The Bold and the Beautiful

Since moving to Manly my life has transformed in many ways, instead of spending 4 hours of my day experiencing the variety of public transport Sydney has to offer I now get up, walk to Manly Surf Lifesaving Club and meet the Bold and the Beautiful. A fantastic bunch of Ocean Swimmers who meet all 365 days of the year to swim from South Stain end of the beach to Shelly Beach and back. Since joining this eager group of early rises I have witness the most amazing sunrises and marine life. The most spectacular was the baby whaler sharks, actually looking like mini sharks complete with shark weave, I never thought I would be this excited about seeing a shark but so many of the swimmers had spotted them I was starting to feel left out. The other truly amazing swim was a morning when the sea was filled with electric blue plankton, they shone in the sea like neon blue lights as we swam through them - truly magical!

OCEAN SWIMMING

The most incredible sport I have taken up since I have been here is the Aussie Ocean Swims. There is nothing quite like running into the sea within a pack of people on a beautiful sunny day and diving into the bluest of oceans. With the blast of adrenalin, excitement and anticipation of swimming within the raw elements with no aid but my own being, I feel more alive than ever.

My first race here was the Cole Classic in Manly Beach. It had strangely rained so much non-stop for the previous two days there was talk that it might be cancelled. But on the morning of the swim the rain had stopped and the race was on. A small alteration had been made to the course which meant swimming further out to sea – great I might get a shark sighting after all!

There is a fantastic pre-race atmosphere as all the swimmers with their brightly coloured hats (to reveal real age) wait their turn for their category to be called. These ocean swims aren’t just about your swimming ability, but how you handle this kind of sea assault course. The initial stage of the race is the most testing dew to the catapulting splash of strong sea salted water and flying arms and legs attacking from every direction.

I found myself laughing because I felt right in my element. With no fear of the water or the swim ahead this was the best sporting challenge I’ve had in a long time. The race settles out and a good pace was found. There’s no swimming lane boredom here but extraordinary surprises, one being the amazing sea life, lots of different shoals of fish, the sun beaming in like pure paradise then the Oceans natural swell which was pretty big on this day.

I reached the last cone to mark the way and gave it everything to the shore with final sprint up the beach to the finish. I suddenly felt really sick and very nearly throw up – the first aid ran over asking if I needed assistance! No, I think I was suffering from simple seasickness. I enjoyed that swim far too much for it to pain related!

I have been hooked ever since, competing nearly every weekend and training is even better. On a Saturday morning I meet friends and we do the Manly to Shelly swim. It’s so much fun, random people join us, we see the shoals of fish to swim through then finish the morning off with a big Brekki in one of the beach cafes. I love this place more and more each day. Who needs a holiday when you can have all this?

Shoot the Player at the Carriage Works

For those that don’t know, Shoot the player is a non-profit music video production team founded and run by Amelia Tovey and Jonathan Wald.

Last Saturday morning I went to their live discussion at the Carriage Works. What they do is they approach great musicians they either like or who have been recommended by followers of Shoot the Player and ask them to perform acoustically in iconic random spaces i.e. a park, the beach, the streets etc. Amelia and Jonathan then film them in the agreed location but with out any rehearsals! These are never-to-be-repeated musical and visual experiences. They don’t just film the music they capture the interaction the musicians have with the public, the mistakes that happen, the lead up to the song, the in between songs when they joke around with each other. Everything is there raw and interesting, you get a real glimpse of the true artists personality. Via the internet the bands can be seen by fans all over the world.

I love great music videos but this off the cuff film making was a first for me and afterwards I had a great admiration for the pair. Despite neither of them having much technical knowledge or state of the art equipment the short movies are captivating and imaginative. It just shows what wonders the creative eye can produce no matter what tools there are to play with.

You can watch these one-take music videos on www. shoottheplayer.com/blog/ If you can know of a band you think would be great to shoot in this spontaneous way or an interesting destination for them to film you can post your comments on http://twitgoo.com/c55c6

My introduction to Sailing!

Sailing on Sydney Harbor is a completely different experience to the rough brutal English Channel experience I had earlier in the year. My fun spirited, adventurous, indefatigable friend here, also from Bristol Rowing Club introduced me to Friday night sailing, they call it the twilight session.

We arrived at Sydney Yacht Squadron – the most prestigious sailing club in Sydney (Prince Philip is a patron!) and I was introduced to the Skipper, his wife and their impressive 34ft Beneteau, a large sailing yacht.

Now I don’t have much experience in sailing at all apart from the odd experience between the ages of 14 and 17 I trapezed off the side of a Fireball, great fun until we capsized in the freezing dark Welsh waters. Then there was a few outings on a Laser where the friends Dad form of teaching was to just shout louder in hope we would understand in the end!!?! And then a couple of times on my Grandad’s boat here in Australia. Sailing has been a huge part of his life and I have always admired his strong passion for the sport.

So this Friday evening session is in fact a race but 20 mins into it, the red wine is opened and nibbles and dips are passed round! The sun is setting, we are in Sydney harbor with the Bridge and Opera house so elegantly poised, sea breeze, good company – I can’t imagine a better way of ending the week than this. Everyone has their jobs and works well together on board. There is slight tension between crew now and again but nothing like what was to come on my future sailing expeditions!

We all come in to the club, more wine/beer dinner and I get invited to come back next week to help crew, now with an increasing knowledge of what has to be done on board. As I am so enthusiastic about taking up the sailing I am then introduced to a guy who is organizing a course on sailing Ynglings, a boat slightly bigger than the Laser but less vulnerable to capsizing… apparently. He says I need to be at the club for 9.30am. I immediately stop drinking and put my self on a train back home.

I arrive at the club bright and early to discover I am being instructed by an Olympic Sailor and using her own Yngling boat she used in Athens! It was theory in the morning and sailing with practice of putting the spinnaker up in the afternoon. I actually felt very, very sea sick towards the end (something that I know I am vulnerable to) and the boatman had to extract me from the sailing vessel and into his speed boat where we powered round the harbor checking on each of the other boats progress while my sickness subsided – I was having terrific fun so I told him and to which he replies ‘well this is only half throttle!!!’ and powers the speed up even more! I got back on the Yngling for the last 10 mins and felt OK. I was then informed I was entered into a regatta the following day where we would do 6 races which would take about 5 hours!! Normal for a sailing regatta I am told. I practically only learnt to sail in a day and even then I was ill but nether the less I couldn’t turn down this opportunity of racing with an Olympic Athlete!

In the morning Lucy my lovely Godmother comes down to the club with me and I manage to get her on one of the speedboats watching our race. The kind gentleman’s daughter is racing in my boat too. So Lucy is whisked away in his Jag to his 3 story house looking over the harbor with speedboat parked out front. The next time I see Lucy she is sitting on the top deck of this speedboat, drinking tea and eating sandwiches, bobbing a few meters away from our finish line.

I made sure I took my Kweles! Which hadn’t worked on the Channel so my faith seriously needed to be with stored now.

Karen the Olympian was amazing, for almost every race we were first off the start and if we weren’t, as soon as we tacked we would be ahead again, she read the water with complete natural instinct and a calm confidence. I was the forignhand where I control the jib sheet and attempted to put the spinnaker up. I should have a lot more jobs but this was about my limits of sailing knowledge! It was great fun and I didn’t feel sick once! To my astonishment we won the regatta – mainly down to Karen’s superior instructing. Once back on land we received our Gold medals, drank lots of champagne and a BBQ to end the day. I was then invited to race on Tuesday night – The Women’s Yngling twilight race!

Tuesday came and I raced with predominant members, Hamish and Louise. This was a lot more serious and I way out of my comfort zone, at one point I thought I might be more help if I jumped out and swam back! I am far from fluent in the technical terms of sailing lingo, they might as well have been talking in some far outback aboriginal tribal language from what I was understanding. Each rope controlling not only different sails but different parts of the sails, and then there is the sea, yes that big vast blue thing that has now turned into this manuscript which needs to be read meticulously to anticipate your every move to ensure the boat is set up on the most dynamic course possible. For what I thought was supposed to be a friendly affair of a race was actually more similar to a heated argument between jail-mates the whole way round! Back in the club we all met and I was asked if I had fun?? I wasn’t sure I had but I knew it wasn’t enough to put me off, so replied ‘oh yes it was great fun’. Secretly thinking I need to get good at sailing FAST or I wont last a second longer. Once the Champaign was flowing (they seem to celebrate a lot!) the outing I had just experienced turned into this fantastic event that I couldn’t wait to happen again! As always I want to take the bull by the horns and get stuck in as much as possible so when Louise suggests joining her the next day for 2 races on a Sydney 38 (another type of huge sailing yacht) I can’t refuse!

Another beautiful day in Sydney! I meet Louise at Milsons Point and we walk across Sydney Harbor Bridge – I have to pinch myself now and again as I feel so lucky to be here. I love this city more and more everyday. It rained a couple of days ago as I was walking back from the station but was actually very refreshing and I always notice how the wet weather enhances the wonderful smell of the eucalyptus trees that line the streets.

The Sydney 38’s are amazing yachts, so big and have a huge presents in the harbor especially when sailing along together in a pack. This time four of us girls have the job of being dead weight on the high side of the boat when keeled over. This is in fact a very important role as it enables the boat run faster! One of the few rolls I have actually mastered! The blazing sun, blue cloudless sky, legs dangling over the edge, high above the seas splash as the yacht blissfully slices through the ocean. The Skipper got a bit hot headed at one point, something or someone had made an error when going about and we were now being over taken – he shouted to the crew ‘that’s it no more beer!’ By this point we had only had one each and I hardly think having the job as ballast weight another beer would make us any better or worse at our job!! Maybe for the more active crew members it would. Anyway it was soon forgotten and back in the docks we all sat in the cock pit (I am still learning the lingo so that could be wrong!??) and lots of lovely canapé type food came out followed by more beer and wine. Louise insisted we did the twilight session, so another Sydney 38 opposite preparing to go out shouted across if any of us wanted to crew so Louise and I piped up and jumped across. This was a shorter race and a younger crew, everyone dashing about their duties despite the fact most people were knew to each other. It was quite an eventful outing as two of the head sails broke, thousands of $ worth of sail gone in an hour. They seemed amazingly chilled out for the damages that occurred!

This sailing lark definitely attracts the most pro-active personality because it’s highly important to look busy this kind of earns your place on the boat, everyone is constantly looking for a job and just getting on with it. My uncle told me when he’s at work he looks busy by walking round the office with a piece of paper in his hand (the paper has nothing on it!) perhaps if I walk around the boat with some rope in my hand this will have the same impression, just while I am learning anyway!

We had another fantastic sail as the sun was setting. Afterwards we all headed to the club bar where all the crews are mingling with each other, the atmosphere is buzzing and I am invited to race on various boats almost everyday next week. Some people I hear call this a boat whore but I see it as fast tracking my boat skills so I can start pulling my weight instead of being just dead weight!!! The down side is I am never going to find a job if I am sailing all the time! But this has to be the most perfect place in the world to learn to sail.

Cherbourg via the Isle of White (a sailing experience that questioned weather I would ever sail again!)

Butleigh rugby club as many well know has a plethora of traditions; one of these is the annual yacht trip to Cherbourg to pick up refreshments for the club. On the evening of July 16th four people; Mike Rodgers, Chris English, Julia and Antonia Maunder assembled in Butleigh’s Rose and Port pub before setting off in Mike’s specially purchased family car to meet up with James piggy Pearse the captain of the ship. Now there has been some speculation as to whether girls should be allowed to join in on this sort of thing but in the spirit of the new Butleigh committee and the fact that Julia has out drunk several Butleigh players several times it was decided she should go.

Now Mike doesn’t just share his first name with Schumacher for nothing and within 10 minutes he had his front seat companion, Chris sweating, praying for his life and holding on to the passenger door handle with the grip of a python tackling ambitious sized prey.
Little did Chris know this would be the smoothest part of the journey ahead.
Arriving at the south coast port minus only a wing mirror Chris was sent immediately to the yacht to unpack his enormous suitcase on wheels.

In Butleigh style the trip kicks off by meeting at a bar in Poole where skipper Piggy moors his yacht ‘H.M.S. Scudamore’ in a near by marina. The first leg of the cross channel journey is a purely technical affair, that of boarding the boat and chugging half a mile negotiating the harbour lifting bridge before mooring up and returning to the pub.
The following morning, much to the astonishment of Skipper Piggy everyone was up at 5am and ready to help. Mike set about making bacon and egg baguettes as they cruised out of the calm warm waters of Poole harbour with the sun shining brightly in a big blue sky. They were, however heading out, unbeknown to everyone except Piggy into Gale force 10 winds complete with howling thunderstorms and reduced visibility. Chris, by this point was down below donning an apron, one of the many practical items he had packed in his case. Strangely he only packed one pair of trousers which as he later discovered wasn’t to be enough when in a mid channel nautical incident involving heavy seas his flies broke and thereafter he had to spend the entire weekend flying low. This was to attract a great deal of attention in a bar later that night.
The crew cleared the idyllic white cliffs that shelter the Dorset coast and started to get into rougher waters. As the boat lurched down one of the first larger waves Chris in his marigolds and apron was sent flying backwards and lay sprawled out on the floor of the boat. Julia and Chris at this point were looking decidedly pale. It was clear there was soon to be re-sampling opportunities of the culinary delights of Mike’s breakfast baguette and Antonia was duly sent to get life jackets and ties lines for them both. Seconds later Mike lurched half over the side heaving and retching coming up a few moments later with blood and worse all over his face. Julia and Chris soon followed suit.

Thirty minutes later, Antonia joined this elite group leaving only Captain Piggy still digesting his breakfast. Gagging noises heard coming from his direction cast doubt as to whether this would last. By this time Chris was doing a chameleon impression having matched the colour of his face to his green coat. Piggy with winds screeching through the rigging voiced his concern that no one was having fun and asked if anyone would like to turn around; ‘we have a further 9 hrs of this to make France’ he shouted. Mike with patches of scraggy dried blood on his face insisted despite not being able to show any enthusiasm that ‘everyone is loving it’. Piggy then asks Chris directly, who at this point is looking close to death how he is and from somewhere a quiet heroic voice says ‘lets push on’ before closing his eyes. Julia and Antonia aren’t caving in either. Piggy in a vain attempt not to put the crew off sailing for life (to the secret relief of all on board) turns around.

Almost back in Poole harbour and most of the sickness is passing, terra firma is within grasp and there is an eager anticipation to take that first step on to land. Showers are also high on the agenda particularly for Antonia as she has inexplicably managed to throw up down her own back. Piggy however isn’t going to let anyone off, rounding up cats would be a simpler task than getting this rabble back on board after stepping on dry land. ‘The Isle of White I believe has four vin yards’ he shouts and turns the boat about and a new heading is set for the Island’s main port!
On arrival at Yarmouth, Isle of White, the two nearest vin yards are located and the crew set out by foot. British wine doesn’t have the greatest reputation and after sampling the 5 bottles on offer (no red because it’s all in the local co-op) they left feeling obliged to purchase a couple of token bottles. Completely sober, it’s decided to get back in the Butleigh tradition and head straight for a pub, Piggy knows just the one.

The ‘Saltys’ Inn is famous for its live music and fantastic atmosphere during the summer months. Within an hour Julia and Antonia are dancing on the tables along with half of the population of the Island. Chris is singing a reluctant duet with the DJ and Piggy is making his own moves on an attractive brunette, taking full advantage of the lack of space or maybe dirty dancing is just his style.

2pm and the music is over they head back to the harbour only to discover the yacht’s dingy not where they left it. Mike had tied the dinghy up using simple Plimsoll knots but had made up for it with sheer quantity ruling out the possibility of it having drifted away.

Captain Piggy who in the pub had been the ‘skilled‘ winner of a pacey card drinking game ‘shithead’ is by inclination a mariner of stern social etiquette but was now a wild boar, charging up and down the marina before spotting his dinghy being rowed a short way out by two men. He shouted at them ‘get back here!’ and much to everyone’s surprise they did. As it arrived at the steps the two men quite little and very large tried to run past, little squeezed through Chris’s legs but large had the wroth of a raging piggy who unleashed a well aimed haymaker shouting ‘you’re swimming’ as large fell back into the harbour waters.

Piggy having gained control of the dinghy fired up the outboard motor and to the concern of his own crew headed fearlessly towards the men’s yacht to take on the rest of their twelve strong stag group leaving the two miscreants standing on the shore quaking and stranded. Eventually after a wholesome exchange of abuse with the antagonists Piggy was persuaded back towards the faithful H.M.S. Scudamore.

The following morning the expedition complete with just the two bottles of Isle of White wine arrived back in Poole harbour delighted and happily exhausted with their fulfilling but unfulfilled venture.

Two weeks later a new crew including the battered but unbowed Mike Rodgers under resolute Captain Piggy set sail for France once more.
by Antonia Maunder

The quickest 6 weeks of my life just went by...

I just had the most amazing 6 weeks of my life. I stopped having time to blog/email/barely FB but it was actually refreshing when usually I spend most of my life on a computer. It made me think even outside work so much time is consumed looking at a screen when we should be having REAL experiences. I will now be re-living the past 6 weeks through my computer for the next year... well hopefully not because this year will be filled with LOADS more : ) A new adventure this time based in Sydney.

Instead of writing an essay I am going tell my East Coast travels in pictures....


Leaving Sydney on the tube - very very very excited!













Cairns harbor. Unable to swim in the sea because of the crocs!!! But there was a lagoon that all the party animals hung out on in the day time.












Cape Tribulation - such a beautiful
tropical beach.










Below are some friends we made including Vanessa, a crazy, very good fun Irish girl and Marco who we said goodbye to 1000 times as we kept bumping into him all down the coast!

Heaven must look like this...

Just got back off the Atlantic Clipper where I stayed for the past two nights visiting the Whitsundays. It is truly the most beautiful place. Whitehaven is what my idea of what heaven must actually look like. As soon as I get my photos on here you will understand and if you have seen them you will agree.

We took a 9hr Greyhound bus to Arly Beach and Stayed for the night in Magnums backpackers. Our hut had 6 other northern lasses in it. Very friendly but one had 250 bedbug bites on her!! nice. We got on the Clipper at 2pm and it sailed (ok motored) over to the Whitsundays. There was 53 of us on board. It was a really lovely boat and our cabins were pretty roomy, plus we got a duvet so I was about to have my best nights sleep I have had in 3 weeks. We had all meals provided which was a blessing especially as there was a brilliant cook.

All travellers would have heard of 'The Goon' basically cheap boxed wine that tastes rank. But everyone drinks it so time to get stuck into it as well. Feels like we are back at uni sometimes. There was then lots of card games played and music on the top deck. We have learnt a brilliant card drinking game called 'The ring of fire' I can't explain now but is great for a big group.

Next day we were up early and spent the morning on Whitehaven - beautiful beyond words. Then we went snorkeling obviously on a different part of the Barrier Reef. We saw a huge Turtle loads of fish - parrot fish - so pretty loads of fish big, small. Then got back to the clipper and they attached a huge water slide to the boat - so much fun. Like Green Bank Pool in the old days but I didn't get told off for going head first!!!

Last night there was an erotic story writing competition. I love a competition and I love creative writing so I got stuck into it. Last night they read all the good ones out and for a moment I thought oh no mine was so bad that they weren't going to read it, but he saved the winning story till last and it was mine ha ha. So funny, the crew said they felt slightly arousied reading it so it had to win and I got the prize money of a whopping great $30. There is an after party tonight with the whole crew - can't wait.

Oh aaaaaand One of the crew called Rhyan has just got a job in Neighbours and starts in 5 weeks so I already have his autograph and a photo with him - he said I was his first fan!!! So there is no way he will forget me!! Neighbours fans will understand . . . sisters back me up here!

Off to meet these 2 lovely dutch girls in the lagoon, Scott and I met them at beach Olympics, one of them is an events manager and she said I could have a career in it if I wanted!

Speak again soon xxxx

ps and we saw dolphins last night 5 of them played around the ship for a while. So cool.

CAIRNS!!

I am finely finding the need to use this blog site again. I could attempted to write everyone personal emails which I would prefer but my Internet time now has a limit plus the sun is beckoning for us to be out side!

Having a fantastic time. Scott and I are now certified divers now! The first two days were in the classroom and pool doing lots of skills tests videos etc. It was very intense, had to take a lot in in a short space of time. Then at the end of day 2 we had the theory exam. There was 7 of us and we were aloud to take as long as we liked, after about half an hour the rest of the class had finished and gone home and Scott and I were still there half an hour later ha ha., to the point the instructor woman who was a patronising cow said to us not to worry, there's nothing wrong with being slow!!! We thought this comment was hilarious but she then thought we weren't taking it serious enough! Anyway we scrapped through and passed.... we are designers what do you expect!

Spent the last two days in the Great Barrier Reef and it was absolutely amazing sooooooo fantastically amazing. We saw all the fish in finding Nemo.... even a shark although it was the size of my arm! Not scary at all. We saw a huge turtle which was amazing. Scott touched it's back so I did then got told off, even though the instructor was flinging a sea cucumber around like there was no tomorrow. I really don't think she liked us. Then yesterday we had this really cool Korean instructor called Ray, he was so enthusiastic about everything and we completed our PADI withe him and it was high 5's all round. Plus he thought Scott and we so natural we were aloud to go out by our selves on the last dive. We were slightly apprehensive as we seem to get lost quite a lot generally let alone under the sea. But it was really good, a huge sense of freedom in a new world. We found our way back fine.

The hostel we are in at the moment isn't the best and this morning just as we were checking out a cockroach fell on my head!!! Not impressed but we are heading to mission beach on the Grey Hound bus at 12pm then booked into do a sky dive on Scott's birthday on the 24th Thursday plus we are staying in a hostel called Scotties!! So it was as if it was meant to be.

We have made friends with a couple of Irish and English and an Aussie girl who are doing the same thing. They said Scott has to wear his birthday suit to do his sky dive ha ha... Can't wait for the sky dive, 14,000 feet and we land on the beach it's self.

Got to go, miss you all loads xxx

My training partners name is now pain!

Well pain was always there waiting for the opportunity to step up and now coincidentally just as Julia has chosen a new path I have found a new level of pain… the kind you get that makes you feel like you’re going to pass out or throw up! But that’s a 500m sprint for you and the name of this game. Training at Elmbridge is good and it’s just what I needed to make this winter a positive one. Elmbridge canoe club is a fantastic place; with plenty of talent, the Thames and great coaches. It makes working hard that bit easier and so far I am happy with the improvements I have made here.

I am very excited about the year ahead and although Julia is already missed and the reason I have got this far, I know that this is for me regardless of my environment or company. Even when I’m not sure about stepping out of the door in the ice, sleet, rain, snow, wind and floods; I just have to think about how lucky I am to be training every day and how much I enjoy pushing myself to new limits and striving to improve in the boat and in the gym.

I will endeavor to keep you updated on my progress on Julia’s blog if you care to follow the second sisters continuing journey in the world of sprint kayaking!

Goodbye Kayaking

It has been far too long since I have written but over time I have made the decision to give up kayaking. It was the hardest decision I have ever made and took a long time to realise that I couldn’t go on any more. I had a lot of doubt in my mind for a long time and this started to make training a constant battle. When I was training 3-4 times everyday it just made me very unhappy. I can’t stand the thought of giving up, but I was burnt out and felt mentally drained all the time. Maybe if there had been a sharper progression curve I could have thrived off this but I think it is one of the hardest skills to master in the world as an adult and I would like to see Rebecca Romero take on the Sprint Kayak challenge.

My sister Antonia on the other hand is still extremely motivated and to be honest was always slightly better than me at the sport. I found this very hard to deal with as well, because she’s my younger sister. I have always felt I should be better than her and although I did come to terms with it, when you are training in a pair most of the time you are either first or last.

Antonia has now moved to Surrey and is living in Kingston-on-Thames and training with Roland Lawler at Elmbridge Canoe Club. Roland is a leading GB coach who guided his son Ivan to 5 successive world championships. Our original plan was for me to move there too, however after completing a couple of grueling training sessions I knew that I couldn’t do it anymore!

I do feel sorry for letting people down who believed in me but I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to give everything and see how far I could take it. I couldn’t have done that with out the support of my family and friends. I don’t regret spending 18 months training full time, it was a brilliant experience and I have far more respect for every athlete who invests the time it take takes to train at that standard.

I will always do sport because it’s in my blood and would go crazy with out it. At the moment I am running a lot with Wells Harriers. I aim to do a triathlon at some point this year or any sporting challenges that come my way.

I have recently made another decision of moving to Australia. It is something I have always wanted to do and now I really want to do something for myself. I am lucky that I love my career in Graphic Design and want to pursue this in Sydney. Half my family live there so feels like a natural move to make. Also I haven’t forgotten about the Iron Man competition I saw on Coogie Beach – an exciting goal that isn’t 4 years away!

I have a lot of respect for Antonia, training is her life and she loves leading it this way. Antonia never questions the amount of training even when she is really exhausted, she just gets on with it. She is doing really well at Elmbridge and is around the right people to enable her to see how far she can take it. Antonia is going to write the next installment on her progression.

Thank you to everyone who helped me pursue an amazing dream especially those who helped coach me. Andy Maycock, Matt Brown, Ivan Lawler and to the BCU who lead me on this adventure and introduced me to a very good friend Naomi who has been a kind of mentor through out.

Fast track slow track by Antonia

Fast tracking myself has been a challenge that is nigh on impossible, as to do something quickly you need to miss out the mistakes which take up time by learning from the best in the game. The best people in the game are few and far between in this country. Sprint Kayaking is a minority sport and as I have realised by training at nearly every club in the south, the place to be for the fastest improvement is London. All serious canoeists travel to London to train, to get the depth of competition required to gauge how good you really are. What purpose does it serve to be the best at your local club if you turn up at a national competition only to be thrashed and ultimately humiliated? This issue is compounded by the technical nature of sprint kayaking and that most clubs don’t have dedicated coaches. Sprint kayaking is the most technical sport I have attempted to master. I never would have thought to be the case, but even months after learning, I had only just scratched the surface. All my fitness, strength and power, hours in the gym and on the lake counted for very little when a chubby 14year old girl effortlessly moved passed me, while I thrashed and fought my way through the race. She was technically sound and that is what is required in the first instance to move a sprint boat fast.
It is evident now that we have taken a slow track in the way we have progressed in the sport; not in time but in relation to the number of sessions we have done. We haven’t started canoeing like most with one session a week; we have thrown ourselves into it with complete commitment and enthusiasm. Typically training on the water five times a week and land training including specific weight training, running, swimming and cycling seven times a week from the start. This is where we have gained momentum and improvement at a greater rate than the typical canoeist and also why I feel like my input hasn’t yielded the results that I set myself a year ago. My targets were inline with the athlete being coached on the fast track programme and even with the quantity of training in place, without the quality of coaching and expert knowledge we have not been able to attain the results we were aiming for. However in this year I have markedly improved my paddling, strength and fitness and by taking the route with a big detour we managed to gain a strength in character, confidence and self belief that cannot be given to you by a coach. However it is now time to go to London to get some decent coaching and combine strength and fitness with technique to see if I have what it takes to make a boat go faster than anyone else.

5 x falling in champion!

This weekend is the last Sprint Regatta of the season. I have no idea how much we have improved but the last two weeks it has seemed the odds have been against us.

Firstly we have a serious transport problem. The head gasket went on our car then our mothers car then yesterday on the way to our last paddle session the exhaust decided to fall off my borrowed Grannies car! So it seemed doubtful that we were even going to get to Nottingham but luckily living on a farm it was fixed or temporarily welded back on . . . it could still fall off on the way to Nottingham!!! (please no)

This last month we have had the honor of training with Elmbridge Canoe Club. One of the foremost canoe clubs in the country. At one of the regattas someone pointed out the Kayak legend Ivan Lawler, 6 times world champion. If you want to be the best you have to surround your self in the best so we approached Ivan to ask if we could train with them. We told him our back ground and he said if we had been on the fast track programme we must have some bite about us and agreed to see us.

Elmbridge Canoe Club is based is Weybridge so we trecked up there to meet Ivan and his group of youngsters he coaches. We went through loads of skills that we had never been taught to help our stability issues. It was very refreshing to have his input, he truly is a gifted coach and his methods were similar to the rowing coaching we used to get. A no messing around attitude and if you show willing, he has a lot of time for you.

The next morning Rowland Lawler Chief Coach of Elmbridge and yes Ivan’s Dad who coached him to victory was taking the session in the morning. We had already done a session with Ivan first thing and we were asked if we would like to join the group where about 40 paddlers get on the water and are split into 3 groups. One of our main issues is we find it very hard to paddle in wash as so we thought we should just go for it. Whats the worse that can happen, we fall in!

So we got on the water and were circling in our boats while everyone came on. We recognised a few paddlers from the GB squad and I suddenly thought what the hell are we doing here?? We were put in the third group and Roland set the first 2 groups off. Well the whole river turned into the sea and then he set our group off, after 500m I fell in! I couldn’t believe it! Antonia bless her was worried and waited for me. I quickly got back in and we managed to catch up with them again in time for the 2nd effort. But yes I fell in again! The groups just seemed to paddle off into the distance and as I had a bit more of a swim I wasn’t sure I would catch up with them so headed in that direction anyway. I eventually saw them and realised they were actually charging towards me so quickly spun the boat and joined in a head of the wash, I managed to stay in for this one! Amazing! They started setting people off with the slower ones first. Roland shouted out “what’s your name” at Antonia, she answered “Antonia” he replied, “can’t say that your name is Tony!” Then said to me, “your Tony’s friend”! Charming! So he set Tony’s friend off first, yes me, then Tony. This worked a lot better not being in the wash, but I managed to fall in another 2 times!! The choppy water is my biggest enemy, the Hunstpil is so flat and if there is wind it’s coming from one direction so can get use to it. We found to improve we just have to paddle more often with a group it’s the only way forward.

Our biggest problem is living 40mins from our nearest river and 2 hours from our nearest decent club. We spend so much time traveling around the country and it really takes it out of you. We will be into winter training after this regatta and need a solid season if we are going to make the improvements we need by next Summer. Hopefully this winter wont be too bitter or we might just find our selves in Australia again!

No rest for the wicked!!!!!

Recently I went on a family holiday in St. Ives. Even though I was slightly apprehensive about sharing a house with extended family with 3 teenage boys (my cousins and brother) I was quite looking forward to a break from training and working day in and day out. I find it very hard to just stop. A lot of the time I don’t feel like I deserve a break. I train more than the average person so I spend working in my spare time to make up for it.
From when I get up at 6am till I go to bed I am either training or working which doesn't leave any time for socialising and relaxation.
A few days before this much looked forward to relaxing holiday a letter came through the post from Sport England inviting Antonia and I to testing for the Girls for Gold Scheme. Great Britain are doing another scout for talented athletes in Cycling, Modern Pentathlon, Windsurfing, Bob Skeleton and Rowing. I don’t know if we are insane but somehow we couldn't resist doing the testing. It would have been like closing a door on opportunity. With this testing due, only a week after the holiday we had to get in some quality sessions. So we took our road bikes and loads of training kit and off we went.


No it's not a big seal it's my Dad. The sea really is that colour - Beautiful!

The day we arrived our cousins got us in the sea and we swam a mile across the harbour. Ok it wasn’t that intense but I did have my little?? 21 yr. old sister Suzanna on my back for half the way as she didn’t think she would make it.

Day 2 was Antonia’s birthday. We were going to take it a easy so we got the bikes out to go for a discovery peddle around. We saw a sign to Land’s End and thought how exciting lets cycle there and get the train back!. OH MY GOSH it was soooooo hilly. Up a hill half an hour....., down a hill ......2 seconds, up a hill...., down..., there was no flat the whole way!! As we hadn’t prepared for it, by the time we got there we were staving and in shock. There was no train station, in fact there was nothing apart from a touristy shopping complex. I had such a sugar low I could barely walk, but we found the pasty shop and had the most AMAZING pasty I have ever tasted. We then rang Suz and got her to pick us up. She wasn’t amused and granny had told her not to come and that we should cycle back!!! Perhaps she was right but we wouldn’t have made it before dark and Ant’s birthday BBQ would have been over!

Another ridiculous idea was going for a run first thing before breakfast, along a the coastal path to Zenner, it was 7 miles. We thought, 'that will be a good run there and back.' It started off fine then turned into extremely rocky terrain so we had to run where we could and climb the parts we couldn’t. Antonia described me as a mountain goat to some passers by!! After an hour it turned very misty and there was nothing but cliff edges, rocks, sea and gorse. There was no escaping and there was no way we were turning back so we carried on. Luckily we found a stream half way and had a drink out of it - I couldn’t taste dead sheep so think it was all right. We got to our destination after 2.5hrs (I'm sure it was more than 7 miles!) and were so pleased to see a cafe in the tiny Cornish village we ordered a huge lunch at 11am plus it had a bus stop. We weren’t running back!

Amongst pier jumping and swimming with seals, we also went mackerel fishing which was a big mistake. Five minuets into it I felt so sick I had my head over the side - Dad thought I was just taking the fishing very seriously until he himself was sick, followed by my Auntie, then my little cousin then my sisters. At that point the fisherman said he better take the hospital boat back to shore. I am never doing that ever again!







































The last adventure we went on was a trip to Portrieth, to go Surfski kayaking with Holly, who we had met on the fast track programme. The Surf was huge and we were using these kayaks you sit on instead of sitting in. We paddled through the surf to get 'out back' which was great fun.We fell off and had to quickly get back on before the next wave crashed over us, then paddle as hard as possible to make it over the next wave. Once we were through the breaking waves, there were yet more huge rolling waves. It was awesome fun. Holly is into Quadrathlon which is swimming, kayaking, cycling and running - I have to do that one day, I may as well put all these skills to use.

So, not very relaxing holiday! Although it was a break and I don’t do sunbathing anyway. Plus the boys made it much more fun and they learnt the valuable skills of washing up!

We had testing last weekend for the Girls for Gold. I don’t want to say too much about it. I was really glad I went and again they sell you the dream of competing at a home Olympics. What they don’t say is there are no guarantees, you can give up everything and give it your all and then that isn’t enough either. But for me it’s worth that risk, it’s not a risk it’s a choice to take the opportunity.

Nat Champs Review

I have finely found time to write on here. The Nationals had it’s highs and lows. In kayaking you are promoted on your 500m and 1000m time so it’s important these races both go well. The 500m are always first, we had a heat I was in the first one and Antonia in the second. We both came 3rd in our heats and got exactly the same time! In my final there was a lot of pressure building up I felt a lot better in the Plastex and we have trained everyday in the boats bar 4 so I was expecting massive improvements. Got off the start and was going OK until with 200m to go I fell in. Distraught! I was in the frame of mind, why the hell do I do this? All the time spent put into it and I can’t even show that in a race. After a bar of chocolate I felt better. Ant got a 3rd which was really good. My other k1 races went OK but had blown my chances of a promotion.

Our k2 however was a different story. We had a tub of a boat but was pretty stable and we felt confident. We both wanted the same thing, to destroy the opposition and we had that faith in each other that we were going to go all out. The categories had been merged together so we were now racing a higher division. We were really looking forward to the races as this was our first time competing in a k2 since Australia where we got so annoyed with each other we nearly through ourselves out of the boat mid race.

500m I had steering issues and we came 4th, very annoying but we came back for the 200m and blasted it down the course and came 2nd. The best race of the weekend and made my training pay off at last. The race takes a minute, it’s just full power the whole way. Then the 1000m the next day we got a Bronze.

Ant got a bronze for her 1000m K1 as well. There was a harsh cross wind and I was on the far side where it was a lot worse OK!!. . .

We got our first Silver and Bronze medals in the K2 Wuhoo!!!!

The National Champoinships

On the 3rd of July Antonia and I have been kayaking for a year. It's been the quickest year of my life . . . I say that every year but this one was ridiculously quick.

This weekend we are competing in the National Championships in Nottingham yes the lovely Holme Pierrepont where it all began, the same regatta in fact we watched last year with the chosen 12 who started the fast track programme. I remember watching all the kayak races thinking . . . yeah a couple of months and I will be able to do that!!! I can safely say this project Antonia and I took on has been harder than I ever imagined.

The hardest thing has to be, to enjoy a sport I have never done before. The normal way to get into a sport is either as a child where you naturally have more fun what ever it is you do or you have a go at something new and if you like it, build up gradually. We were thrown into the sport to which we were thrown out of every day for most of the year in my case, and then asked constantly if I am having fun??? Well no not really but I can’t give up till I have cracked it! The point is without out the deep foundations of canoe and kayaking usually built over years, the love of it is a bit false. I love water sports, training hard and competing but the actual love of Sprint Kayking has to come through over time. It's hard to do when there is so much pressure on us to get good quickly. A whole year later and I am only just starting to feel the love and that has come through meeting inspiring people, experiencing different disciplines of kayaking, actually racing and for not being rejected by my kayak for 3 weeks now! A year on I realize I have only just scratched the surface of an amazing sport, I couldn’t possibly give up now, I will see how things are looking in another year.

As for the Nationals, yes I am nervous but I am going to race for the love of racing. We have nothing to loose and everything to gain.

p.s. I missed rowing enormously over the weekend of Henley. The Bristol girls (and guy coxes) did the best the club has ever done and I am very proud of them.

A Kayaking Adventure!

Over my Birthday Antonia and I were invited to go Sea and Surf Kayaking in beautiful St. Davids in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Matt Brown thought it would be great for us to broaden our kayaking knowledge and most importantly to ‘have fun’ - something I find hard to do when my life consists of training, working, training, working, training, bed.

We met Olivia ex British junior Wild water racer and Matt at lunchtime, got kitted up and headed down with the play boats. We had to paddle over to the next bay to get to the good surf. Now these boats don’t go in a straight line as they have to be able to maneuver easily in waves, so this was very hard work and as the sea was very choppy I started to feel very sea sick. My goal became to paddle as quickly as possible to the other bay and get out onto lovely flat none-moving land. I got half way across and turned to check where the others were, to my surprise they were further away than I expected. I waited for Olivia to paddle over and she informed me Antonia was also feeling sea sick and finding the paddle over almost impossible. I waited for a bit but really need to get to land. I got to the surf and a big wave came . . . ok 2ft but I was side ways on and capsized. I was in shock, Matt had told us what to do in the event but after all the talk of them being so stable I seriously hadn’t thought it was going to happen. While under water with the tight neoprene deck around my waist which firmly attached to the cockpit I actually thought, ‘oh my god I am going to die on my birthday’! Then I found the pull thing at the front of the deck, pulled it and tumble-turned out of the boat. I had an emotional few seconds and walked to the shore with my boat. Antonia padded over to join me with an anxious look on her face after seeing me under water for what felt like a long time. Olivia came to the rescue with some Brioch - chocolate bread. The three of us sat on the beach eating, Antonia and I wondering if this was a weekend of torture!

We got back in the boats with the sea sickness and shockness subsided and actually had brilliant fun. As I find with surfing there is nothing better than being out with the raw elements. Matt came to join us as he had gone back to let his dog the soppy rockwieller Boffy out. We fell out loads of times but it really didn’t matter.

For our second session we went sea kayaking. These are different types of boats again. Long, like our sprint kayaks but very stable and able to carry enough equipment if you became stranded for at least a week. Antonia and I were actually amazed at how much safety equipment we had to take. A spare tent, a flair each, a gas cooker, spare paddles are just an example of what measures we had to take. This made me slightly worried about how dangerous sea kayaking was.

So we set off, the sea was so clear, we paddled round the cliff edges and saw lots of different bird life. We then paddled across to Ramsey Island. It was a bit choppy and Matt was explaining about the tides and eddies but nothing too threatening had made me think we might be firing up the gas stove in the luminous orange tent while firing off flares!

Out of no where a huge school of Porpoise were jumping in and out of the water just in front of the boats. They are a part of the whale/dolphin family. It was so amazing to see in such a natural environment. Going from being in heaven I was suddenly in my worse nightmare. The sea turned into conditions I have never witnessed in person. Huge un-breaking waves with eddies that took my small boat away at least 100m in the space of a few seconds. Matt was very calm and told me direct instructions to follow. I managed to get back to them but the whole time thought a huge wave would tip me up and I would be carried to a cliff side and thrown against it. Antonia however was very calm and took it all in her stride I was very impressed. We got through it and paddled back, it was dimpsy dark and I was still getting visions of being on the show 999 as we had been gone for a good 2,5 hours and felt very tired plus Antonia was singing the theme tune out load! But that night as we tucked into a huge well deserved dinner I felt we had just had the most incredible adventurous day. Also we now know we would NEVER attempt an Atlantic crossing in a rowing boat or kayak.

Some great kayaking!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUt0wH4mHrg

May Regatta