Words: Cheryl Rawlings
& Tamsyn McConachie
Photos: Lisa Dickinson,
Tamsyn McConachie
& Becky Green
#ShePaddles freestyle
If you have been down to Holme Pierrepont on a weekend recently, there’s quite a high chance you noticed a relatively large number of women having a good time in freestyle boats. Twenty-four women were selected to come down to these weekends to paddle together and learn more about freestyle as a discipline.
Tamsyn McConchie
The #ShePaddlesFreestyle programme, which Tamsyn McConchie has devised, is aimed to create further opportunities for participation within the sport across the country. Supported by British Canoeing’s Stronger Together Fund initiative and in conjunction with GB Freestyle – the weekends so far have been packed full of personal paddling development, peer coaching skills, safety and rescue training, and competitions, and have been pivotal in the formation of a network of pioneering women within the freestyle community.
Why ShePaddles?
Research suggests that women comprise just 20 – 30% of the paddling community. In freestyle, this imbalance is even more pronounced. We at GB Freestyle recently undertook a survey aimed at looking at some of the reasons why and the barriers to taking part in freestyle. The responses highlighted a need to address the gender imbalance within our sport, particularly within visible and prominent roles, and to create more opportunities for participation overall. With this programme, we hoped to address both these areas by supporting more women to become forerunners for the sport in their local areas.
“It was really amazing to meet so many likeminded women and feel like I had opportunities to really further my paddling, both in terms of personal development and feeling more comfortable with the idea of stepping forward and taking a leadership role to get more people into freestyle in my local area.”
Participant
Weekend One
The programme kicked off at Holme Pierrepont in July with the first cohort of twelve women getting together to paddle and share coaching practices alongside coaches from the GB Freestyle women’s team: Tamsyn McConchie and Becky Green.
“It was daunting going into the first weekend as we didn’t know what to expect. We have programme participants with a huge range of abilities and current levels of involvement with freestyle, etc. Overall, it was definitely a successful weekend- it was fantastic to have the input and involvement from so many, including key players from within the Essex freestyle community, within universities, and within other clubs across the country.”
Tamsyn, programme lead
Each morning, they started with sessions on the flat water. During these, the paddlers supported each other in learning fundamental freestyle skills: the lean-clean, double-pumps, stern squirts, and more. It can be daunting to have a go at new skills on your own, and it can often feel like you’ve hit a brick wall or don’t know what to do next.
This is why there was a big focus on breaking down the skills being learnt into fundamentals that can be applied across a range of movements. Working with each other to notice the small details, the women developed an understanding and appreciation for freestyle, including the necessary skills to take back to their clubs to share with and support other aspiring freestyle paddlers.
“It was so great to see so many women trying freestyle! Not only were these initially nervous women giving everything a go, but they were also actively encouraging each other to do the same. Our intentions for the weekend looked to grow healthy habits and feed into a peer coaching environment, and this was absolutely taken on board!”
Becky Green, Coach
After a break for lunch, the women took to the whitewater course, where there was a focus on boat control in various features, with some of the paddlers working on putting in the work to get loops and other big tricks.
“It was amazing to see even the progress of day two, where looks of unease became cheerful determination, and I could see the strengthening qualities of leadership alongside personal confidence.”
Becky Green
Weekend two
On the second weekend, you may have already heard what the women got up to if you were in the vicinity – particularly if you were there on the same weekend as Lisa Dickinson with her crowd-pleasing Cosmic Donkeys and Harry Potters! Suppose you have been to the Dewerstone European Open, a Nottingham Freestyle League event, or even a National Students’ Rodeo back in the day. In that case, you’ll likely recognise these as some favourite tricks in novice freestyle events.
The women set up competitions on flat and white water – exploring different competition formats and having a go at the different roles required to run an event. The participants also spent one day completing their stadium safety rescue training with Beth Kirby. For some, this included new experiences swimming and gaining confidence in the white water environment. This was an opportunity to brush up on some essential rescue and throw-lining skills for others.
A get-together for a discussion with Tanya Nielson followed the Saturday paddling. Tanya is the Chair of GB Freestyle and spoke to the participants about the structure of GB Freestyle, the programmes currently in place, and the opportunities going forward. There was a lot of discussion around how the women can take their experiences over the two weekends so far and share these with paddlers in their local communities.
“I’ll take a whole host of great memories and new skills away from my time at HPP with ShePaddles GBFreestyle, as well as connections with some other incredible women from around the country.”
Sophie Chandan, participant
What to look out for
Following the chats with Tanya and the programme participants, we are excited to hear about the ideas and plans coming out of these weekends.
GB Freestyle is currently looking at the development of Freestyle Hubs across the country – groups of nearby clubs working together to share resources to facilitate freestyle sessions and events. We have been building networks of club representatives to put some of these in place across London and Yorkshire already (and if this sounds like something you would like your club to get in on, do reach out!).
There’s some exciting news if you’re a Cardiff local, as a freestyle competition series may come your way soon.
Several clubs are looking to put on freestyle-inspired sessions with guest coaches from the GB network, and several plan to organise sessions themselves.
