Ladies Freestyle Weekend: braving sun, wind and rain to raise funds for Cancer Research

 

Picture by Caitriona O'Brien

Nearly 30 female paddlers from all over Ireland made it out to Connemara this weekend to paddle together and raise funds for the Cancer Research through the Irish Cancer Society. The weekend was open to all abilities and a lot of new faces decided to come along and try some freestyle moves.

Emer Farrell, photo by Aisling Corkery

The first session brought us to a mellow playhole in Tuam. The levels were low: ideal for getting used to new boats and practising surfing and spinning. There were three ‘work stations’, going over boat outfitting, surfing the wave and spinning, and some braver souls even threw themselves in the pit of doom without their paddles!

After a swift drive through the beautiful countryside of Connemara, the second session took place in Clifden. The hole is a bit more serious than Tuam and quite hard to attain from below. Nevertheless there were some spectacular moves by beginners as well as experts, and everyone managed to get a surf.

Waterford Girls after the drive to Clifden...

The weather was too cold for a beach party unfortunately, and we spent the evening in EJ King’s listening to live music and planning to take over the world.

Morning Surfing

Small but steep!

The next morning brought us rain and a tiny surf, but some of us went out and caught a few punchy little steep waves at Dunloughan beach. It was only a short session and tea and lunch was a great treat after getting out in the cold.

The Great Outdoors Race: Bionic Woman Jen Lynch wins!

The rodeo kicked off with a race through the arch, won by Jen ‘Bionic Woman’ Lynch from ULKC/Queens. Wavesport have sponsored an extra amount towards Cancer Research instead of a prize, thanks a mill Shane!

Denise mid spin, photo by James van den Broek

The Universities battled hard with some pretty sweet trophy moves. Clare Quigly from Trinity managed to land the ‘Big Move’ category with landing a helix in the Hole. The Great Outdoors in Dublin have kindly sponsored another 100 euro towards the cause, thank you Great Outdoors! The University Class was eventually taken by Rebecca Power from WIT. Well done Bex, and a big thanks to Mark from Munster Dive and Canoe for contributing to our University Class Donation.

Emer going for the Loop, photo by James van den Broek

Five juniors entered the weekend, and the standard was very high. The girls were spinning and going for loops in the practice sessions, but decided to go for fun rules to have more FUN. Louise Cummins from Blessington took the gold medal with some sweet fun moves, but the others were following closely with spins and some hand-free moves in the hole. A big thank you to Total Experience for your donation for the Juniorette class!

Inney kayaker Irene Nooney

The beginners class was heavily dominated by a certain force from the midlands. Irene Nooney elegantly took Gold, and Sinead Thornton (only paddling since August) took the Bronze, with Mags from Dublin taking silver. Thank you very much James Carroll, for sponsoring no less than 200 euro towards our cause!

Fran, photo by boyfriend

Fran, Niamh and Ash: experts top 3

Then last but not least, Fran O’Donnell, with injury and all, took gold in the Outdoor Evolution Expert class with two very convincing rides. Thank you very much, Jenny, for sponsoring 100 euro towards the cause in this class.

I have to say, I had a great time this weekend. Meeting lots of new people and paddling with girls has definitely been fun, and the group hug at the end was brilliant too… (in fact, they nearly killed me)

Group Hug

I’m still waiting on some of the money, but it looks like we will pass the 2500 euro mark! Thanks again everyone!