The tide is out it appears, the island 

is not an island just now, so in on to the beach we surf. I jump out of the boat to stop us being 

dragged back out, not very elegant, my ankle’s are numb & I end up sitting in 6” water holding the 

boat painter as my legs won’t work. 

Looking up, you can see the tourists looking down, looking, wondering, “Could I do that ?. While we 

look up, thinking I’ve always wanted to do this. All too soon we are surfing back off the beach & 

returning to the “Iron Island Port” that is Ballintoy harbour. Gareth & myself are getting 

comfortable, quite happy, until we look over our right shoulder & see a rogue wave appearing a bit 

faster than we’re comfortable with & the cliff is only a few yards to our left. Suddenly we’re rising & 

then it’s gone, away below us. Back the way we’ve come, heaven … 

2018. It has been a funny old year, particularly for those of us that like canoes & a little bit of white 

water. The refrain “There’s no water” has echoed across this green land, yet looking back, we never 

seemed to stop… 

“Stupid” o’clock, Sunday morning 13th May. 

It all started with a Facebook post “Dawn 

Chorus Paddle Sunday Morning 13th May 

We are meeting at 04.15am at Cloncurry Cross 

(1/2 way between Kilcock and Enfield, just off 

the N4) 

We will paddle the Royal Canal to Fearns lock 

and back. We have arranged to have a guide 

with us to help identify the birdsong. Bring 

warm clothes and your binoculars!!!” 

It was gorgeous, flat calm, stars by the billion 

overhead, not a breeze, a tad cold, but 

beautiful. The first flickers of dawn are another 

¾ of an hour away but the crescendo of sound 

is astounding. Eight canoes quietly making 

our way down the Royal canal. “That’s a wren, 

there’s a blackbird & yonder a sedge warbler” 

we are informed, all just by the bird song we 

hear from the invisible trees. Fair play to our 

guide, holding on grimly to the gunnels with 

the terror of the imminent capsize & inevitable 

swim that never transpired. 

The light is gradually increasing as we make 

our way down stream, the mist is hovering at 

ground level & the bridge slowly appears 

majestically from the darkness. It is stunning & 

magical, “There’s a fairy fort in that field over 

there”, somehow it makes perfect sense on a 

morning like this. 

Quiet paddle stroke, followed by the sound of 

water droplets falling on the surface. Between 

the trees, there appears, for the first time a red 

arc as the sun begins to appear on the horizon, 

flickering & bouncing through the mist, the 

monochrome is stunning. 

The chorus of bird song is getting quieter, the 

mist slowly rising, the greys & blues gradually 

becoming yellows, greens, reds, the distant 

hum of the motorway. Breakfast followed by a 

snooze in a field for the morning. 

12 

(Photos by Margeret Callery, Paul Schweppe 

& Derek Kellett) 

(Breakfast by Sinead Morrisroe) 

We’re going where ???? 

The Ulster Canoe Festival 2017. It seemed like 

a good idea at the time, Colin Skeath & Davis 

Gould-Duff had just completed their 

Canadian Open Canoe circumnavigation of 

Britain, they’d popped in to the Isle of Mann & 

wandered over to the Co. Down coast along 

the way. In keeping, the feature paddle was for 

Out of the harbour & turn right, not very far but 

……, through a gap in the rocks that, was there, 

was gone, was there, was gone. Time it right, 

keep the boat straight, there are waves 

coming across the right hand bow, let it flow, 

relax as they recede below you. Around a small 

headland & there she is ahead, paddle on. That 

rope bridge high above our heads, 

immortalised in tourist postcards for years but 

I’ve never seen it from this angle. Getting 

closer, can we paddle through, we’re not going 

out the seaward side of the headland, there’s 

LORD MAYOR OF DUBLIN CITY 

OFFICIALLY OPENS ROYAL CANAL KAYAK CLUB 

The Royal Canal Kayak Club was formally 

opened in June this year and is based on the 

banks of the Royal Canal in Ashtown, Dublin. 

The development of the club which focuses 

predominantly on the sport of Canoe Polo has 

followed an accumulation of many years and 

months of cooperation and steady planning. The 

club boasts a functional storage building and 

changing area. The building itself was 

constructed as part of the local development in 

the area by construction company, Ballymore. 

After some consultation, Ballymore were happy 

to let the bank side building to the new club. The 

club has a full size Polo pitch attached to it 

which is thanks to the work of Waterways 

Ireland, who helped with its development. 

The Lord Mayor at the time of the opening, Cllr 

Mícheál MacDonncha was invited by Canoeing 

Ireland to come and cut the official ribbon. 

Speaking on the day, Cllr MacDonncha spoke 

about the rich history of the Royal Canal and 

commended those that worked to keep the 

amenity as an integral part of community life. 

The former Lord Mayor then threw in the match 

ball. The host club took on Wild Water Kayak 

Club in a test match. Also present was the Ulster 

Canoe Polo team who travelled down to Dublin 

to support the opening. The Ulster team also 

engaged with the host club on the water in a fast 

and exciting game of Polo. 

Royal Canal Kayak Club chairperson Art Fitzpatrick 

was pleased with the day’s event, “I would 

like to thank everyone on behalf of the club who 

worked so hard to get it established. Our 

opening day was a tremendous success and it 

was a great honour and privilege to have the 

Lord Mayor present. We extend a huge thanks to 

Canoeing Ireland for their assistance in 

organising this official opening and for reaching 

out to the Lord Mayor and to the continued 

support of Waterways Ireland. Thanks also to 

Wild Water Kayak Club and the Ulster Canoe 

Polo team for their attendance on the day and 

for the hard fought matches that followed the 

ceremony” 

Canoeing Ireland President, Paul Donnelly was 

13 

also present on the day and spoke about the 

desire of Canoeing Ireland to see canoe and 

kayak sport continuously develop within our 

local communities. “The opening of the Royal 

Canal Kayak Club is a testament of what can be 

achieved with careful planning, good communication 

and a passion for sport in the community. 

Canoeing Ireland will always support projects 

like this, this is why we exist. We wish the club all 

the very best of success for the future” 

If you are interested in setting up a canoe/kayak 

club in your community, don’t hesitate to 

contact Canoeing Ireland for help, guidance and 

support. 

Contact development@canoe.ie

LÁNA AN MHUILINN, BAILE PHÁMAR, BAILE ÁTHA CLIATH, ÉIRE. PH.6264363 

SPECIAL OLYMPICS 

IRELAND GAMES 

The Special Olympics Ireland Games took place from June 14th-17th in Dublin. 

Largely based on the Sport Ireland National 

Sports Campus the Games saw 1600 athletes 

from the 5 Special Olympics Regions (Ulster, 

Munster, Leinster, Connaught and Eastern 

Region) compete in one of the largest and 

most prestigious sporting events to take 

place in Ireland in 2018. Athletes competed in 

13 sports and Motor Activities Training, including 

Athletics, Aquatics, Badminton, Basketball, 

Bocce, Bowling, Equestrian, Football, Golf, 

Gymnastics, Kayaking, Pitch & Putt and Table 

Tennis. 

The kayaking took place in the idyllic 

surrounds of Salmon Leap Canoe Club, 

Leixlip. Twenty athletes took to the water over 

two days of intense competition. A team of 

over 75 volunteers, led by Canoeing Ireland 

members Gerry McKay, Eoin Hayes, Connie 

Collins and Paula Quinn, ensured that the 

venue was run like clockwork with all aspects 

of the event looked after meticulously. Many 

members of the Salmon Leap Club took up 

volunteer roles and their expertise and local 

knowledge ensure that the athletes, coaches 

and spectators all had a great experience. The 

athletes competed in 200m and 500m races 

with many achieving personal bests . 

From the Ireland Games four kayakers have 

been selected to represent Team Ireland at 

the World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi in 

March 2019. This will be one of the biggest 

sporting events in the world in 2019 which 

attracts over 500, 000 spectators. The four 

athletes are: Michael O’Keane - Connaught 

Region (Galway Special Olympic Kayaking 

Club); Deirdre O’Callaghan - Eastern Region 

(Free Spirit Special Olympic Kayaking Club); 

Oisin Ferry - Leinster Region (Ballinamere 

Special Olympics Kayaking Club) and last but 

not least Fergal Gregory - Ulster Region 

(Newry City Special Olympic Club). 

Michael Fahy from Castlebar, Co. Mayo is the 

Head Coach for Team Ireland. An Instructor 

with Canoeing Ireland Training & Development 

Unit, Michael is supported by Assistant Head 

Coach Angelina Foley from Rathmore, Co. 

Kerry. Both Michael and Angelina have a 

wealth of experience as they worked together 

before to coach the Irish Team for the last 

World Games in Los Angeles in 2015 when the 

team brought home four silver medals and two 

bronze medals. 

Team Ireland will train in the facilities at 

Canoeing Ireland Training Centre and 

Cellbridge Paddlers Canoe Club in the build 

up to the World Games. Cellbridge is ideal for 

time trials as it is a canal setting and will help 

the athletes prepare for the international 

competition. Huge support has been received 

from the club from Eamonn Fleming, Sports 

Commissioner with the club for all his help 

especially with the time trials. Canoeing 

Ireland Training Centre is also used which is 

located on the Strawberry beds between 

Chapelizod and Lucan. The River Liffey at the 

centre is an ideal training location as there is a 

wide long stretch of river in front of the centre 

where the athletes can learn and improve on 

their techniques and practise paddling with 

and against the flow in preparation for their 

200 meter and 500 meter sprints at the 

World Games. 

Team Ireland is supported by many people and 

Special Olympics Ireland are grateful to Conor 

Ryan for all his assistance and also to Jon 

Mackey, High Performance Training & 

Development Officer with Canoeing Ireland. 

Extra support has also been gratefully 

received from The Great Outdoors who are 

sponsoring the team with tops and shorts for 

the events on the water. 

The athletes have come to two residential 

training camps so far and are really gelling as a 

team. They are also training hard back in their 

own clubs on a weekly basis and are all 

performing well and are very focussed and 

looking forward to their trip to Abu Dhabi in 

March 2019. 

You can stay up to date with Team Ireland 

kayakers on www.specialolympics.ie or on 

Facebook (@Special Olympics Ireland) and 

Twitter (@SOIreland) 

 

 

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14

OVERLOAD! 

JUNIOR CANOE POLO IS SPREADING 

When you think of Mullingar, you may think of its famous lakes (Owel, Ennell and Derravaragh), its renowned 

stars (like Joe Dolan, Niall Horan or Bressie), or its mythical legend of the “Children of Lir”. Whatever you 

associate the town with, it's probably not Canoe Polo… until now ! 

On the first weekend in September that all changed, when the Canoe Polo 

Junior Development Programme ran its first ever national training camp in 

the Royal Canal Harbour right in the middle of Mullingar. Players aged 8 to 

18 from all over Ireland converged on the town for a weekend of training, 

game-play, and the odd bit of madness. 

The Harbour 

Mullingar Harbour is a beautiful location on the Royal Canal in the center 

of a growing midlands town. Over the last year, Waterways Ireland have 

helped us get the harbour ready for Polo and it’s now a fantastic facility, 

with three full size pitches, separate warmup areas, purpose built toilets 

and showers, catering facilities, camping and over 150 parking spaces 

beside the canal. 

The Harbour is being developed as a multi-activity center on the BlueWay 

for canoeing, bike hire, walking etc. and now Canoe Polo looks set to be a 

cornerstone activity there. The harbour is 5 minutes walk from the town 

center, adjacent to several local schools. 

Getting going 

With everything setup on Friday evening, the weekend kicked off properly 

on Saturday morning with 75 junior players and over 20 volunteers arriving 

bright and early. Players of all skill levels were welcome, with some 

beginners getting in a Polo Kayak for their first time. With brilliant weather 

all day, the sun cream was out and everyone spent most of the day on the 

water. But first things first, everyone got warmed up on the land, with a 

series of games and drills. 

For our beginners, coaches were on hand to explain the basics, get them in 

the water and be there if they fell in. Over the course of the day players got 

more courageous and took part in a “Chariot Race” with players standing 

up, and paddling while their team-mates held two boats together to make 

a raft. 

More experienced players were divided into Under 14 and Under 18 

groups, and spent the first day doing drills, learning new tactics and of 

course some matches. 

Rolling clinic 

The hand-roll is an important skill to learn in canoe polo and vital if your 

opponent pushes you over during a game. A special ‘rolling clinic’ ran for 

most of the day with coach Michelle Power and a fleet of volunteers 

showing our younger players how to roll, with some one on one teaching. 

By the end of the day we noticed a good number of players going over 

“accidentally on purpose” to show off their improved skills. 

And now for something… completely different 

After a day of learning it was time for some wacky races on the water. First 

up was a Dogs-on-Kayaks race between Mullingar dog “Barney” and 

Kilcock’s “Heidi” who sat on top of their owners kayaks for the 50 meter 

race cheered on by a large crowd. The rules went out the window half way 

through the race, with Barney having a go at pushing Heidi off her Kayak. 

Those Mullingar dogs are tough! Despite that, victory was Heidi’s as she edged ahead in the last 

few meters for the win. 

Following that there was a Polo skills and obstacles relay race involving two teams of 15 paddlers 

who had to complete a 60m circuit that involved demonstrating many of the key skills required to 

play polo. Each player in the relay had to complete a series of 360 degree turns, paddle-dribbling 

the ball, taking shots on goal, hand-rolling and a fair amount of cheating ! 

After a long day we had the Overload Big Barbecue with over 100 players, coaches, volunteers and 

parents tucking in. A few enthusiastic players hit the water again for an evening game or two, but 

for most, it was a time to relax. Tents were pitched and we all settled down for the night to catch up 

and get ready for the next day. 

Day 2 – putting it all into practice 

As the sun came up on day 2, our players got back in action. After a warm up, some groups headed 

to the water straight away, while others participated in an indoor tactics session, using whiteboard 

and video to go through some new offensive and defensive moves. 

The scorching weather continued and the rest of the day was spent doing drills and putting the 

new things learned the day before into practice. 

Towards the end of the day our Under 18s group put on a couple of demonstration games for 

younger players, while they were having their lunch. And it was hard to tell who was more 

competitive, the young players or the coaches - Reno Rimvydas Insoda and Conor Lane. 

The day wrapped up with players from all groups forming a big circle on the water and doing a 

Mexican Wave Roll, with everyone taking it in turn to roll over (and hopefully come back up!) one 

after another - quite the spectacle. 

It's a wrap. 

At the end of the weekend, the harbour was spotless with our players and parents all mucking in 

the tear down the marquee and tidy up everything in record time. Thanks to NCPC, Cavan and 

Kilcock for the lend of so much gear and to Mullingar’s emerging canoe polo club for hosting us. 

Mostly though thanks to the team of volunteers that helped make it all work and the players for 

being such good sports all weekend. 

Bye for now Mullingar, We’ll be back. 

Overload 2019 will be on 17th and 18th August, 2019 - put it in your diary ! 

2019 CANOE POLO 

JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT 

PROGRAMME 

2019 will be a big year for Junior Canoe 

Polo as we focus on developing our 

existing players and getting new 

beginners into our exciting team-sport. 

The Junior Development Days will 

resume in March with a series of 

monthly development days. We plan to 

extend the programme further and 

involve even more beginners. If you or 

your club or school would like to get 

involved in these days, please email 

develop@canoepolo.ie 

Start ! - a one-day open-day in May 

2019 for young beginners with little or 

no kayaking skills looking to try out 

Canoe Polo. 

Belfast Kayak Academy are running the 

second Junior International Canoe 

Polo Championships between 31st July 

and 4th August. This builds on their 

2017 world class competition and will 

see 50 teams from 18 countries come 

to Belfast to compete at Under 15, 

Under 18 and Under 21 level. 

National Competitions. There will be 

national Junior Competitions in Kilcock 

and Belfast and building on the success 

of last years Canoe Polo Irish Open, we 

will once again have an Under 14 

division at the Irish Open. (Competition 

dates will will be announced in January) 

Overload 2019 will return on 17th and 

18th August to Mullingar Harbour. The 

event brings together Junior players 

aged 8 to 18 from all around the island 

for a weekend of learning and fun. 

Coaching and Education - As we grow 

we need more volunteers, We are 

planning Coaching and First Aid 

programme for young (and not so 

young) coaches looking to get involved 

in the sport. 

Exciting times ahead ! 

16 

17

WHITEWATER 

KAYAKING IN THE 

ALTAI 

MOUNTAINS 

Frank Carr 

Planning a kayaking trip is a very exciting time 

The first thing most people ask when I mention 

we were kayaking in Siberia is “Was it cold?” 

truth be told before going on this trip I would 

have asked the same question, but it turns out 

that Siberia is a vast and varied landscape 

with a multitude of rivers to be explored, and 

no, it wasn’t cold! 

The idea of a kayaking trip to Russia first 

surfaced in early 2017, at the time I made 

preliminary enquiries into a trip to the Sayan 

mountains but it didn’t pan out and instead a 

trip to the Austrian and Swiss Alps took its 

place, but a few months later a friend told me 

about an old guidebook that was worth a read 

“Rivers of an Unknown Land: A Whitewater 

Guide to the Former Soviet Union”. I ordered 

the book and even though it was nearly twenty 

years old it was great, filled with pictures and 

stories of whitewater pioneers exploring 

massive rivers in homemade equipment. In 

early 2018 I mentioned the idea of a trip to 

Russia amongst my paddling friends to see if 

there was any interest, and happily John, 

Laura and Ultan were onboard, we could start 

to plan a trip. 

Initially we revived the idea of a trip to the 

Sayan mountains with Two Blades Adventures, 

as this was the one I had enquired about the 

year before, but we decided this trip wasn’t for 

us and that an alternative trip to the Altai 

Mountains in Southern Siberia sounded more 

appealing. This was to be a two week road trip 

taking in some of the classic rivers of the 

region while also allowing us to get to see 

some of the country. We started making 

preparations - applied for our Russian Visas 

and started pricing flights, but then Egor from 

Two Blades had bad news for us, his friend and 

business partner Tomass who was to lead the 

trip would not be able to make it. We were 

disappointed and about to make other plans, 

but as a long shot Ultan enquired if Egor knew 

anyone else that could lead the trip. We waited 

and after a few days Egor came back to us with 

good news, one of his friends had just started 

his own rafting business and was willing to 

take us. We were delighted, the trip was back 

on. 

With a guide now secured and visa 

applications underway we decided to book 

flights. We were trying to keep our costs down 

so we found a package deal with an online 

agent that would fly from Dublin to London, 

London Moscow and from Moscow on to 

Novosibirsk the capital of Siberia and the third 

largest city in Russia. Having travelled many 

times with our kayaks on many different 

airlines without any major hassles we were 

then shocked to discover that British Airways 

our carrier for the Dublin to London leg of our 

trip DO NOT TAKE KAYAKS. It turned out that 

this was nonnegotiable and that our flights 

were nonrefundable! It was mad to think that 

flying our kayaks from London to Siberia was 

18 

19

no problem but Dublin to London was a 

non-runner! We wracked our brains to find a 

solution - we asked if we could get a different 

flight to London, but no our tickets for the 

other flights would be null and void, we 

checked if freight companies would ship them 

but they wouldn’t, we even considered the 

possibility of buying kayaks in London and 

having them shipped to the Airport. But just 

when it appeared our only option would be to 

book new flights and make it a very costly trip, 

Egor came good for us once again! Even 

though they don’t normally hire kayaks he had 

managed to find some friends that were willing 

to rent us their boats. At last, everything was in 

place. 

The journey from Dublin to Novosibirsk was 

actually pretty painless and we arrived into the 

city’s main airport in the early hours of Sunday 

morning. We collected our luggage from the 

baggage hall but there was no sign of our 

paddles. We weren’t having much luck at the 

lost luggage desk as they had no English and 

we had no Russian. While we waited around 

hoping our paddles would materialise our 

Russian guide Kirill arrived, after we had made 

our introductions he enquired as to the 

whereabouts of our paddles. It turned out that 

our paddles were lost and they couldn’t find 

them on the system so they didn’t know when 

they would arrive. Kirill explained that we would 

need to get moving as we had a very long drive 

ahead of us and that he would try to borrow 

some paddles for us and hopefully our own 

paddles would turn up in the meantime. 

On leaving the Airport we met our driver Alexey, 

a friend of Kirill’s who had pretty much no 

English but turned out to be a really nice guy 

and a great driver. Novosibirsk is the capital of 

Siberia but it is still a 12 hour drive to the Altai 

Mountains. On the way we stopped in Krill’s 

hometown of Barnaul to borrow some paddles, 

and later we picked up some beer for the 

journey which really lifted our spirits after a 

long journey. 

Late that evening we finally arrived at the put 

in of our first river and made camp, the next 

morning we had a quick breakfast and readied 

our gear. 

Our warmup run was the Ursal, a lovely III+ river 

in a beautiful canyon that reminded me of the 

“Playrun” on the Sjoa in Norway. It was all read 

and run with loads of fun moves to make, we 

enjoyed it so much that we all jumped on the 

chance to paddle it a second time. 

When we set off on yet another long drive to 

the next river it became apparent just how vast 

this region was, and long drives on 

mountainous roads would become the norm 

on our trip, but the scenery was amazing and 

the landscape was always changing. When we 

arrived at our next river the Chuya we bought 

supplies in a local village and set up camp. The 

next morning we paddled an easy but fun 

section of big volume grade III. Once on the 

river we found that the air was filled with flies, 

they would get in your mouth, your ears, and 

your eyes. It got so bad that we eventually 

resorted to paddling the river backwards, 

including some of the rapids. This certainly 

made this section more challenging! 

After we had finished this section we went to 

take a look at the infamous Mazhoy Gorge, 

this is a grade V+ section where the finals of 

the King of Asia race are held. We hiked down 

to river level to take a closer look at the huge 

big volume rapids confined in this steep gorge. 

This is one of the toughest single day runs in 

Siberia and an impressive sight to behold. 

We camped beside the Chuya again that night 

and early next morning we set off for the 

famous Bashkaus River that has featured in 

many kayaking videos. This was a river I was 

really looking forward to paddling and it has 

many sections, including some of the most 

difficult whitewater in Russia. We arrived that 

evening and camped in a beautiful spot beside 

the river, sharing our campsite with the 

famous Swiss paddling family the Lammlers 

who were also touring around the region. Next 

morning we drove upstream to the section 

that we would paddle the beautiful Sarantansky Canyon, a really nice 

grade III/IV+ section with technical rapids in a tight canyon, a few of the 

rapids needed scouting before we ran them. A great section of river in a 

beautiful setting that we would return to later in the trip. 

Our next destination was to the Chulyshman Valley, this was the most 

remote river on the trip, so we stopped en route to pick up enough food 

and beer to last us the four days we would be there. This was another 

long drive and the road that descends into the valley is the steepest I 

have seen, so much so that we had to stop half way down to let the 

brakes on the van cool down after seizing up on the descent. Once on 

the valley floor we set up camp and hiked upstream to check out a steep 

creek called the Kurkure that runs into the Chulyshman. We only 

brought two boats with us as the hike was over 6km up the side of a 

mountain and the temperature was in the thirties. The Kurkure was a 

grade IV/V creek that culminated in a 30ft waterfall directly above a 

60ft un-runnable fall. We were exhausted and dehydrated after the hike 

and none of us fancied running the river, so we set safety for Kirill who 

hopped in his boat and made it look easy. He told us that many people 

had swam over the waterfall before and it was no problem, the Russians 

are tough! 

The following morning we set off down the Chulyshman, this was the 

toughest stretch of river we would paddle. It was big water paddling with 

some difficult grade IV+ rapids with must make lines. We were making 

good progress, but then at one rapid we hadn’t scouted two of our group 

ended up swimming in the same hole! We lost a paddle so one of us had 

to wait for Alexei while the rest of us continued down river. The rapids 

became less technical but longer and eventually the river eased off. 

Along the way we met a group of Russian rafters and luckily they had 

found our missing paddle. We thanked the rafters with a bottle of vodka 

which was gratefully received and finished the river without incident. 

Kirill had booked us into a campsite for the night with a traditional banya 

or sauna, it made a welcome change from bathing in the icy rivers. 

The next day we took a break from paddling and hiked for several hours 

up the Chul’cha valley to see the Urchar waterfall. The Chul’cha river is 

also an amazing whitewater river with long continuous sections of grade 

V+/VI. After walking for about three hours we reached the waterfall, at 

160m it is the highest in the Altai region and a very impressive sight. It is 

also a very new waterfall formed by an earthquake just 150 years ago. We 

left the valley before breakfast the next morning and walked up the 

steep road, Alexey figured that with less weight onboard, fewer cars to 

meet, and cooler temperatures his van would stand a better chance of 

making it out of the valley. 

In the following days we would paddle the Bashkaus again and also the 

middle and lower sections of the Chuya, the latter had some big rapids 

and included the boater-x section of the King of Asia race. 

Our trip would finish on the Katun River, the largest river in the Altai 

region and at over 600 M/3 an absolutely massive river. This was also to 

be our only multi-day of the trip. We set up camp on a sandy beach by the 

river and even though it rained through the night it would make little 

difference to the level of this huge river. The next morning we packed our 

boats with food and gear and set off. The rapids on this river were 

enormous, it had long wave trains with waves of up to 2.5 metres, 

massive holes to dodge and the odd whirlpool to keep you on your toes. 

After a long day on the water we found a nice beach to make camp with 

plenty of firewood. We set up our tarps and cooked a meal over the fire 

for the last time. We had brought some vodka with us to share and once 

this was gone we settled down for the night. The next morning the river 

flattened out but we still had a couple of big rapids to run before our 

journey came to an end. 

All that was left was the long drive back to Novosibirsk, when we arrived 

at the airport we were finally reunited with our paddles! 

Our trip to the Altai Mountains was a great adventure, the area has an 

amazing variety of world class whitewater and there are rivers there for 

all abilities. Special thanks to Egor Voskoboynikov from Two Blades 

Adventures for organising the trip, and really going out of his way to help 

us, thanks to Kirill Kosogorov for guiding us on, and off the water, and 

also thanks to Alexey for driving us for many many hours 

Link to video from the trip - https://vimeo.com/282233033. 

20 

21

CLUB SPOTLIGHT 

INNY KAYAK 

CLUB 

club meets every Sunday morning and a couple of evenings 

per week when daylight permits. Trips away are plenty and we 

also run a weeklong trip to Europe every year. Italy was the 

destination this year with previous trips taking us to both 

France and Slovenia on several occasions. 

The club has forged close relationships with the Local Sports 

Partnerships and through the involvement with the LSPs, 

Canoeing Ireland and Waterways Ireland we are delighted to 

have put over 250 people through Level 1 and Level 2 skills 

this year. Programmes such as “Paddles Up” for transition 

year students, Woman on the Water and the Blueway 

Challenge were all fantastic initiatives which we were proud 

to be part of. Hopefully 2019 will see a continuation and 

expansion of these programmes. 

www.innykayakclub.com innykayakers@gmail.com Inny Kayaker 

CANOEING IRELAND 

INAUGURAL AWARDS GALA 

The Inny Kayak club was founded in 1992 as a “roof rack” club based in Ballymahon, 

Co Longford. It developed from the old Longford Kayak Club when membership 

declined to such an extent that it could no longer function effectively as a club. 

This led to the setting up of the present club by a couple of dedicated paddlers 

who were looking to continue paddling in the Midlands area. A concerted effort 

was made by everyone involved to increase membership and before too long we 

had 20 -25 paddlers travelling the length and breath of the country in search of 

white-water. 

The club continued to grow and expand right through-out the 90’s and into the 

2000’s and like so many clubs throughout the country always aspired to building 

their own clubhouse one day. In 2007 two members of our committee met with 

Longford County Council who agreed to lease to the club a piece of land adjacent 

to the River Inny. After securing a Sports Capital grant of €66,000 and some 

intense fundraising of nearly €40,000 we broke ground on our new clubhouse in 

2008. Today we have our very own Clubhouse equipped with changing rooms, 

showers, meeting room, kitchen and store room. Having such a fantastic facility 

now lets us run all our training courses inhouse, it also enables us to host visiting 

clubs, whether it’s for a day’s paddling, a Slalom or Wildwater racing event, our door 

is always open. 

Members come from a large catchment area in and around the Midlands and 

membership is open to everyone aged 10 and over. The Club runs several 

beginner’s courses throughout the year where we take total beginners up to Level 

2 Kayaking Skills before letting them loose on the river. Over the last number of 

years with help from Sports Capital and Local Sports Partnership grants we have 

amassed a large fleet of modern Kayaks and Gear that members and beginners 

can avail of as part of their annual membership. 

The Inny provides a 4km stretch of prime paddling real estate with Grade 2 rapids 

containing some pour-overs, stoppers, holes and standing waves. It is the only 

stretch of water of this type in the Midlands and generally runs 52 weeks of the 

year. It provides the perfect training ground for beginners and experienced 

paddlers alike. The run finishes at our clubhouse in Ballymahon and there’s 

nothing better than hopping off the water, straight into a hot shower and then a 

coffee in the kitchen where invariably the talk turns to kayaking and trips away. The 

22 

Canoeing Ireland are delighted to announce that our Inaugural Awards Gala will take place on the 26th 

January 2019 at the Lucan Spa Hotel, Co. Dublin. The awards will recognise the amazing work done by clubs, 

volunteers and athletes throughout the year of 2018. All nomination queries can be sent to 

canoeingirelandgala@gmail.com 

The deadline for nominations is 23rd December 2018 Tickets can be purchased here 

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/inaugural-canoeing-ireland-awards-gala-tickets-53152327041?fbclid=IwAR1D 

cjqKVqLGWZrfzWAk7iGCPtCINzrlELblMVYmgncb9AiFyJRwk0FDl8E 

The awards categories are as follows; 

Club Volunteer of the Year 2018 

The volunteer of the year can be anyone 

within a club environment, an ordinary 

member, a coach, an assistant, a parent, a 

supporter. This award recognises volunteers 

for their outstanding contributions to canoeing 

and kayaking activities at Canoeing 

Ireland member clubs. The contribution can 

be related to activities by the candidate over a 

period of years or to a specific event or 

program during a particular year. The award 

cannot be awarded to a current employee of 

Canoeing Ireland. 

A panel of independent adjudicators will 

decide the winner of this award. 

Athlete of the Year 2018 

Each of the 7 competitive disciplines will have 

the following categories; 

Best Senior Male 

Best Senior Female 

Best Junior Male 

Best Junior Female 

The athlete of the year award will be based on 

results and performances of 2018. Nominees 

will only be accepted from the discipline 

committees and/or national coach. 

Community Impact Award 

This is based on the give back to the local 

community from a Canoeing Ireland club. 

Example – Charity event for a local good 

cause, participation programmes for 

disadvantaged areas, inclusion programmes. 

Clubs can nominate themselves, they will 

have to make their case. 

The Board of Canoeing Ireland will adjudicate 

on this award 

Best Event of 2018 

Every Canoeing Ireland member is free to 

nominate a canoeing/kayaking event. 

23 

Members are asked to nominate their favourite 

event of 2018! 

This award will be decided on via an online 

public poll 

Best Team of 2018 (Perpetual Award) 

Dedicated to our team sports; This award 

recognises outstanding achievements made 

by our teams. Club teams and/or national 

teams can be included in the nominations. 

One team will be selected based on their 

achievements of 2018. 

This award will be adjudicated on by the HP 

Unit of Canoeing Ireland.

RESULTS ROUND UP 

Discipline Event Category Result Athlete Location 

Canoepolo World Championships U21M 13 U21 Mens Team Canada 

Wildwater Classic Junior Europeans Junior M 1 Darragh Clarke - 

Wildwater Sprint Junior Europeans Junior M - Darragh Clarke - 

Freestyle Euros K1M 8 Thomas Dunphy Cunovo 

Freestyle Euros K1M 12 David McClure Cunovo 

Canoeslalom Junior Euros & U23 U23 JMC1 26 Jake Cochrane Ivrea, Italy 

Canoeslalom Junior Euros & U24 U23 JMC1 40 Robert Hendrick Ivrea, Italy 

Canoeslalom Junior Euros & U25 U23 K1M 39 Caoimhe O’Ferrall Ivrea, Italy 

Canoeslalom Junior Euros & U26 U23 K1M 43 Noel Hendrick Ivrea, Italy 

Canoeslalom Junior Euros & U27 U23 K1M 48 Eoin Teague Ivrea, Italy 

Canoeslalom Junior Euros & U28 U23 K1M 71 Alistair McCreery Ivrea, Italy 

Canoeslalom Junior Euros & U29 J K1M 56 Louis Hannon Ivrea, Italy 

Canoeslalom Junior Euros & U30 J K1M 61 Tom Morley Ivrea, Italy 

Marathon Masters Worlds K1M 50-54 9 Deaglan O'Drisceoil Prado Vila Verde 

Marathon Masters Worlds K1M 55-59 7 Malcom Banks Prado Vila Verde 

Marathon Masters Worlds K1M 35-39 15 Dave MCDonnell Prado Vila Verde 

Marathon Masters Worlds K1M 50-54 21 Eddie Martin Prado Vila Verde 

Marathon Masters Worlds K1M 50-54 18 Jim Morrissey Prado Vila Verde 

Marathon Masters Worlds K1M 65-69 26 Paul Murphy Prado Vila Verde 

Marathon Masters Worlds K1M 45-49 14 Declan Halton Prado Vila Verde 

great gifts 

Marathon World Championships K1JM 2 Ronan Foley Prado Vila Verde 

Marathon World Championships K2JM 10 Ronan Foley & Matthew McCartney Prado Vila Verde 

Marathon World Championships K1JW 23 Kate McCarthy Prado Vila Verde 

Marathon World Championships K1W 5 Jenny Egan Prado Vila Verde 

Marathon World Championships K1M 12 Barry Watkins Prado Vila Verde 

Marathon World Championships K1M 24 Jon Simmons Prado Vila Verde 

Canoeslalom World Cup 5 C1 M 21 Liam Jegou Le Seu, Spain 

Canoeslalom World Cup 5 C1 M 55 Robert Hendrick Le Seu, Spain 

Canoeslalom World Cup 5 C1 M 57 Jake Cochrane Le Seu, Spain 

Canoeslalom World Cup 5 C1W 52 Caoimhe O'Ferrall Le Seu, Spain 

Canoeslalom World Cup 5 K1M 61 Eoin Teague Le Seu, Spain 

Canoeslalom World Cup 5 K1M 64 Alistair McCreery Le Seu, Spain 

Canoeslalom World Cup 5 K1M 73 Sam Curtis Le Seu, Spain 

Canoeslalom World Cup 5 K1W 50 Hannah Craig Le Seu, Spain 

Canoeslalom World Cup 5 K1W 57 Aisling Conlan Le Seu, Spain 

Canoesprint World Championships K1 5000m 3 Jenny Egan Montemor O Velho 

Canoesprint World Championships K1 500m semi final Montemor O Velho 

christmas 2018 

greatoutdoors.ie 

Visit us in store to see our 

huge range of gift ideas! 

Chatham Street, Dublin 2 

Paracanoe World Championships Kl3 200m 8 Pat O' Leary Montemor O Velho 

Paracanoe World Championships VL3 200m 10 Pat O' Leary Montemor O Velho 

Canoeslalom World Championships C1M 24 Liam Jegou Rio De Janeiro 

Canoeslalom World Championships C1M 42 Jake Cochrane Rio De Janeiro 

Canoeslalom World Championships K1M 57 Alistair McCreery Rio De Janeiro 

Canoeslalom World Championships K1M 59 Cade Ryan Rio De Janeiro 

24

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