FlowState Issue 5

CANOEING IRELAND’S FIRST L2 COACHES QUALIFY
MARATHON WORLD CUP • JUNIOR LIFFEY DESCENT
IRISH CANOE SLALOM TEAM FOR 2019 ANNOUNCED • LAOIS KAYAK & CANOE CLUB - SPOTLIGHT
FLOW
ISSUE #5 JUNE 2019
the official magazine of
MATTHEW
McCARTNEY
on fire in Norway at
Marathon World Cup
Jenny Egan great start to Sprint
season with silver and bronze medals

A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD
Welcome to the fifth edition of Flowstate showcasing the best of Irish paddlesport.
The Board would firstly like to thank members who attended the 58th Annual General
Meeting of Canoeing Ireland which took place on Sunday the 19th May 2019 at Sport HQ,
Abbottstown. The meeting was well attended with club representations from across the
country. Proceedings were positive with active engagement throughout from members and
Board. The 2018 audited accounts were approved following the Board report which provided
a strategic overview of activities throughout the year.
The meeting was a poignant one as Paul Donnelly concluded his term as President of the
organisation. Paul through his wealth of knowledge executed his duties with energy, passion
and integrity. The members gave Paul a hearty round of applause as he signed off for the
last time as President. Canoeing Ireland would like to recognise Paul’s leadership and
guidance during his term and we wish him well. Brian Ogilvie succeeds Paul as President.
Newly elected to the Board are Lynda Byron and Luke Logan as Executive Member and
Non-Olympic Representative respectively. Aisling Conlan was re-elected as Honorary
Treasurer along with Leigh Blackmore as Executive Member. Bryan Fennell stays as Leinster
Representative. Ciaran Farrell was thanked for his contribution to the Board during his term
as Olympic Representative.
The 58th AGM concluded after an insightful presentation from Canoeing Ireland’s
insurance providers, O’Driscoll & O’Neil. This provided members with useful and new
information on the extent of the insurance cover that a Canoeing Ireland member receives.
The meeting closed with agreement on a positive future ahead.
As we commence a new term, we are committed as a Board to continuous improvement and
making Canoeing Ireland a National Governing Body which members and stakeholders can
be proud of. The focus for the rest of 2019 remains on growing the organization through a
three-pronged approach of enhancing Clubs, building Collaborations and enabling
Competitors in line with the strategic plan 2017-2020. This will be done in a transparent and
consultative process and we would ask that members and clubs engage and contribute
their opinions to these initiatives. We are seeing positive change with good progress being
acknowledged through additional funding following the implementation of
additional resources and restructuring.
The Board would like to commend all the athletes and their
supporters who are competing, training and paddling all over
the world. Some great results and moments have been
accomplished so far this year and we’re sure that there are
many more achievements to come.
B Oе
PRESIDENT
CONTENTS
ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT
Junior Athlete Profile - Matthew McCartney 4
Senior Athlete Profile - Caoimhe O’Ferrall 6
Jenny Egan - Competition off to a Flying Start 7
PADDLING NEWS
Canoe Marathon World Cup - Trip Report 8
Peruvian Lefts - The Journey from Portrush to Peru 10
Irish Canoe Slalom Performance Team 2019 15
Junior Liffey Descent Report 22
Irish Canoe Polo Team Win at Hull 23
THE MORE YOU KNOW
Surfer’s (Kayaker’s) Ear 12
Launch! Watersports Inclusion Games 2019 14
Canoeing Ireland’s First L2 Coaches Qualify 18
Canoeing Ireland’s First Athlete’s Conference 19
Interview with Jon Mackey - High Performance Director 20
FLOWSTATE FOCUS
Devizes to Westminster - Two Men and a Boat 16
Club Spotlight - Laois Kayak & Canoe Club 24
ON THE COVER: Spotlight on Matthew McCartney - Full story on pg4
Photo credit: Mick Feeney
2
3

JUNIOR ATHLETE PROFILE
NAME: MATTHEW McCARTNEY
CLUB:
CELBRIDGE
DISCIPLINE: CANOE MARATHON
Photography: Mick Feeney
Matthew, massive congratulations on your recent World Cup success.
We’ve been following your achievements from home and you can be assured
that the entire paddle-sport community in Ireland was very proud of you,
how do you feel now that the dust has settled?
Thanks a million, I'm delighted. If you told me last year that I would be on the
podium with two bronze medals at the World Cup in Norway, I wouldn't have
believed you. It really is a crazy feeling knowing that you’re up there with some
very talented paddlers.
Such an achievement doesn’t come easy, tell us a little bit about your
preparations for the event.
Tell us a little bit about your training
schedule at the moment.
I paddle most mornings at 6:30am with my
coach Neil Fleming and my friend/training
partner Alex O’Brien. On Weekday evenings
we train at 7:00pm, either on the water or in
the gym. On Thursdays I go to the Salmon
Leap 10k events that run through the summer
months which I would highly recommend to
any standard of paddler in search of a good
group session. At the weekend we train at
9:00am often paddling a good 20k from
Ardclough to Sallins and back on a Sunday.
What are your interests outside of racing?
I enjoy long distance running and take part in
local and school competitions from time to
time, I am also part of my school cross country
team at Salesians College Celbridge. I enjoy
the Outdoors in general and love spending
time with my friends outside at the local park,
Castletown.
Which current international sporting
athlete inspires you the most and why?
I have to say the one current international
athlete that has really inspired me is Ronan
Foley. Ronan is an exceptional paddler with a
fantastically tactical mind as well as an
outstanding physical and mental endurance.
It was an absolute pleasure paddling
alongside him and paddling K2 together.
Viewing and being present at Ronan’s
international achievements last year really
broke down a mental barrier for me that
international medals were a far off and
impossible thing to achieve. Ronan has been
hugely inspiring character to me and should
be an inspiration to any aspiring athletes
inside and outside of canoeing.
that I will go to China for World Marathon
Championships. I also hope to compete in my
very first Liffey Decent this year as I was
unable to compete the last couple of years for
various reasons.
What is the best sporting advice you have
received?
Move the legs...
What are your future goals for you and
Marathon racing?
As it is my last year as a Junior, I really would
love to make the modt of it before I age out. It
would be amazing if I could get another
international medal before the end of the year.
How do you wind down after a solid days
training or competing?
The first thing on my mind after a race is
always food. I eat as soon as I can and as
much as I can following a race. After, I
take a hot shower and grab a quick nap
while listening to some tunes before
getting on with my normal day.
Sometimes I find getting your
schoolwork done after a race
really snaps you back to
reality from the canoeing
life mindset. If it was a
particularly tiring day I
like to go out with my
friends and relax.
If you could offer advice to young aspiring
flat water paddlers reading this, what would
you tell them?
My main pieces of advice would be to not give
up on training and the sport and surround
yourself with good people. Its difficult to
motivate yourself to train when you are having
a dry spell and may not be winning any races
or not hitting any personal best times but it’s
those times in a person’s career where
champions are made, so don’t give up too
easy. Also, training with people you love, can
have a bit of fun with and support you is very
important. It motivates you and at the end of
the day, if you're not enjoying yourself, what's
the point.
There was some intense preparation for the World Cup. It's tough work and I
really couldn't have done it without my Dad guiding me and keeping me on the
rails the last couple of weeks. In the weeks leading to the competition, I really
had to buckle down and focus on my training. In those weeks every training
session is crucial and it's vital that you give it your all in every session. When in
preparation for competition you also have to be careful of what you’re eating,
that you’re eating enough and taking in enough fuel and staying away from
junk food with no nutritional value whatsoever. It's definitely a challenge as a
teenager, watching your friends stay out late, partying and eating what they
like but its important to keep your eye on the ball.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
I plan to compete at Nationals on the 22nd of
June in the next couple of weeks. I have also
made selection for the national Sprint team
so I will be travelling to Czech Republic for
European Sprint and shortly after that I will be
going to France for the European Marathon
Championships. Following that its a possibility
So how did a lad like you get involved with canoe marathon racing in the
first place?
Well canoeing has always been a big deal with my family. My Dad, Austin
McCartney, paddled Slalom in Lucan back in the 80s when he was my age.
When my parents moved to Celbridge he quickly joined Celbridge Paddlers
Canoe Club along the Grand Canal, so for as long as I can remember my family
has been paddling recreationally up at CPCC. It was only about four years ago
when we were on a family holiday in France that me and my older brother
James had experienced kayaking for the first time in years on a river trip in the
Ardeche. When we arrived home my brother began to train with a group of
Juniors in K1 at CPCC being trained by Graham Buggy and Ciaran Flemming. In
the following months I followed my brother into the sport and began training
consistently. It just became such an average and daily part of my life that I
never stopped. I always feel grateful that I'm in such a canoeing orientated
family and that they understand the sport and support my athletic career.
4 5

SENIOR ATHLETE PROFILE
JENNY EGAN
NAME:
DISCIPLINE:
CAOIMHE O’FERRALL
CANOE SLALOM
COMPETITION SEASON OFF TO FLYING START
Egan wins Silver and Bronze medals at the International
Canoe Federation Senior Canoe Sprint World Cup Series
2019.
Jenny Egan of Salmon Leap Canoe Club, Leixlip, started her
competition season off on the right foot winning a silver medal
in the K1 5000m race at the ICF Senior Canoe Sprint World
Cup 1 in Poznan, Poland on Sunday the 25th of May 2019, and
a bronze medal in the K1 5000m race at the ICF Senior Canoe
Sprint World Cup 2 in Duisburg, German on Sunday the 2nd of
June, 2019.
When did you start paddling?
I started paddling when I was 7 years old doing
canoe polo in Kilcock canoe polo club with my
brothers and my mother. I started paddling
canoe slalom when I was around 14 years old.
How did you get involved with Canoe
Slalom?
I got involved with canoe slalom when my
brothers dragged me along to Wednesday
night slalom sessions at wild water kayak club.
But the first time my brothers and I tried
canoe slalom was at Paddle Fest. A great
event were kids can try out every discipline of
canoeing. My brothers got hooked to it.
What are your achievements to date?
I have been the top C1 Woman in Ireland for
the past 4 Years. I have multiple medals from
ECA races across Europe in U18’s. I was
Alsace Regional Champion in France in 2017.
What are your interests outside of Canoe
Slalom?
Outside of canoeing I do art, biking, running,
reading, horse riding the list goes on and on. I
like to keep busy but rest too so Netflix and
Amazon are some of my best friends.
Which sporting athlete inspires you the
most and why?
To me a lot of athletes inspire me. It is not just
one. All athletes have something about them
that inspires you being it the manner, the
approach to training, their attention to
details in training the list goes on. It
doesn’t matter what sport they do, it is
all very similar in the end of the day.
What is your current training schedule?
At the moment I am racing so the quantity of
sessions have decreased and you need to
stayed well rested for race day. Saying that we
still do two sessions a day and one can be very
physical and the other is normally a lighter
session.
What is the best coaching advice you have
received?
Every session, race run can’t be perfect, so
you got to be able to except in a run when a
gate is to you only 7/8 out of ten and keep
paddling as you never know what the time will
be at the end or how other people’s runs have
gone.
What are your future goals for you and
Canoe Slalom?
Try to race in the Olympics and become one of
the best C1 women in the world.
How do you wind down after a solid days
training or competing?
I like to go for walks and listen to music.
Sometimes a movie and stretching.
If you could offer advice to young aspiring
Canoe Slalom paddlers reading this, what
would you tell them?
You can’t become the best in a year it takes
years to become the best slalom paddler in
the world. But if you are patient and take the
ups and downs of racing and training some
day you will be.
The course for both World Cups was one long lap of 2000m and
four short laps of 750m. However, World Cup 1 also incorporated
two portages on the first and second laps. At World Cup 1, the
conditions were very challenging with strong winds and waves.
Egan and Inna Hryshchun of the Ukraine broke away from the
main group of competitors after the first portage. The two
athletes stayed away from the rest of the field for the remainder
of the race with the gold and silver medals being decided in a
sprint finish for the line with Hryshchun just pipping Egan by
just over half a second for the gold medal. The Slovakian
Mariana Petrusova crossed the line in the bronze medal
position.
Egan said "I was delighted to win silver, it was the first time I
have been on the podium in Poznan. Of course I would have
loved to have won gold, but I was happy with how I raced. I love
these moments, winning medals and being on the podium. The
conditions were very tough, it was very windy and wavy and you
had to be very careful at the turning points because the waves
were coming at you sideways".
The following weekend Egan competed in World Cup 2 in
Duisburg, Germany. Egan won a second World Cup medal within
the space of a week winning a bronze medal in the K1 5000m.
Egan fought all the way to the finish line to claim the bronze
medal behind Alyce Burnett and Alyssa Bull of Australia. Egan
got a good start and positioned herself in the lead group by the
top turn at the 1000m mark. It was difficult racing conditions
with a temperature of 31 degrees C and a strong headwind off
the start line. After the top turn Egan dropped slightly off the
leading group but worked hard to get back in contention when
the two Australians putting in another burn to try to put some
more distance between themselves and the chasing pack. Egan
was still in contention, and through to form caught the lead
group with 2km remaining in the race. The race for the medals
was all the way to the finish line with Alyce Burnett of Australia
winning the gold, Alyssa Bull also of Australia winning silver and
Egan winning bronze just ahead of the German Tabea Medert.
Egan was less than 2 seconds off the gold medal and it is the
first time Egan has broken 22 minutes clocking a time of 21
minutes 47.336 seconds which is another personal best time
for her for 5000m.
Egan said "I knew going into this race that it was going to be
very tough, as the field of 30 competitors on the start line and
all the top nations competing. At World Cups you are allowed to
have two athletes per nation per distance competing and I knew
that the two Australian girls would work together for the whole
race and would be the ones to beat. I am very happy with my
bronze medal in such a strong world class field of competitors".
6 7

SANDVIKA, BAERUM, NORWAY – TRIP REPORT
CANOE MARATHON WORLD CUP
Our small Irish team, comprised of junior athletes Alex O’Brien and Matthew McCartney, set off for
Norway early on a Tuesday afternoon.
Although racing wasn’t due to start until
Friday evening, we were keen to make an early
arrival - the race course, lying at the head of
the 50km long Oslofjord, is technically
seawater – a new experience for our paddlers
that would require practice time. Our
destination was the prosperous town of
Sandvika lying about 12km west of Oslo,
strung out along the edge of the sheltered
fjord, the shelter increased by a series of
near-shore islands running parallel to the
coastline. The mainland shore consists of a
broad, man-made peninsula. Overlooked by
mansions on the steep slopes above, its
foundations are constructed from the spoil of
a motorway tunnel through the nearby
mountains. It hosts two artificial beaches, a
10m diving platform, café, showers, football
pitches and park facility. The course runs in
the calm waters between the islands and
mainland, pinched into a double loop at the
waist by the span of a footbridge which
provides a view along the full length of the
course.
Across the footbridge, on the nature reserve
of Kalvøya island, sits Baerum Kayak Club.
The club has a long and distinguished history
and, as I sat on the dock waiting for Alex and
Matthew, I was approached by an older man
who enquired if I was here for the competition.
During the course of the conversation he
Author: Austin McCartney
confided that he didn’t paddle as much as he
used to: I asked if he had focused on marathon
or sprint, at which point he let slip that he had
won a gold medal at the 1968 Mexico Games.
Norwegian modesty. Ten minutes later I was
chatting with Per Blom, Olympian, and
luminary in Norwegian canoeing circles, who
reminisced about his stint as a medical
student in Dublin, and the good times he had
enjoyed at Salmon Leap in the early 1970’s.
He stressed to me that his wife, also an
Olympian, had been a far better paddler than
he was. More Norwegian modesty, but
Baerum KC definitely has pedigree.
We quickly settled into a pre-competition
rhythm of an early morning session, lunch at
Baerum KC, a nap back at the hotel, shopping
at Norway’s largest mall (right next to the
hotel), finishing with a late afternoon session
and dinner. Practise sessions focused on
learning the distances between key race
points and portaging.
Portages, portages, portages. At this level, a
less than perfect portage can lose you the
race. World Cup format includes two K1 races,
the short race of three 1.2 km laps separated
by two portages for a total of about 3.6km. The
long race, for juniors, is 6 larger laps, with a
portage after all but the first, followed by a
short lap for a total of 22.6km. To complicate
matters, it’s impossible to paddle full gas for
22km without exhausting the body’s energy supply – the
athletes need to feed, and the options are to carry a heavy
CamelBak the full distance or to re-supply on the run using
smaller, lighter, neck-slung feedbags at the portages – the
CamelBak is predictable but heavy, the feedbags lighter
but riskier. We were using feedbags, so we portaged both
sides, going both ways, feeding and not feeding, session
after session, until we knew it as well as we were ever going
to. As we practised, the tent village grew around us;
suddenly it began to feel like an international competition.
Friday arrived and, with it, the news that Junior Short
Course would progress to a direct final on Saturday
morning, skipping Friday’s heats – the guys had mixed
feelings about the delay, but it was a done deal.
Saturday: showtime for short course: we’re racing at 9:55
so it’s an early breakfast and we make the course for 7:45.
The guys are on the water for their wake-up session by 8am
– nothing too energetic yet. Off the water at 8:30, change,
boat numbers on, snack, change into racing gear, last
minute check of boats and numbers. Then the long wait
through raft marshalling – I sling their IDs around my neck
and they’re off for their final warm up. The start itself is
furious – everyone out there knows that a good start is half
the battle so they go off at a pace that wouldn’t disgrace a
200m in Nottingham. Matt is with the lead group, Alex
tucked into the group behind, keeping his cool despite it
being his first international. No problems on the portages.
Matt turns the last bend in a lead group of three, and he’s
closing in on second place, but he runs out of race – it’s a
bronze. Alex stays the course to finish mid-pack – quality
stuff in his first outing.
Saturday evening: we’re buzzing, but we settle down to
business – constructing feedbags, talking strategy. Alex
has a hitlist of guys he thinks he can beat - we look them up
and memorise their boat numbers. An early night.
Sunday: long course - Saturday worked well, so we
replicate the routine, but an hour earlier to account for
today’s 9am start. We fill the feedbags. The Danes arrive.
Our Australian tent-mate is nervous – he’s come a long way
for this, and he wants a top-10 finish. We’re all nervous.
Alex is prepared for the start-line mayhem and gets off
better this time. Matt starts well with the lead group.
Coming into the first portage Matt catches the nose of his
boat in the soft sand of the feed lane – and the Danes are
off; against this competition, you can expect to be
punished for every tiny mistake. Matt eventually catches
the Danish pair, towing a Hungarian but, during the ensuing
lap of cat and mouse, the Hungarian fades and the Danes
combine to drop Matt and the Hungarian. The Norwegian
and Swedish paddlers that placed first and second on
yesterday’s short course are closing in – Matt takes a quick
decision to go on his own. Meanwhile, slightly further back,
Alex is hanging in. The fast start has proven too much for
some, and there are a few DNFs. Alex is stalking his hitlist,
hanging washes and picking them off on the portages. It
takes nearly two hours, but it feels like two minutes: Matt
holds off the chasers and finishes alone, in bronze again,
about a minute adrift of the Danish pair, who have worked
together before duking it out on the final short lap. Alex has
been grinding down the opposition in mid-field and
improves his position to a very creditable 13th. Our
Australian friend finishes in 7th, and we all go home happy
men.
So, will the Norwegians run a successful World
Championships on this course in 2020? They’re probably
too modest to say so, but I think it’s going to be great.
8
9

PERUVIAN LEFTS
THE JOURNEY FROM PORTRUSH TO PERU.
On Friday the 19th of July the World Surf
kayaking championships will commence.
The competition will take place in north Peru in a
town called Huanchaco. 9,360 kilometres away
from home. The Irish team will catch 3 flights,
before they get their first glimpse of those
famous Peruvian lefts. At the minute in Peru
lowest temps are around 20 degrees in the water
and air temperature 22 degrees, so it may take
the team mates a few days to adjust.
Canoeing Ireland’s Paddlesurf team consists of
10 members who will compete in various
categories in the competition. These categories
are junior and senior, female and male, open,
masters and grand masters. There will be two
main boat categories during the event High
Performance (short boat) then international
class (long boats. The team are looking forward to
dipping their toes and paddling into the warm
waters of Peru having spent the last two years
since 2017's comp in baltic Portrush planning
and rigorously training for the event.
The event will attract the World’s top surf
kayakers from America, Argentina, Australia,
England, Denmark, Basque country and France
just to name a few. The competitors will go head
to head over seven days on the Punta
Huanchaco wave, this mellow breaking left will
provide enough length for the athletes to display
their skills. They will enjoy steep take offs along
the endless shoulder with a few punchy hooks to
really get them boats moving. Carving along the
wave, throwing in some dynamic turns and
cutbacks close to the breaking part of the wave
will allow competitors to score high on the
judging panel.
Unfortunately due to the competition taking
place on the other side of the world this year, a
number of our key players won't be attending, I
suppose this happens to teams every year and
after such a fantastic turnout for Ireland at
Portrush in 2019 we should be grateful, all the
same, these members will be sorely missed, we'll
try our best guys and bring home some medals for
the country!
Although we are missing some of our team, hope
is certainly not gone after all it is the Irish team
we are talking about, Ireland has many great left
breaking waves it will feel like home out there. The
only difference is for a lovely 7 days we will be
wearing our shades and working on our tans
rather than the usual wetsuits and still freeing
the extremities of ourselves.
Author: Jordan Collins
10

Kр’s
SURFER’S EAR
well as athlete’s attitudes towards preventative measures
such as wearing ear plugs. The ENT team held five “Surfer’s
Ear Clinics” which examined almost 100 cold water
athletes, concluding that 1 in 2 athletes had Surfer’s Ear. To
investigate this further, the team also launched an online
questionnaire which was shared nationally in association
with national sporting bodies including Canoeing Ireland.
Author: Dr Seamus Boyle ENT SpR and Rachel Keane Public Health Graduate
Ever have problems with your ears? 83% of Irish Kayakers in a recent study
by doctors at Sligo University Hospital have shown problems with their ears.
Whether you are running the Flesk in Kerry, looping at the Tuam, playing
polo in winter on the icy Royal Canal, racing Wildwater on the Avonmore,
or doing your marathon sessions on a cold windy Leixlip lake, if cold water
gets into your ears you are at risk of infection and long- term exostoses.
If this is you, you should really listen up…
Ever heard of Surfer’s Ear? Well it’s not just for surfers. In fact, all
cold-water athletes are at risk of developing the condition. Surfer’s Ear is
a medical condition clinically known as External Auditory Canal
Exostoses (EACE) or Exostoses, which is caused by repeated exposure to
cold water and wind.
Exostoses is formed in response to a continuous change of temperature
within the ear canal. As cold-water regularly swirls along the ear canal, the
body responds by warming the affected area, this also stimulates bone
producing cells within the ear canal, which cause the bone surrounding
the ear to develop a bony growth.
These benign bone growths can lead to infections, water trapping, hearing
loss and complete closure of the ear canal if left untreated. Interestingly,
water athletes are not the only mammals to develop auditory canal bone
growths, Surfer’s Ear has also been documented in the ear canals of
Hooded Seals.
Upon Irish waters: In recent years there has been a dramatic rise in people
taking part in paddling sports. Canoeing Ireland have reported an
increase in membership numbers by as much as 15% in the last five years
to 3432, yet many kayaking enthusiasts remain unaware of the condition.
Why is this important? Leading the project, Dr Seamus
Boyle of the ENT team explains “of the 150 kayakers
surveyed, 15 had a diagnosis of kayaker’s (Surfer’s) Ear. 4
kayakers have already had surgery to treat the condition”.
These findings are not alone. Two previous studies looked
into kayaker’s Ears and confirmed 70-79% had exostoses.
A previous study examining the ears of Irish surfers, 66%
had Surfer’s Ear, however, 88% were unaware. You could
have it, and you may not know!
So how do you protect your ears? Wear earplugs. The
advice couldn’t be simpler, this truly is a practical and
cost-effective way to reduce your risk of developing
exostoses. Hearing loss associated with wearing earplugs
was identified through our study as the main deterrent for
athletes across all sporting disciplines. However, modern
earplugs are not only discrete but also let sound in and
keep water out. On colder days, neoprene skull caps also
help prevent against the onset of exostoses.
Treatment for Surfer’s Ear: The best treatment for
exostoses is prevention. Gradual progression of the
condition may lead to symptoms of hearing loss or ear
fullness, in such cases, Surfer’s Ear is normally treated with
surgery. Dr Seamus Boyle explains “for the majority of
water athletes, prevention is enough, keeping the ears dry
is key”.
Become Aware: Following on from the study, the Surfer’s
Ear project team have developed and launched an
awareness video ‘Surfer’s Ear Clinic Ireland’ on YouTube.
The video complements the study’s public awareness
campaign which strives to inform and promote awareness
among all cold-water athletes. Dr Boyle adds “throughout
the summer months the low temperature of Irish waters
continues to pose a risk”, therefore, the ENT team at SUH
have identified the necessity to promote the use of ear
protection for all cold-water athletes.
EAR ADVICE!
If you are concerned about the
health of your own ears, attend
your GP. Remember, regardless
of your paddling discipline,
protect your ears and add ear
plugs to your equipment
checklist.
Listening to the sound of Irish waters: A team of consultants, doctors and
staff from the the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) department at Sligo
University Hospital (SUH) have conducted a yearlong project to examine
Irish cold-water athlete’s awareness and understanding of exostoses as
Acknowledgements: Mr Marcus Choo ENT Consultant, University Hospital Sligo ENT team , Vicki Guy of Canoeing Ireland, Aisling Griffin,
Sean and Kevin Cahill, Sean McIntyre, Mike Barry, Tom Brennan, Andrew Regan and Barry Loughnane of Galwayfest. Sligo, UCC,
UL Canoe Clubs.
12 13

LAUNCH!
WATERSPORTS INCLUSION
GAMES 2019
IRISH CANOE SLALOM
PERFORMANCE TEAM 2019
INTRODUCTION TO THE IRISH CANOE
SLALOM PERFORMANCE TEAM FOR 2019
2019 is a very important year for the canoe slalom
performance team because in September 2019, the
first of the Olympic qualifiers will take place in La Seu
d'Urgell in Spain at the Senior World Championships.
For these athletes , every day can be accounted for, eat ,
train, sleep , repeat is the mantra , training 2-3 times a day
when they are not racing with one rest day a week.
Hannah Craig, K1- Women, our 2012 Olympian in London
has seen many changes since her debut in London and
now is the mother of 2 young boys. She juggles family life
with training on a daily basis.
Caoimhe O’Ferrall
Jake Cochrane
CEO of Canoeing Ireland Moira Aston and CEO of Irish Sailing Harry Hermon pictured with 11 time sailing Paralympian John Twomey,
World Kayak medalist Oisin Feery, Paralympic sailor Georgina Griffin and Irish Sailing's Ciarán Murphy
Minister for State Jim Daly launches Watersports Inclusion Games 2019 in Kinsale with 11 time
Paralympian John Twomey and Bryan Dobson of RTÉ.
On Friday 17th May 2019, Minister for State at
the Department of Health Jim Daly launched
the Watersports Inclusion Games 2019 at
Kinsale Yacht Club. The event, set to take
place in Kinsale harbour and environs on
24thand 25thAugust, is a landmark event
celebrating watersports for people of all
abilities from the physical, sensory,
intellectual and learning spectrums, and of all
ages and demographics. The games were
launched with Bryan Dobson of RTE as
Master of Ceremonies together with Event
Ambassadors; 11 time Paralympian Sailor
John Twomey, World Para-Sailor Gina Griffin,
along with Special Olympian Kayaker Oisin
Feery.
Following the overwhelming success of the
event in Dun Laoghaire 2017 and Galway
2018 (scooping Project of the Year at the
2018 CARA National Inclusion Awards), this
year’s event, hosted by Kinsale Yacht Club,
will take place at several locations around
Kinsale including the main harbour and
marina, Castlepark beach and Garretstown
beach. There will be sailing, kayaking,
canoeing, rowing, surfing, water skiing and
fast boat rides on offer and 200+
participants are expected to take part across
the weekend.
This is a national event which aims to
showcase the best of Irish inclusive
watersports practice and facilitation, and is
organised by Irish Sailing in association with
Canoeing Ireland, Rowing Ireland and Cork
Local Sports Partnership along with Kinsale
Yacht Club Sailability and Kinsale Outdoor
Education Centre. The event is supported
with activities by Spinal Injuries Ireland, Irish
Waterski and Wakeboard Federation and Surf
2 Heal, in addition to those of the National
Governing Bodies involved. Offering further
support are numerous local and national
organisations including Sailing into Wellness,
Sail Training Ireland, Special Olympics
Ireland, and clubs and training centres from
around the country who will support the event
with resources, volunteers, instructors and
facilitators.
The games, as a landmark occasion rounding
up the summer watersports calendar, is the
product of ongoing inclusion trainings and
awareness drives being activated by the
organising bodies in line with Sport Ireland’s
Policy on Participation in sport by People
with Disabilities and are enabled by grant
funding from Sport Ireland Dormant Accounts
Sports Inclusion Fund.
Speaking at the launch, 11 time Paralympian
John Twomey said:
’I am delighted to be here to help launch the
third annual Watersports Inclusion Games. It
is events such as this that will help to inspire
people of all abilities to take part in
watersports activity and perhaps even one
day compete for Ireland in Paralympic sport.’
Harry Hermon, Chief Executive of Irish Sailing
spoke at the launch, stating:
‘Now in its third year, the Inclusion Games is
already becoming an annual landmark
occasion, celebrating inclusive watersports
activity. By raising national awareness of
inclusive opportunities, and encouraging
more watersports providers to adopt an
equal-access approach to watersports
delivery, we aim to perpetuate a culture of
inclusive best-practice throughout
watersports.’
This is most definitely the youngest team of athletes that
will represent Ireland at the Olympic qualifiers with
Caoimhe O'Ferrall in C1W and Robert Hendrick C1M, both
only 21 and racing in U23 and Senior categories for the
2019 season ahead. Liam Jegou, C1M, at 23 years old
narrowly missed out on a place in the qualifiers for the
Olympics in Rio in 2015, and has his eyes set firmly on the
Senior World Championships in September. He is really
showing form already this season at both the international
races he competed in. Jake Cochrane is the 3rd member
of the C1M team and at 24, he just completed his BSc in
Sports Science and Maths at Nottingham Trent
University.
Sam Curtis at 25 is the oldest member of the K1M team
with Eoin and Oisin both being 22 years old. Eoin was
based in Nottingham up until 2018 and trained at HPP. He
graduated from University in 2018 and move to Pau for the
last year, where his teammate Liam was based. Pau has
excellent facilities along with having a constant peer
group to train with and proximity to La Seu for regular
training camps.
The performance athletes in C1M are Liam Jegou
originally from County Clare and has been based in France
for many years, Jake Cochrane is from Country Antrim and
Robert Hendrick from County Kildare. The performance
women in C1W are Caoimhe O'Ferrall who hails from
County Meath and in K1W Hannah Craig is from County
Down. In the K1M class , Eoin Teague hails from County
Down, Sam Curtis from County Meath and Oisin Farrell
from County Kildare.
The athletes have a busy season ahead of them with
racing in both U23 category (Liam, Robert, Caoimhe, Eoin
and Oisin) in the European & World Championships in
Liptovsky and Krakow in July and in senior category at
World cup races before they race in the Olympic qualifier in
September.
Robert Hendrick
Liam Jegou
Oisin Farrell
Sam Curtis
Hannah Craig
Eoin Teague
14 15

DEVIZES TO WESTMINSTER
On March 17th 2016 I told Niall Power that
I would enter the Devizes to Westminster
International Canoe Race with him. What
is the Devizes to Westminster? That’s a
question I probably should have asked
Niall before so readily agreeing to enter;
but “It’ll be grand” he said, and he was
right – eventually.
The DW, as it is known, is a 200km race from
Devizes in Wiltshire, along the Kennet and
Avon Canal for 87km, joining the Thames at
Reading for another 87km to reach the tidal
section of the Thames at Teddington and then
the final 26km to the finish line at
Westminster Bridge. The race takes place
every Easter weekend since 1948. Each of
150 pairs of paddlers in a canoe or kayak must
choose their start time on Easter Saturday so
as to reach the tidal section at Teddington
within a 4-hour window on Easter Sunday
morning or a 2-hour window on Easter Sunday
evening. Along the way there are 77 locks to
be portaged. Our 2 support crews would take
turns meeting us 38 times during the race to
feed and water us, give us dry clothes, provide
first-aid, and generally encourage us with
updates on how we were doing against our
plan.
TWO MEN AND A BOAT
So we borrowed a club K2 and began training
in January 2017. After a couple of training
runs averaging 8.5km per hour we decided to
buy a faster boat. We had to buy a second
boat after dropping the first one off the car on
the M50 during a storm. This one was
supposed to be slightly faster again but was
also less stable. We got lots of tips and
information from people who had entered the
race previously, or had done support crew
duty, and were always generous and happy to
share their knowledge and experience. By
March we had increased our distance to
60km averaging 9.5km per hour and we
submitted our entry and recruited the 4
members of our support crews.
On March 26th we left Devizes Wharf at
9:36am (50 minutes later than planned)
wondering what exactly we were in for. After
paddling through the night for 20 hours and
40 minutes and covering 140km we reached
Windsor at 6:16am just after dawn and
decided to retire as we were going to miss the
first tide window which closed at 10am at
Teddington. We took comfort from having
paddled more than twice as far as we ever had
before and being the 3rd last pair to retire.
Author: Paul Kerr
Our 2017 attempt taught us 3 key things:
1. We had to get faster at getting in and out
of the boat
2. We needed a better diet plan to replace
the 300+ calories per hour we were using
3. The 200km distance wasn’t the biggest
challenge in this race
We decided against entering in 2018 as we
hadn’t enough training done. Easter 2019
was later in the year and offered better
weather and an earlier morning tide window
that promised less traffic on the Thames tidal
section (we had heard the last 26km can be
extremely challenging). We also had the more
stable boat back after a fantastic repair job by
D Wall Racing Boat Repairs in Clonmel. So we
again began the long hours of training,
dodging swans and fishermen along the
Grand Canal between Clondalkin and
Robertstown, taking refuge in the Hazel
Hatch Pub when snow stopped us getting
back to Clondalkin one Sunday, getting
sun-burnt the following Sunday. Then on
March 18th the boat was damaged again;
Brendan Wall in Clonmel promised us he
could have it repaired before Easter so we
kept on training. By the beginning of April
2019 we felt better prepared than we had
been in 2017 so we recruited another 4
members for our support crews and submitted
our second entry.
We left Dublin on Holy Thursday headed for
Holyhead and on to Wiltshire with one of our
support crew driving. We spent Good Friday
scouting a couple of the portages on the
Thames and letting Cathy get an idea of what
she’d have to do as our support crew leader.
On the way back we stopped in Sainsburys
and bought 50 litres of water. Then back to
the hotel for dinner and to wait for the rest of
the support crew who arrived in just before
midnight.
On Saturday April 20th we were up shortly
after 5am to get the 2 cars packed with the
food, water, changes of clothes, first-aid kits,
tools, and spares that we would need for the
race. We turned up early at Devizes Wharf
with our newly repaired K2, a detailed plan for
each of our 38 support crew stops, and full of
confidence that we could make it to
Westminster. We got underway at 7:06am,
just 6 minutes behind our plan. We were
among the earliest starters and were in the
leading 10 boats on the water for the first few
hours (the faster boats still hadn’t left
Devizes and would overtake us during the
night).
By 11am we had come through the 500m
Savernake Tunnel, completed 30km, and
portaged around 13 locks (including a 1.7km
run carrying the boat past the 9 locks at
Crofton). We were averaging 9.25km per hour
and our portage times were averaging 1.5
minutes – we were holding to our plan despite
the 24o temperatures and a bit of a head wind;
we were feeling confident. We reached
Hungerford for a 10-minute lunch at 12:23pm
(tuna and rice for me, baked beans for Niall);
42 km done – just over 20% of the total and
just 18 minutes behind our plan.
We arrived in Sheffield around 5:30pm for
some more hot food, pot noodles this time. At
70km we had over a third of the distance
covered and with 50 locks behind us over two
thirds of the portages – probably just as well
as our portage times were now averaging 2
minutes.
By 6:53pm we had made it to Reading after 11
hours and 47 minutes, leaving the Kennet and
Avon Canal behind us and joining the Thames
at last. We were now 28 minutes behind our
plan but we hoped to pick up some speed from
the current – sadly there was very little flow
on the river this year. Most paddlers take a
longer stop at Reading and get ready for the
night with a change of clothes and adding
lights to the boat and the paddlers. We had
decided to change clothes at Marsh Lock
instead as we had spent over half an hour in
the carnival atmosphere of Reading in 2017
with hundreds of paddlers and support crews
milling about making it easy to lose focus on
the race that is still not even half done. As a
result we were one of the few boats going
straight through Reading and there was a
flurry of marshals clearing a path for us along
the portage and reminding us to get our lights
on before 8pm.
When we reached Marsh Lock it was 8:23pm
– not quite dark yet so we didn’t get into
trouble for not having our lights on earlier.
98km done, practically half-way and not too
far off the plan – we were still feeling
confident. The stop at Marsh was 22 minutes,
better than the Reading stop in 2017 but still
15 minutes longer than planned – this was
going to become a theme for the night time
meetings with our support crews.
It was dark as we set off from Marsh Lock to
find our way along the meandering course of
the river, avoiding the many marinas and side
channels, and finding the correct route to the
more complicated portages around the locks
at each of the 20 weirs between Reading and
Teddington. As the guy in front doing the
steering I found this quite stressful when my
body was telling me I should be in bed asleep –
Niall had to put up with more than a few short
comments when he tried to offer advice and
keep us motivated. The lights of the other
boats in front were useful for navigating by
and the lock-keepers and marshals also had
lights to guide us in to the portages and we
soon settled into our task.
We reached Windsor at 2:33am in good shape,
albeit 1 hour and 20 minutes behind our plan.
We had just equalled our previous 140km
achievement, in 19 hours and 27 minutes – 1
hour and 13 minutes faster than in 2017. More
importantly we still had 5 hours and 45
minutes to cover the next 33.5km and 7 locks
and reach Teddington before the morning tide
window closed. Our speed was averaging
8.5km per hour but our portages were now
much slower at 9.5 minutes on average, it was
going to be tight but we had about 30 minutes
to spare.
Leaving Windsor behind us we were entering
new territory with every kilometre adding to
the longest distance we’d ever paddled and
taking us closer to our goal. Then at 148km we
had our first significant set-back at 3:15am.
We had pulled into the bank to stretch a
cramped muscle and as we pushed off again
we just didn’t focus on coordinating and had
our first swim of the race. It took 20 minutes
to empty the boat and get back in after a quick
call to the support crews to meet us at Penton
Hook Lock with dry clothes.
By 4:15am we were back in dry clothes, 75% of
the distance covered but 25km and 3 locks to
portage to reach Teddington. We had 4 hours
until the morning tide window would close and
it was going to take at least 3.5 hours. If we
went for it and missed it, we’d have to wait 12
hours at Teddington without support (support
crews aren’t allowed in to Teddington and we
wouldn’t be allowed to leave and come back).
We made the decision to grab some sleep on
the bank and work our way down to
Teddington in daylight. By 5am we were in a
pop-up tent and out for the count after being
awake for 24 hours. Meanwhile the support
crews had informed race control that we’d be
stopping for a few hours and then tried to get
some sleep in the cars.
We were up again at 9am to a glorious Easter
Sunday morning and set off shortly after
10am to cover the 6.5 km to Shepperton Lock,
the last of the race’s 10 check-points before
Teddington, which we had to reach within 29.5
hours of our start time. We arrived at 11:21am
and spent a while in the sun watching the
individual race competitors go by (this being
their 3rd of 4 x 50km legs done on Friday,
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday). There were a
16
17

L2 COACH
ASSESSMENT
CANOEING IRELAND’S FIRST
L2 COACHES QUALIFY
Canoeing Ireland would like to extend
congratulations to the new crop of L2
coaches who recently passed their
assessment. Michelle Power (Polo), Jon
Simmons (Sprint) and Jim Healy (Marathon)
were all successful in their assessment which
was overseen by Sport Ireland coach
assessor Jeff Cochrane. Michelle, Jon and
Jim are the first L2 coaches to be qualified
within Canoeing Ireland’s coach education
system. Canoeing Ireland will be re-launching
the coach developer training sessions
towards the end of the year after a review of
the coaching awards and syllabus takes
place.
Michelle Power
Jon Simmons
Jim Healy
few other paddlers aiming for the evening tide
window and we exchanged stories with them
while having a late breakfast in the warm
sunshine.
Leaving Shepperton at 12:30pm there was a
lot more traffic on the river. Coming into
Richmond at 3:15pm we had our first
encounter with the wake from a London River
Bus and narrowly avoided a swim. We met the
support crews shortly afterwards and took a
break for 30 minutes to psyche ourselves up
for what was shortly to become one of the
scariest things I’ve ever done in a kayak. After
getting back on we hugged the bank for
another 4km and finally reached Teddington
at 4:11pm and joined about a dozen boats
waiting for the tide to turn.
The marshals allowed us back on at 4:45pm
and so we set off on the last 26km not sure if
we could stay in the boat for that distance. 45
minutes later we met Cathy and Fiona at
Richmond Canoe Club for our 2nd last and
their last stop before Westminster. They had
to wade through the high tide waters to reach
us and gave us great encouragement to keep
going for the final 21km. Our speed was
averaging 6.5km as the tide had not quite
turned yet, it was however about to get a lot
more interesting.
Leaving Richmond our speed picked up to an
average 9.5km per hour with high points over
12km at times. At 182km the wake from a River
Bus coming up behind us treated us to our
second swim. Another K2 stopped to make
sure we were OK and 10 minutes later, at
6:10pm, we were underway again. The wakes
from passing boats seemed to be more severe
near the bank where they bounced off and
came back at you but the prospect of
swimming in the middle of the busy river was
scarier. For the next River Bus we decided to
paddle out and meet the wake head on and we
just about survived but ended up on the other
side of the river and had to quickly come back
to the right-hand side which was the side
designated for race entrants. We took the
same approach for the next River Bus but on
the way back a secondary wake picked up the
boat and sent us hurtling towards the sloping
concrete bank. I knew I had to turn before
hitting the bank and breaking the boat but I
also knew that as soon as I turned the boat we
would capsize again. At the last moment I
spotted a lump of metal sticking out of the
concrete and as I turned I managed to grab it
with both hands and held on for dear life as
the waves washed over the deck. We took a
few minutes to steady ourselves and then
headed off yet again.
We kept going, knowing that another swim
would put an end to our race; it was still too far
to walk along the bank with the boat even if we
managed to get it out of the river and at this
point we were both wondering what we were
doing and wishing it was over. By now neither
of us could sit up in the boat and this was
making it harder to keep the boat upright. The
pain killers we’d been taking every 4 hours
were no longer having any effect. We stopped
twice for 5 minutes to try stretching and on
the second stop we had the bright idea to use
the 2 airbags from the back of the boat as
lumbar supports so we tied them to our
buoyancy aids and struggled on.
We were now averaging 10.5km per hour as
the tide pulled us toward Westminster. At
7:13pm, with 190km done, the battery on our
tracker finally gave up; we missed the 0.5km
updates that had punctuated our journey so
far with the distance we had left to go and
what speed we were doing. Shortly afterwards
we reached our last crew stop at Putney Pier
and Aido and Jacob plied us with Red Bull and
adjusted our airbag lumbar support systems
before telling us they’d see us at Westminster.
We had completed 192km and had just over
8km left to do – we started to believe again
that we could finish.
The approach into Central London was dotted
with buildings that we started to recognise
and bridges that we counted down (even
though we weren’t sure exactly how many
bridges there should be before Westminster).
There was still one other K2 that we could see
ahead of us and we followed their lead to
avoid taking a wrong turn into a side channel
our getting disqualified for using the wrong
arch under a bridge. The outgoing tide was
putting up bow waves on the huge barges
anchored in the river and we had to work hard
to avoid getting pinned on one or 2 of them;
thankfully motor boat traffic had eased off
and we only had to deal with one or two
smaller wakes.
Finally we saw a DW support boat just above
Lambeth Bridge and we knew that we had just
800m and one last bridge to go; it couldn’t
come soon enough but we were going to make
it – we could swim from here. We paddled right
into the steps where the safety crew grabbed
our boat and helped us out. At 8:35pm boat
number 427 had completed the race in a time
of 37 hours 28 minutes and 30 seconds. We
finished 112th out of 114 with 33 boats having
retired before the finish. As we climbed the
steps at Westminster we were presented with
our coveted finishers medals and were then
greeted by our triumphant and over-joyed
support crew. The sense of achievement was
indescribable. It had been over 3-years since
we decided to set-off on the journey and only
in the last 90 minutes had we realised we
were going to finally succeed.
We couldn’t have done it without the support
crews, Liz, Ginnine, Emma, and Ray from 2017
who gave us the belief that we would succeed
next time and Cathy, Fiona, Aido, and Jacob in
2019 who stuck with us for 40 hours never
giving up on us. Thanks to all of you.
CANOEING IRELAND’S FIRST
ATHLETE’S CONFERENCE
The last 18 months have seen many ‘firsts’ in the history of Canoeing Ireland.
This first event however was somewhat special as it was the first time that
athletes from all of the competitive disciplines were invited together to attend a
conference and work shop purely dedicated to hearing their views.
The Athlete’s Conference was organised by the new Canoeing Ireland High
Performance Unit and ran on the weekend of February 9th at the Canoeing
Ireland Training Centre at the Strawberry Beds.
The event was very well attended with a number of athletes from all 7
competitive disciplines attending. The day kicked off with an educational
module that focused on Anti-Doping. Sport Ireland Anti-Doping Unit were very
kind in delivering this module which was very well received. The module
prompted an interesting questions and answers session as Rachel Maguire
from Sport Ireland provided some very useful information.
The second module focused on a feedback session which was facilitated by
Ciaran ‘Kipper’ Maguire and Lynda Byron, both members of the Canoeing Ireland
High Performance Unit. This module enabled the gathered athletes to let
Canoeing Ireland know how they felt and where the support for them fell short of
what should be expected of a successful NGB. The athletes were broken into
groups as they set about creating a list of their thoughts to feed back to the
organisation. This workshop session was key to the success of the day as for the
first time athletes felt that they were being listened to. The suggestions
provided to the High Performance Unit were very thoughtful, useful and needed.
The last module of the day was facilitated by coaching legend Liam Moggan.
Liam who is formerly of Coaching Ireland delivered a very memorable talk to the
athletes who were fully engaged in his stories, opinion and craic! His module
focused on ‘Developing a High Performance Mind-set’ and he didn’t disappoint.
Canoeing Ireland would like to thank Liam for taking time out of his very busy
schedule to come and visit the Athlete Conference and deliver a wonderful talk
to the athletes. The module was wrapped up with a rousing rendition of Molly
Malone lead by Freestyle legend Tom Dunphy which was directed by Liam
Moggan himself.
This conference was one of a number of conferences being organised by the
Canoeing Ireland High Performance Unit. The next one is in the pipe line! Stay
tuned.
Thanks to all the athletes who participated on the day, we hope you enjoyed the
goody bag and the Performance Team sweatshirts. We’ll see you again soon!
18 19

Jon Mackey with World Cup Sprint medalist Jenny Egan and Canoeing Ireland CEO Moira Aston
The High Performance Director for Canoeing Ireland is now 8 months into the role. We catch up with Jon
Mackey to chat about present and future plans for HP in Canoeing Ireland.
Jon celebrating a world championship
win with one his athletes in 2016
INTERVIEW WITH
JON MACKEY
Jon Mackey is no stranger to performance sports. A former Taekwondo
international competitor and international kickboxing coach, the inner
city native turned to kayaking on retirement from competition in 2009.
Eight months in, we catch up with Jon to find out what’s been happening.
Hi Jon, thanks for taking sometime to chat with us here today. You
started paddling in 2009, how did that come about?
Hi, no problem. I started at Wild Water Kayak Club after I had finished
competing in combat sports. A good friend of mine from Wild Water
encouraged me to come down to the club for a splash about on one of the
evenings and I did, it was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I fell in love
with paddling and haven’t looked back.
When you started paddling did you ever envisage you would be working
so heavily within the sport?
No not at all, I was busy running my own performance gym and I was
coaching the national kickboxing team. When a position came up at
Canoeing Ireland I thought I’d really like to get involved with an NGB in a
professional capacity and work at that level of sport administration, so I
gave it a pop and lo-and-behold I was successful. I’ve really enjoyed being
a part of the team at CI.
How did you feel coming from a different sporting background into
Canoeing Ireland?
From a performance point of view? I didn’t worry too much. Performance is
performance no matter what the sport, the mechanics are similar
regardless of the function. The High Performance Director role is very
much about creating pathways for athletes and coaches, removing
barriers to future success and providing the support that they need in
order to achieve on the world stage. It’s not uncommon for people of
different sporting background to be involved with NGB’s of different
sports. Canoeing Ireland’s previous CEO
came from Sailing, the current Hockey Ireland
performance director came from Rugby. One
of my greatest inspirations in high
performance is Gary Keegan. Gary
established the first high performance
structure with Irish Boxing back in 1999, Gary
never boxed in his life – high performance is a
structure grounded in culture, it’s a process
of building and improving our organisational
capacity to compete on the international
stage. That’s something I’ve been involved
with for some time now, to bring my knowledge
to Canoe Sport is an exciting challenge.
What has been going in the world of HP over
the past eight months?
There’s a lot going on behind the scenes. One
of my first tasks was to establish good
working relationships with Sport Ireland, the
Sport Ireland Institute and the Olympic
Federation. As Canoeing Ireland has never
had a professional high performance
structure in the past I had to meet with our
stakeholders and present our plans to them. I
think our stakeholders and funders are
optimistic, they’ve been very helpful in
providing direction and advice. We’ve had a
successful athlete’s conference where we got
to meet some of the current international
paddlers as well as some of the young up and
coming stars. We got to listen to their voice
for an afternoon and provide them with some
workshops, including Sport Ireland
Anti-Doing educational module. We have a
second conference planned for August. We’ve
also just recently entered into a partnership
with the UCD High Performance Gym and the
Human Performance Laboratory where
athletes entering into the new Canoeing
Ireland high performance programme will gain
access to testing facilities, including gas
analysis, blood lactate monitoring, Dexa
scanning and force-velocity profiling.
All of this day to day work is important, but our
focus is on developing our performance
systems for the future. Every decision we are
making in high performance has an eye to the
future. In order to be successful in the future
we need to take stock of where we are now,
and to be honest we are weak in terms of
development programmes across our
competitive disciplines. There is some really
wonderful work being done locally at club
level, but we need to have a joined up
approach to development, starting with the
end in mind and putting in the systems that
will populate our competitive disciplines with
future performers. Key to all of this is funding,
Canoeing Ireland have been at the bottom tier
in relation to high performance grant funding
since 2012. Incredibly, in 2007 an investment
of €410,000 was made into canoe sport from
Sport Ireland, five years later and in 2012 we
were at the bottom of the tier system
struggling to make ends meet on €40,000.
There are lessons to be learned from this. We
must invest in performance structures,
systems and programmes that are
transparent, accountable and functional.
What we are doing now is key to laying the
foundations for the next Olympic cycle and
the one after that.
Jon Mackey with Dr Domineco Crognale Exercise
Physiologist at the UCD Human Performance Laboratory
There has been some unease around the
selection decision for the European Games,
what are your thoughts on this?
Yes there has. Discretionary selection
processes are never easy. It’s totally
understandable for an athlete to feel
aggrieved when they don’t make selection.
The fact is the selected athlete met the
criteria that was laid out and agreed to by all
concerned in the selection policy. An appeal
hearing was had and the process and
selection were deemed to be in good
standing. There is no expectation being
applied to the selected athlete to bring home
medals, he is a fine young man with two
Olympic cycles ahead of him to enjoy. Like I
said previously, we are in phase of
foundation-laying for the future and this
selection is part of that thinking. The selected
athlete will be representing his country and
his sport and he deserves the support of our
community.
What current projects are you working on?
The big piece of work for this year is the
development of a high performance strategy
for Canoeing Ireland. This strategy will be
crucial on a number of levels; (i) it defines our
high performance pathway as we move
towards a culture of consolidation and
growth, (ii) it shows our funders that we are
committed to functional performance and
development systems that are grounded in
clear measurable and functional modalities
and most importantly (iii) it will define good
governance within high performance in
Canoeing Ireland. A silo mentality has
hampered our ability to make an impact with
our stakeholders and funders, until this is
corrected we will continue to receive tier four
funding –our athletes deserve better.
Cruickshank and Collins (2012) stated “that
leading and managing elite sport teams is a
multifaceted phenomenon involving the
development of a vision”. The success of our
future high performance structures rely on
this vision being a shared one. This vision has
to be very much about looking forward. We
need to work together as one team to realise
our potential for the future. Today it’s all about
the juniors and u23 year olds sitting in boats
training day-in and day-out to improve in their
respective disciplines. If we as leaders and
adults within the sport are not supporting
these young athletes in every way we can well
then we need to take a hard look at ourselves.
Our mind-set needs to change, our culture
needs to change.
The first athlete conference was a great
success, are there plans to have any more?
Yes, it was a great day. A day where we got to
meet some of the current performers and
future stars of canoe sport. Kipper and Lynda
from the HPU facilitated a great work shop
where the athletes got the chance to say how
they felt. I guess, if there was one word to sum
up their response it would be ‘unsupported’.
We acknowledged this and we made some
pledges to change that. Canoeing Ireland is
now working to ensure media coverage for all
of our performance teams on our social media
platforms, something that never happened
before. We’ve been working on developing a
unified team kit also, this will be available for
the new season. Other requests from the
athletes centre around Canoeing Ireland
receiving an increase in our grant funding
allocation, all of which is possible when we get
our systems in place.
We are organising our second conference
which will be scheduled for early August,
ideally timed just ahead of some important
world championships and Olympic qualifiers.
The theme will be focused on performance
psychology and performance nutrition. We
have booked our performance psychologist
already, she’s an Olympian and member of the
Sport Ireland Institute, all will be revealed
soon!
Outside of your day to day work with
Canoeing Ireland what other projects are
you involved in?
I’m still very much involved in performance
coaching with kickboxing. I have a team of 5
athletes who have made the national junior
team for this year’s European championships
in Hungary. I’ve just returned from Tortona in
Italy where one of our high performance
athletes won a K1 pro league match. I will also
be concluding my Master’s degree at UCD
which is in Performance Science and
Coaching. Apart from all of that I’m the dad to
a very active little 9 month old who hasn’t
decided whether he wants to kick box or
paddle a kayak!
Thanks for taking the time for taking some
time to talk to Flow State and best of luck
into the future.
No worries and thanks.
20 21

JUNIOR LIFFEY DESCENT
REPORT
Senan Forrestal of Thomastown Paddlers proved the class of the field at the
Junior Liffey Descent last Saturday (May 18).
Forrestal, winner of the junior race at the 59th Liffey Descent last
September, negotiated the ten kilometre course from Leixlip to Strawberry
Beds in a time of 51 mins 30secs. The course included a portage around the
dam at Leixlip reservoir just ten minutes after the start and then the massive
weirs at Lucan and Wren’s Nest before the finish at the Canoe Ireland
Training Centre.
Over a minute later for second place was pre-race favourite Matthew
McCartney from Celbridge Paddlers in 52.54 McCartney had finished
second behind European junior marathon champion Ronan Foley a year
earlier. A close third was Eoin O’Toole of Salmon Leap Canoe Club in 53.27.
Winning the U15 boys class in 56.42 was Paul Donnellan with his Salmon
Leap club mate Ruairi Bray less than a minute behind.
Fastest girl was Eabha O Drisceoil of Salmon Leap CC, winner of the U15 age
group for a second year. Despite a wobble at Lucan Weir, O Drisceoil
recovered quickly and went on to clock a time of 60.41 – the fastest girls’
time of the day.
Not too far behind was Aine White of Celbridge Paddlers who was first of the
U18 age group in a solid time of 1:03:30. Second was Roisin Hannon of Moy
CC in Ballina who had moved up from the U15 class and finished in 1:08.06.
Paddlers had travelled from all over Ireland for the race and winning the open
white water class in 1:02.32 was Simon Kenny of the Phoenix club in Cork.
In the B class races, Gael Castillo of Salmon Leap clocked a respectable time
of 1:04.38 to finish best in the U18 age group. Sean King of Celbridge
Paddlers won a closely contested U15 boys race in 1:09.34, with Salmon
Leap’s Christian O’Sullivan just twenty seconds behind him.
By some way the biggest entry of the day came in the Under 15 C class race,
with 64 entered and 59 finishing. The high entry is testament to a
determined recruitment drive by clubs such as Salmon Leap, who put on
regular sessions for novice paddlers in the younger age groups.
Leading home the 55 finishers was Salmon Leap’s Conor Flanagan. His time
of 1:10.13 put him almost five minutes ahead of the chasers led by Ciaran Ball
of the 5th Port Dollymount Sea Scouts, longtime supporters of the race. In
this class, finishing was an achievement and all were safely across the finish
line in just over two hours. Fastest of the nine girls competing was Katie
Woods from GOYA in 1:43.47, with her club mate Roisin Hannon less than a
minute behind for second. GOYA (Get off Your Ass) had brought a team of 13
– nine boys and four girls – to the race from their heartland in south Co
Galway and north Co Clare.
A further 23 had signed up for the U18 boys race, with Daniel Stratford, from
Virginia Kayak in Co Cavan, leading them home in 1:07.22. Joanne Ball of the
5th Port Dollymount Sea Scouts was first girl in 1:17.01, with 13 entered in this
class – the largest girls’ class of the day. Emma Doyle from Go Paddle was
second with Virginia Alexander of Virginia third.
A total of five boats had entered the canoe doubles - big open boats,
propelled by a single blade paddle - and first home in 1:26.59 were Kevin
O’Connor and Kevin McGrath of Kilkenny Aqua. Ethan Dowling and Emma
Fay, from the Ribbontail Canoe Club in Enfield, Co Meath, were first in the
mixed class with a time of 1:30.36
Full Results Document
Results Junior Liffey Descent, Saturday May 19
K1 Class A
Boys:
U18 -
1. Senan Forristal (Thomastown Paddlers) 51 mins 30 secs;
2. Matthew McCartney (Celbridge Paddlers) 52.54,
3. Eoin O’Toole (Salmon Leap CC) 53.27.
U15 -
1. Paul Donnellan (Salmon Leap CC) 56.42;
2. Ruairi Bray (Salmon Leap CC) 57.19;
3. Adam Pender (Kilkenny Aqua) 1:13.35.
U23 –
James McCartney (Celbridge Paddlers) 1:00.32.
WW Open Kayaks –
1. Simon Kenny (Phoenix CC) 1:02.17;
2. Ben Higgins (Salmon Leap CC) 66.43;
3. Aoibhin Ni Bhroin (Galway KC) 68.31.
Girls:
U18 –
1. Aine White (Celbridge Paddlers) 63.30;
2. Roisin Hannon (Moy CC) 68.06.
U15 –
Eabha Ni Drisceoil (Salmon Leap CC) 60.25.
K1 Class B
Boys:
U15 -
1. Sean King (Celbridge Paddlers) 1:09.34;
2. Christian O’Sullivan (Salmon Leap CC) 1:09.54;
3. Jason O’Sullivan (Salmon Leap CC) 1:11.51.
U18 -
1. Gael Castillo (Salmon Leap CC) 63.53;
2. Michael O’Herlihy (Wildwater KC) 70.03;
3. Dan Lavelle (Salmon Leap CC) 71.08.
K1 Class C
Boys:
U15 –
1. Conor Flanagan (Salmon Leap CC) 1:10.13;
2. Ciaran Ball (5th Port Dollymount SS) 1:15.03;
3. Finn Grennan (Sligo Grammar) 1:17.03.
U18 –
1. Daniel Stratford (Virginia KC) 1:07.22;
2. Barry Stratford (Virginia KC) 1:09.08;
3. Luke Hodkinson (5th Port Dollymount SS) 1:12.25.
U23 -
1. David Doyle (Go Paddle) 1:14.08;
2. Alex Russell (Canoeing Ireland) 1:14.48;
3. Cian Brannigan (Canoeing Ireland) 1:19.53.
Girls:
U15 –
1. Katie Woods (Goya Gang) 1:43.47;
2. Roisin Bennett (Goya Gang) 1:44.27;
3. Ruth McGrath (Kilkenny Aqua) 1:46.01.
U18 –
1. Joanne Ball (5th Port Dollymount SS) 1:17.01;
2. Emma Doyle (Go Paddle) 1:17.52;
3. Rachel Alexander (Virginia Kayak) 1:22.27.
C2 Canoe Doubles
Boys:
Kevin O’Connor/Kevin McGrath (KilkennyAqua) 1:29.59.
Girls:
Phoebe Henderson/Sophie Henderson (Kilkenny Aqua) 1:50.07.
Mixed:
1. Emma Fay/Ethan Dowling (Ribbontail Paddlers) 1:30.36,
2. Shaun Healy/ Conor Fanning (Barrowline CC) 1:33.25;
3. Aoife Hamilton/Tom Morley (Ribbontail Paddlers) 1:46.10.
22
23

CLUB SPOTLIGHT
LAOIS KAYAK &
CANOE CLUB
On the 6th May this year, Laois Kayak & Canoe Club opened its newly
renovated club house on the banks of the River Erkina in Durrow, Co.
Laois. Established in 2011 and now with over 80 members, Flow State met
up with the club to get an insight into how it has developed over the years.
How did the club start?
Probably like most clubs where a group of us got to know each other
through word of mouth and started to informally paddle together. As the
numbers started to increase, we decided to form a club. That decision
wasn’t made lightly as there was a debate around the advantages of not
being a club and just continuing paddling together instead of taking on
the responsibilities of running a club. But as we wanted to grow the sport
in the area and there was no other alternative locally, Laois Kayak &
Canoe Club was established. One of the first things we did as a club was
to write a five-year strategy. With hind-sight, this was perhaps the most
important element of starting a club as the document set out a
year-by-year roadmap of what needed to be achieved particularly in terms
of training, resourcing and embedding the club in the community. We also
had a good committee made up of paddlers and non-paddlers which gave
a more balanced approach to how the club was going to be developed.
Where were pressure points at the start?
As we were only a small group of paddlers, lack of boats and equipment
became an initial constraint. Canoeing Ireland came to our assistance
and this was pivotal in being able to grow into a sustainable club. Within a
short time of putting a request into the Canoeing Ireland office, we were
able to collect a fleet of kayaks, paddles, helmets, buoyancy aids and
spray decks. Having this resource available to Laois Kayak meant that we
were able to commence and structure our summer training schedule and
could guarantee people who came along that they would be able to get on
the water. We used Canoeing Ireland’s equipment loan scheme for two
years and also availed of boats from the Canoe Polo and Canoe Marathon
committees. We charge a nominal fee for members who need to use club
gear. This income combined with a Sports Capital Grant allowed us to
subsequently purchase our own equipment.
What do you think is key to growing a young club?
For us it’s having a continuous pool of our own club instructors. We
see instructors as imperative to providing sound and structured
training. It was always a decision of our club that members would be
encouraged to go through the awards system. Being able to maintain
a pipeline of members undertaking instructor training helps ensure
we can do this.
Another really important aspect of developing a club is to become
part of the kayaking community both through involvement in the
different disciplines and by association with other clubs. We have
been fortunate in the latter with the more established neighbouring
clubs allowing us to join in with their events, trips and training as well
as borrowing equipment and gear. This genuine goodwill meant that
our members could participate at events where as a club we would not
have had sufficient numbers to participate on our own. Strong
friendships have also been built.
How did the clubhouse come about?
For anyone who has not been to Durrow, the clubhouse is in an ideal
location at the top of a slipway down to the River Erkina in the centre
of the town. The Erkina then feeds into the River Nore about a
kilometre downstream. Having a club house was the one piece of the
club’s objectives (our fore mentioned five-year plan) which remained
incomplete. We felt that we needed a permanent location as a
tangible and focal point for attracting new members, enabling more
kayaking events and increasing participation. We weren’t a club
without a home.
IRISH CANOE
POLO TEAM
WIN AT HULL
Well done to the Irish Canoe Polo U21 men’s
team who secured a great victory at the Hull
International which took place over the
weekend of 22nd and 23rd June. The team,
coached by Shane Kinsella came first in what
was a tough competitive event. Well done to
Conor McLoughlin, Jake Searle, Darragh
McConvey, Caleb Bowden, Kevin Quinn,
Fergal McConvey, and Brendan Madden – all
their hard work paying off!
At that time, we had been making enquiries into a disused building
which had been the old band room for the town. In its day, it had been
a vibrant hub of activity for local musicians. Having been left
neglected for some time, the club approached the remaining trustees
with an offer to purchase. Eventually, a deal was done and we had our
clubhouse. Funding awarded through the 2017 Sports Capital Grant
then allowed us to undertake the necessary renovation of the building
which was completed earlier this year. We were delighted with the big
turnout at our official opening in May with the former President Paul
Donnelly cutting the ribbon. It was a proud moment for the club and
especially to see the support from other clubs, paddlers, the local
community and politicians for our sport.
What’s next for Laois Kayak & canoe Club?
Becoming a more family centric club is our main focus. We only run
adult training courses now. Once participants progress to becoming
club members, we encourage them to bring their children along to our
family sessions and polo evenings. The club’s instructors will then
work with these kids through various skills awards in conjunction with
external providers. This approach is attracting a more committed
membership and is also resulting in more female participation which
is great to see. We are also engaging with Laois Sports Partnership for
women in sport initiatives to focus on encouraging skills progression
amongst our female members.
For further information, visit www.laoiskayak.com
24 23

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