BY DEL READ
PHOTOS: Tom Clare
Del Readhttps://delkayaks.co.uk/
@del_likes_kayaking
tom clare
@tomclaremedia
2024 ShePaddles whitewater festival at the Tryweryn
June 7-9th was the ShePaddles white water festival at the Tryweryn, and I was lucky enough to be part of it! An amazing 52 women participated, and an array of talented coaches and organisers joined them. It was a really brilliant weekend, and I was thrilled to be asked to attend on behalf of Pyranha Kayaks. I had such a good time that I wanted to write a an article to tell people all about it!
Saturday
I arrived on Saturday morning just in time for the opening briefing from event organiser Annette. A marquee had been set up to be used as a base for the weekend (thanks, River Legacy), and I joined everyone there for Annette’s talk. Annette is a ball of positivity and enthusiasm, and her upbeat attitude was mirrored by the coaches who were there to run the sessions for the weekend.
As Annette talked, I looked around the room and felt something special. White water kayaking is a sport where, for whatever reason, male paddlers massively outnumber female paddlers. It was quite something to be in a room of women who were all intent on their goals for the weekend, eager to push themselves out of their comfort zones and get as much out of the weekend as possible. You could feel the buzz of excitement amongst the paddlers, and I just thought to myself – wow! How wonderful to be a part of something this special!
Saturday
I arrived on Saturday morning just in time for the opening briefing from event organiser Annette. A marquee had been set up to be used as a base for the weekend (thanks, River Legacy), and I joined everyone there for Annette’s talk. Annette is a ball of positivity and enthusiasm, and her upbeat attitude was mirrored by the coaches who were there to run the sessions for the weekend.
As Annette talked, I looked around the room and felt something special. White water kayaking is a sport where, for whatever reason, male paddlers massively outnumber female paddlers. It was quite something to be in a room of women who were all intent on their goals for the weekend, eager to push themselves out of their comfort zones and get as much out of the weekend as possible. You could feel the buzz of excitement amongst the paddlers, and I just thought to myself – wow! How wonderful to be a part of something this special!
One much-needed shower later, I was back in the River Legacy marquee enjoying a refreshing lemonade! River Legacy is a paddling charity that supports events and raises money to help get people out on the rivers. So my lemonade tasted extra yummy, knowing it was for a good cause!
The fabulous team provided dinner over at the cafe, and by 19:00, everyone was fed and happy. They were back over in the marquee for the evening talk. Lowri Davies, a UK kayaking legend and also one of the coaches for the weekend, was providing the talk on her adventures to the Zambezi. Whilst paddling the Zambezi might not be on everyone’s list of life goals, I think everyone could appreciate hearing about her extraordinary adventures. It was a great talk, with the highlight being watching a video of Lowri floating down quite a chunky Zambezi rapid on her inflatable unicorn! What a woman! A lovely, chilled evening of chatting and laughter in the marquee followed.
Sunday
Sunday morning came with a breeze, which was very welcome given how many midges seem to be residing at the Tryweryn this Summer! Meeting for a staff catch-up, I was presented with the exciting opportunity to coach for the day alongside the wonderful Cara McNamara. After a group photo and handing out many angry fish sponges (thanks, Pyranha!), our little group of four headed to the top of the Upper section.
We got on and ended up splitting into two groups. I took my two paddlers to the little wave below the bridge by the rafting get-on. Both of my paddlers happened to be called Dani and were awesome! We had a great session working on using river features to move around the river and using the waves, holes, and eddy lines to help us break in and out of the flow and ferry glide. We ended up moving above the chipper as there were some great practice spots.
I enjoy coaching but don’t get to do it as often as I would like, so having the opportunity to do a whole day of coaching was nice! Both Dani’s had a great attitude and committed to giving everything a go and reflecting on their paddling as we went along. They did well, made lots of progress, and (I hope) had as good a day on the water as I did!
Finally, it was time to get off! The Dani’s got off, and I paddled down to end the lap, stopping for a quick surf break on the lower Graveyard! I was pretty tired when I got off and changed, but I felt incredibly satisfied the whole weekend. It was rewarding, fun, inspiring, social, and generally wholesome. I said my goodbyes and thank you to everyone before heading off home – tired but extremely happy!
Thank you
A huge thank you to so many people for pulling off a fantastic weekend! Including…
- Annette and all Tryweryn staff involved in the weekend’s organisation and running.
- All of the incredible coaches who put on such worthwhile and motivational sessions.
- Thank you to all of the brilliant participants! I had so many interesting conversations over the weekend and was continually blown away by how focused, resilient, and determined every paddler I met was! Everyone was incredibly supportive of each other, and it made for such a welcoming and encouraging atmosphere throughout the weekend.
- Pyranha Kayaks, thank you for letting me represent them and providing the sponges. (A big shout out to Mollie, who was also there for the weekend.)
- The River Legacy crew for providing the marquee, the bar and refreshments!
- Tom (my lovely husband) took all these outstanding photos I’ve used in this article.
I can’t wait until next year!
Thanks for having me!
