Southerly Buster e-news online now.

Canoe Sprint Season – Update on Events and Team Selections.

Australian Canoeing  will host the following key events in 2010/11

·         GP1 West Lakes, Adelaide SA 3-5 December

Entries open November 1 and close on November 19^th

Enter online on www.paddle.org.au.

Please coordinate team boat entries carefully  to avoid duplication and confusion!

Book accommodation early as there is high demand at this time

Provisional schedule

Friday                          1000m races

Saturday                      500m races

Sunday                        200m races

Further information and a detailed schedule will be available when entries open.

·         GP2 Penrith NSW 28-30 January

Entries open 13 December and close on 14 January

Enter online on www.paddle.org.au.

The schedule will follow the GP1 format and will be published when entries open.

·         National Championships West Lakes Adelaide SA 16-20 March

Entries open 7 February and close on 4 March

Enter online on www.paddle.org.au.

The schedule will be published when entries open.

The format and schedule is expected to follow the 2010 nationals schedule.

Entry enquiries to jan.hall@paddle.org.au or 02 8116 9717

·         Proposed National Team Selection Events

Under 23 and all junior teams

·         National Championships West Lakes Adelaide SA 16-20 March

Senior Team

·         Selection 1 – National Championships West Lakes Adelaide SA 16-20 March

·         Selection Event 2 – Coomera Qld 1-3 April (provisional)

·         Selection Event 3 (if required) World Cup to be determined.

·         National Squad Trials (seniors only)

·         Squad Trials November 20-21, Coomera Qld

For details, see the link below

·         2011 Selection Policies

For a summary of the proposed selection policies see the link below

Detailed policies are being developed for publication at the end of October/early November

·         Team Officials

Expressions of Interest for positions as Team Officials will open soon

www.paddle.org.au

Enquiries to hp@paddle.org.au

Ford Civil Contracting’ Downwind Ski Challenge

A few of our Southside Paddlers jumped on their skis and hit the ocean in the 8k Downwind ski challenge from Maroubra to North Bondi.

Congrats to Kylie Zikarsky in the open women’s section, Paige May in the u/19’s womens, Paul Moses in 40-44 yrs, Sasa Vujanic – open mens, and in the u/17’s Jake Moses and Adam and Luke Calo.

See photos link below from Surf Sports Face book page ( thanks Mike!)

The first edition of Southerly Buster is online now. Due to popular demand, please note change to Saturday training start time is back to 8am not 7am as previously listed on the timetable

Southside Paddlers have been venturing out to various events around Sydney. Links to results can be found below.

Events :

PNSW 5000m state championships on the Nepean

Various races at Swallow Rock, Grays Point.

PNSW – sprint series 3 and Marathon Race 7

Downwind Ski Race – Maroubra to North Bondi – 8th October 2010

This news area will continue to be updated with results, check back soon.

A picture paints a thousand words. But perhaps not the ability to express how happy we are to have the grass mown. What a good week with the spring clean up last weekend, clearing out all the rubbish and making the base look great.

Training at SSP can be very exciting, if you weren’t here yesterday you missed out on putting out a spot bushfire, wasn’t much left to do for the two fire engine crews and the police who turned up because SSP’s had it all under control. Well done 🙂

This Saturday there is some fun and competition planned for all.

The day will start at 8am at Woronora with the ‘carwash’. (bring your carwash implements and your cars will be washed by our paddlers ! J )

Whilst your car is being cleaned, Rod will be incharge of the BBQ, $2 will get you the best sausage sizzle in town.

Once the cars are clean, the kayaks will be next for a bit of spring maintenance and a clean and polish.

Then you can go home and rest up for an afternoon race down at Swallow Rock, CSKC race information attached. Sub juniors start at 1.30pm, the rest at 2pm.

http://www.cronullasutherlandkayakclub.com/files/2010%20CRONULLA%20SUTHERLAND%20KAYAK%20CLUB%20RACE%20PROGRAM.pdf

Make sure you try and wear your club colours to Swallow rock, the red singlet will be available to wear over your own  white or black t-shirt/compression top, and wear your black compression shorts/tights. If it is cold a red/grey or black hoodie will keep the theme going.

Check the Facebook site for photos of what the team colours look like

NEWSLETTER Sept 2010

FROM OUR PRESIDENT

I’m writing this after an evening’s paddle in glorious conditions. Imagine the full moon rising directly above the horizon in front of you, a great yellow ball throwing a shaft of light, and not a ripple on the water as you weave up the ever-narrowing river. And among a great bunch of people. Yes, I’m feeling pretty good about my sport.

Up till now, our national representative paddlers have had to fund their overseas and national competition obligations themselves. It has been a very haphazard affair, with some well-heeled paddlesports able to assist their own paddlers, where others have been unable to due to poor cash flow.

In a effort to create a level playing field for all representative paddlers, PaddleNSW has developed its representative paddler support policy. NSW athletes representing Australia in international competition such as World Championships can apply for a share of a special fund, that has contributions from both PaddleNSW, plus the various paddlesports through a small event entry fee levy. The new initiative is being phased in over the next three years, and we have had pleasure in supporting several athletes this year who would not normally have received assistance. We want the system to be open and transparent, and take into account the various costs each paddler is faced with, balanced against any assistance they may already receive. More details of the policy can be found in the Archives menu of the PaddleNSW website.

COMING UP IN SEPTEMBER

Sat 4  – Hawkesbury Familiarisation No.4 – Sackville to Wisemans Ferry

Sat 11 – NSW Sprint Series 4 SIRC

Sun 12 – PNSW AGM at Sports House

Sat 19 – Marathon 10 – Race 8 Lane Cove

Sat 25 & 26 – Flatwater Instructor & Guide Course Sydney

Sat 25 & 26 – WW L2 Rescue Assessment & Advanced WW skills assessment – Canberra

Sat 25 – NMS Race 6 – Gold Coast

Sat 25 – Myall Classic

Sat 25 – Recreational Paddle – Upper Colo River Adventure in the Blue Mountains National Park – free to members, contact mailto:tonycarr@ozemail.com.au

Also, put in your diaries the first recreational trip of the summer! The best things in life are free, and so is this cruise of the Royal National Park in the sunshine. Sunday 7 November – from Grays Point to Bundeena return, with lots of opportunities for swimming, snack stops in beautiful bays – this winter chill will be long forgotten.  Also in this newsletter, ‘how to design your own rec paddle’.

EDUCATION: Could there be more good news? This time its for whitewater paddlers. John Wilde with a reputation as the number one whitewater paddler in Australia is looking to hand on the baton. To do this, he is prepared to assess people on the job. Yes, it will be outdoors and during river running sessions, that you will find from the best, what it takes to be prepared as an advanced Whitewater Instructor including river safety and rescue.  Check out the "current courses" section on the Education page of the website. PaddleNSW paddlers are given big discounts and remember, if you operate within a PaddleNSW club, you may be reimbursed for most of your expenses. What more could you want?  

Flatwater Instructor (& Guide) courses are scheduled for Sydney – September 25 & 26,  Dubbo – October 5 &6,  Lismore – October 16 & 17. Registration and payment is the only way to ensure your position in the course. 

NEWS

WEARING LIFE JACKET – NEW PFD RULES

November means new rules for PFDs. NSW Waterways are putting new PFD rules into effect, in an attempt to increase the safety of paddlers, and reduce accidental deaths during our sport.

Current rules require a lifejacket to be worn more than 400 metres from shore.

Water authorities fear that swimming 400m after a capsize could be a challenge, especially if weather is rough and if the paddler was weighed down by wearing clothes and disorientated from flipping the boat. 

Rules will now state that a lifejacket must be worn if more than 100 metres from the shore in sheltered waters, and in ocean waters at all times.

This rule will come into effect on 1 November 2010 with 12month advisory period – more at http://www.maritime.nsw.gov.au/campaigns/lifejacket.html

CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA WITH YOUR KAYAK

This year Clean Up Australia cleaned up over 15 tonnes of rubbish with the help of 588 000 volunteers.

Next year us paddlers in our Canoes and Kayaks will be amongst those making a difference on Clean Up Australia Day on 6 March 2011.

Put the date in your diaries – Australian Canoeing & PaddleNSW will be making a concerted effort – keep your eye on upcoming newsletters for more info.

TECH TIP:

Twice Olympian Chantal (Meek) Minchin took a lot of heat in Beijing.

Despite sweating about 2 litres an hour in the scorching humidity, Chantal added to the engagement ring around her neck, with a bronze medal in the K-4 500m Event, at the 2008 Summer Games.

Here’s her story:

Preparing physically and mentally for a major International competition is always difficult. In Beijing this was even harder due to the extreme August heat.

The team had two options: either go a few weeks before, or arrive at the 11th hour .  We chose to go early, in order to acclimatise and give us the chance to embrace the Olympic Spirit. We had time to refocus, concentrate on our performance, and get into a daily training routine so race day would be familiar and relaxed.  

But, with 30plus temperatures and extreme humidity, our days became about how to maximise training but minimise the risk of dehydration.  

We learnt not to waste time on the water. The longer we spent under sun, the more fluid we lost – the closer we came to dehydration.  Some days, despite drinking a litre of sports drink, a mere 45mins on the water left us up to a kilo underweight.  We calculated the “sweat rate” was about 2litres an hour!

So we drastically shortened our warm ups, warm downs and cut back on the overall training. Coach feedback waited until we were back in a cool room.  Fluid intake became priority number one –  24 hours a day.

For our cross training sessions, we had to share the air-conditioned gym with the hundreds of other athletes also escaping the heat – dangerous given a respiratory condition was quickly spreading around the village.  Instead we fit our training and meal times into off peak periods, so we got just enough cross training to enable us to race at our peak.

Our team achieved success arriving early. Others Nations also performed at or above expectation by arriving last minute. Some Norwegian’s arrived just hours before their race! This way, they maximised training without the physical stress of the heat, and finished the race in time before jetlag hit!

Chantal just completed teaching an excellent 6-week course, which included personal videoed stroke assessment and invaluable advice, learnt first hand at the top of her sport. Keep an eye out in this newsletter for future courses.

PADDLER PROFILE

Richard Barnes is one hell of an enthusiastic paddler. And it seems he would do just about anything to share his passion. Why would one man need to own a fleet of 15 kayaks?  Well in Richard’s case it seems so that he can volunteer them – most often his green double Mirage called Kermit, to newbees who inadvertently then find themselves hooked. Most easily identified by his shorts, Sydney Uni T-shirt, and big smile (rain, hail or shine), he’s the guy who yells encouragement at you across the water, helps at the river bank, and suggests another hardcore paddle adventure.

Despite the feats of endurance mentioned below, Richard has an interesting philosophy on training – he doesn’t believe in it . He maintains that if you train and you don’t achieve your goals, you’ll be disappointed. BUT if you don’t train, and you do well, you’ll be thrilled – so not training may be the secret to keeping happy.

Sounds great. But the real reason Richard doesn’t train is because he constantly competing – the best workout there is!  Awarded Master of Canoeist of the Year 2009, paddled the 111km Hawkesbury Classic 29 times (mostly because he likes supporting people and having a good time), the 404km Murray Marathon 14 times, WA’s whitewater Avon Descent just once, not to mention all five XPD ten day adventure races he does across Australia. No wonder he doesn’t train!

And then there’s the paddle adventures; It’s a tough pick, but Richard reckons his top 3 kayak trips were: 

1.     His 53day circumnavigation of Tasmania in 2007. Together with Phil Newman, they planned it as 40 days to do the 1500km – it ended up taking 1912km. The highlight was knocking on the door of Australia’s southern-most lighthouse on Maatsuyker Island – the keeper and his wife weren’t expecting visitors on the island, with Tassie a far shore off to the north, and southward Antarctica on the horizon on a clear calm day.   And fortunately it was, otherwise landing the kayaks on this 2km long rocky outcrop would not have been possible.

2. Richard Barnes & six of his paddling friends – 400km crossing Western Bass Strait earlier this year. Here they only had one passage capsize the whole trip and were also blessed with flat days which made another rocky outcrop landing possible. This time it took 2,5 hours to get the boats out of the water and up a sheer 2-3m rock scramble onto the lowest ledge on Albatross Island. Having landed they walked up to find nests full of large fluffy full-sized sardine-smelling Albatross chicks, squarking up a storm. 

3. Antartica – 2005. If paddling into an icecave with a leopard seal diving under your boat and popping up to stare curiously at you is your idea of fun (and it is Richard’s!) then imagine too his motivation not to fall in! In zero degree water temperatures, Richard’s hired boat (not a K1!) took him along the Antarctic Peninsula, past tons of ice, hundreds of seals and thousands of penguins. At night Richard slept on a slightly bigger boat – the Russian semi-icebreaker on which he had cruised down from South America – no doubt dreaming up his next big adventure.               

SHOW US PART OF YOUR WORLD

It’s really easy to lead a PNSW Recreational Paddle Day. We promote the paddles, process registrations, arrange insurance and brief participants on where they have to be and what they have to bring. This leaves you free to turn on a great day for us. Just work out a route and lead the group on the day.

Some of our best paddles have been led by people who have paddled a particular waterway all their lives. They have great stories to tell. On others the scenery tells the story. The paddles are conducted at a leisurely pace and are very social. They are suitable for paddlers of all ages and experience levels. PNSW can supply Dagger Drifter 2s on a hire basis for many of the paddles we do.

From time to time Kayak Technique Workshops are held at Narrabeen Lagoon. Instructor Christine Heywood covers stroke technique, correct posture and how to conserve energy and minimise muscle soreness of typical rec paddle days.

If you have a favourite spot you’d like to share or would like to attend a Kayak Technique Workshop, contact our Recreational Paddle Co-ordinator Tony Carr by phone 0417 502 056 0417 502 056 or email tonycarr@ozemail.com.au


Feedback on this newsletter – tell us what you think, what you’d like to read, or just send your own articles – admin@paddlensw.com.au