Notice of 2024 AGM
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Huge
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Wildwater Racing Development Day !!
Sign up here
https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSchQe9Mvgz.../viewform
Join us 15th of April @canoecentre1989
All information in the post !
Some Photos from the Inny Double Header !
Selection Policy 2023
| iwwr_selection_policy_2023.pdf |
The Return of the Castle Connell Classic
River Lee Classic Race Write up
The 3rd WW race of the season was held on the River Lee at Ballincollig on 22nd Jan 23. The race ran from the Graveyard just below Inniscarra damn, down through Ballincollig regional park and finished at the venerable Anglers Rest Pub. Thanks to a generous release by the ESB the normally placid Lee was fit to burst adding significantly to the challenge of the main feature of the race - the broken weir at Ballincollig. Once a relatively innocuous straight bar weir, Ballincollig weir broke back in 2014. Nowadays, all of the (not inconsiderable) flow from the Lee is funneled into an 8 ft split in the weir face with some spectacular results - normally when running a weir in a WWR you can breathe a sigh of release once you are past the main wave train, on Ballincollig Weir you then have to watch out for a monster of a boil perfectly positioned to catch an unwary paddler by surprise. More than one racer found themselves suddenly facing back the way they came – indeed, rumour has it that some bystanders thought they were watching a slalom race. The rest of the race was a surprisingly technical run down to the Anglers. There were plenty of opportunities to gain a lot of time (or lose even more) as racers threaded their way down the fast flow and big eddies of the lower Lee in flood.
A big showing from local paddlers lead to a clean sweep for Cork in the Wavehopper division and 4/6 podium places in the WWR divisions. Trish Holland took home her 2nd win in a row in the Womens GP division.
Huge thanks to Simon Kenny for organising, Sean Lynne and Ciarán Usher for providing rescue and John Kenny for running the start line. Keeping to the Munster theme, the next race in the 2023 season will be held in Castleconnell Limerick on 26th Feb. The site of the 2005 WWR World Cup, Castleconnell is always a highlight of the season, big water, bouncy wave trains and twisty turny race lines inevitably leads to exciting paddling.
A big showing from local paddlers lead to a clean sweep for Cork in the Wavehopper division and 4/6 podium places in the WWR divisions. Trish Holland took home her 2nd win in a row in the Womens GP division.
Huge thanks to Simon Kenny for organising, Sean Lynne and Ciarán Usher for providing rescue and John Kenny for running the start line. Keeping to the Munster theme, the next race in the 2023 season will be held in Castleconnell Limerick on 26th Feb. The site of the 2005 WWR World Cup, Castleconnell is always a highlight of the season, big water, bouncy wave trains and twisty turny race lines inevitably leads to exciting paddling.
Milltown WWR Sprint Race Report 2022
The second Wild Water Race, and first Sprint of the year was held on the River Claire
at Milltown County Galway on 27th Nov thanks to Galway Kayak Club. The Milltown Sprint is always a great little course with consistent white water coupled with a very pleasant walk back to the top along the Milltown Riverway. The 2022 edition was made all the more fun thanks to a sunny November day coupled with high water – it’s rare to have an Irish sprint race with such consistent bouncy wave trains the full length of the course.
The upper section constituted of a wave train across the river width. With the river gently bending to the left most racers went with the centre right line focusing on keeping the boat speed high avoiding a couple of small stoppers. The lower section was more complex with a significant bend to the right. Racers were faced with a tricky choice: the far-left line kept the paddler in the fastest water but required a longer overall paddle. The other option, a centre right line, had a shorter overall distance but requiring keeping the boat speed up through some slower water and skilfully avoiding a stopper with the potential to kill all momentum. Much debate was heard with a couple of paddlers opting to switch lines between the 1st and 2nd run.
1st runs ran without a hitch with fast times posted across all boat categories. Particularly competitive was the Women’s GP category with a dead heat between 1st and 2nd place and also between 3rd and 4th.
2nd runs followed quickly after, interestingly all paddlers in Senior K1 Men’s had faster 2nd runs than 1st as racing lines were refined between runs – potentially proving the centre right line was faster after all.
For a bit of fun after the individual races an unofficial team run, and Boater X was held to make the most of the conditions.
Huge thanks to Aoibhín and the GKC team for putting together a fantastically organised and very enjoyable race day. The next Wild Water race will be a Classic held on 22nd Jan on the River Lee beside Cork city – the first time that a Wild Water race has been held in that neck of the woods in a long time. As always there will be a GP division and the WWR committee can bring down Wavehoppers for anyone who wants to give the longer boats a go!
at Milltown County Galway on 27th Nov thanks to Galway Kayak Club. The Milltown Sprint is always a great little course with consistent white water coupled with a very pleasant walk back to the top along the Milltown Riverway. The 2022 edition was made all the more fun thanks to a sunny November day coupled with high water – it’s rare to have an Irish sprint race with such consistent bouncy wave trains the full length of the course.
The upper section constituted of a wave train across the river width. With the river gently bending to the left most racers went with the centre right line focusing on keeping the boat speed high avoiding a couple of small stoppers. The lower section was more complex with a significant bend to the right. Racers were faced with a tricky choice: the far-left line kept the paddler in the fastest water but required a longer overall paddle. The other option, a centre right line, had a shorter overall distance but requiring keeping the boat speed up through some slower water and skilfully avoiding a stopper with the potential to kill all momentum. Much debate was heard with a couple of paddlers opting to switch lines between the 1st and 2nd run.
1st runs ran without a hitch with fast times posted across all boat categories. Particularly competitive was the Women’s GP category with a dead heat between 1st and 2nd place and also between 3rd and 4th.
2nd runs followed quickly after, interestingly all paddlers in Senior K1 Men’s had faster 2nd runs than 1st as racing lines were refined between runs – potentially proving the centre right line was faster after all.
For a bit of fun after the individual races an unofficial team run, and Boater X was held to make the most of the conditions.
Huge thanks to Aoibhín and the GKC team for putting together a fantastically organised and very enjoyable race day. The next Wild Water race will be a Classic held on 22nd Jan on the River Lee beside Cork city – the first time that a Wild Water race has been held in that neck of the woods in a long time. As always there will be a GP division and the WWR committee can bring down Wavehoppers for anyone who wants to give the longer boats a go!
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Race Notice: River Lee Cork January 22
Race Notice: Miltown Sprint, Galway!
The second race of the season will be a sprint race on the 27th of November!
Last Entries: 11:30
Race course: Miltown Co. Galway
Always a great race and is definitely not to be missed!
Last Entries: 11:30
Race course: Miltown Co. Galway
Always a great race and is definitely not to be missed!
Irish Wildwater Racing have created a Strava Group!
We will now have segments and leaderboards for all your favourite training sections!
Become part of the group with the link below!
www.strava.com/clubs/1090985
Become part of the group with the link below!
www.strava.com/clubs/1090985
WhatsApp Group
A WhatsApp Peer Paddling group has been created!
A great way for organizing paddling and getting more people on the water enjoying wildwater racing so please join the group and share the link around!
The joining link is below
https://chat.whatsapp.com/H2cRab87FxSJsYC2PvgmVe
A great way for organizing paddling and getting more people on the water enjoying wildwater racing so please join the group and share the link around!
The joining link is below
https://chat.whatsapp.com/H2cRab87FxSJsYC2PvgmVe
Wavehopper Borrowing and Open singles Class
For all races this 2022/2023 season.
The Wildwater comittee will have wavehoppers available for people to use at races!
-Just send us a message beforehand so we know how many to bring by emailing [email protected] 😊.
We also will have a open singles class so if you would like to give wildwater racing a try but not sure about wavehoppers /wildwater boats it's a great w
Looking forward to seeing you all on the start line on the 20th!
The Wildwater comittee will have wavehoppers available for people to use at races!
-Just send us a message beforehand so we know how many to bring by emailing [email protected] 😊.
We also will have a open singles class so if you would like to give wildwater racing a try but not sure about wavehoppers /wildwater boats it's a great w
Looking forward to seeing you all on the start line on the 20th!
Ranking Race: November 20th Meetings to Avoca.
The 2022/2023 Racing Season kicks off next Sunday the 20th of November with the first ranking race on the Avonmore!
Last Entries: 12 o'clock.
Race course: Meetings to Avoca.
If there is enough interest there will be a non ranking race on Rathdrum to the Meetings afterwards!
Hopefully we will see lots of old and new faces on the day!
Last Entries: 12 o'clock.
Race course: Meetings to Avoca.
If there is enough interest there will be a non ranking race on Rathdrum to the Meetings afterwards!
Hopefully we will see lots of old and new faces on the day!
Irish Wildwater Racing Calender 2022-2023
REMINDER FOR THE 2022 AGM
Hi Everyone,
This is a reminder of the canoeing Ireland Wildwater AGM 2022 at 8pm in the Band room in Chapelizod.
Don't worry if you are not able to attend in person, the meeting will be Hybrid and you can join online.
Please email [email protected] to register your attendance for in person and to get the link for the online meeting .
If anyone would like to put themselves forward for the committee it would be great, just email [email protected] !
Hope to see you all on Thursday!
Please share this reminder with anyone you know who might be interested!
This is a reminder of the canoeing Ireland Wildwater AGM 2022 at 8pm in the Band room in Chapelizod.
Don't worry if you are not able to attend in person, the meeting will be Hybrid and you can join online.
Please email [email protected] to register your attendance for in person and to get the link for the online meeting .
If anyone would like to put themselves forward for the committee it would be great, just email [email protected] !
Hope to see you all on Thursday!
Please share this reminder with anyone you know who might be interested!
NOTICE OF THE 2022 AGM
The Wildwater Racing (Canoeing Ireland) AGM will take place in Chapelizod on the 22nd of September 2022 at 7:30pm. This will be a hybrid event and those who wish to can join online.
Anyone who wishes to attend the AGM in person or online needs to register their attendance with [email protected] before the 20th of September.
Any proposals/motions must be submitted to [email protected] by 5pm on the 8th of September.
Nominations for the following positions must be submitted to [email protected] by 5pm on the 8th of September
A) Chair person
B) Secretary
C) 3 general officers
The agenda is as follows
Agenda for CI Wildwater Racing AGM (22nd Sept. 2022)
-Establishment of quorum (5)
-Agreement of agenda
-Minutes of previous AGM
-Report from interim Chair
-New CI Standing Orders and WWR Terms of Reference
-Meeting with Richard Lee
-21/22 Domestic calendar
-National champions 2022
-International scene
-Treignac (World Champs)
-U23 Worlds Banja Luca
-Other issues (communications, etc)
-Election of Committee for 2022-2023
-Chair
-Secretary
-3 general officers
-AOB (notified in advance)
Looking forward to seeing as many people as possible there!
Canoeing Ireland
Junior and U23 wildwater European championships in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina!
Some Photos of our Two competitors from the Sprint race at Junior and U23 Europeans championships!!
Huge thanks to the Czech team for all the help with boats, training and racing!
Simon and Cleo will be back racing tomorrow for the Classic
Huge thanks to the Czech team for all the help with boats, training and racing!
Simon and Cleo will be back racing tomorrow for the Classic
This week we have two athletes competing at the 2022 Junior and U23 wildwater European championships in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina!
Simon Kenny K1 U23 and Cleo Pitcher Farrell K1 U23
Simon Kenny K1 U23 and Cleo Pitcher Farrell K1 U23
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Our Two Athletes Odhrán Mc Nally and Simon Kenny who will be lining up in Treignac in just 4 days, first up will be the Sprint heats on the 3rd of June !!!
International Team 2022
The Irish Wildwater racing Committee are delighted to announce the Canoeing Ireland WWR International Team 2022!
Congratulations to the following who have been selected to represent Ireland at international races in 2022:
01-05/06/22 ICF Wildwater Worlds (Classic and Sprint) Treignac, France
https://www.canoeicf.com/wildwater-canoeing.../treignac-2022
Men’s K1: Odhrán McNally, Simon Kenny
25-28/08/22 ECA Junior and U23 Wildwater Europeans (Classic and Sprint) Banja-Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
https://www.canoeicf.com/wildwater.../banja-luka-2022
Women’s K1: Cleo Pitcher Farrell
Men’s K1: Simon Kenny
Keep an eye on the page for updates on the ICF Wildwater Worlds in Treignac, France starting in just 8 Days !!!
Congratulations to the following who have been selected to represent Ireland at international races in 2022:
01-05/06/22 ICF Wildwater Worlds (Classic and Sprint) Treignac, France
https://www.canoeicf.com/wildwater-canoeing.../treignac-2022
Men’s K1: Odhrán McNally, Simon Kenny
25-28/08/22 ECA Junior and U23 Wildwater Europeans (Classic and Sprint) Banja-Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
https://www.canoeicf.com/wildwater.../banja-luka-2022
Women’s K1: Cleo Pitcher Farrell
Men’s K1: Simon Kenny
Keep an eye on the page for updates on the ICF Wildwater Worlds in Treignac, France starting in just 8 Days !!!
Selection Policy 2022
| irish_wildwater_racing_selection_policy_2022.docx.pdf |
Race Notice: Milltown Co. Galway- 21st Nov. 2021
Entries close: 11:30 First sprint 12:00 Contact: [email protected]
!!! Erriff Race Postponed until further notice !!!
Please note that the Erriff Race has been postponed and will not take place on the 6th of November as had originally been planned. The decision to postpone the race has been made due to lack of water. We hope to run the race in early 2022. Keep an eye on this site for further updates.
Irish Wildwater Racing AGM 2021
The Irish Wild Water AGM will take place on Monday 15th Nov. at 20:00. To offer maximum flexibility, it will be an online meeting. Anyone wishing to attend must be members of Canoeing Ireland and register their interest by emailing the Chair at [email protected] upon which they will be sent a link to the meeting. The following committee positions are available:
Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary, 2 x Ordinary Members
Nominations for any of the above positions, or any motions proposed for discussion at the AGM, must be received by 1st Nov. Note that a minimum quota of attended exists for the AGM to constitute a valid meeting, so we would encourage anybody interested in wildwater racing to attend.
Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary, 2 x Ordinary Members
Nominations for any of the above positions, or any motions proposed for discussion at the AGM, must be received by 1st Nov. Note that a minimum quota of attended exists for the AGM to constitute a valid meeting, so we would encourage anybody interested in wildwater racing to attend.
New Rule Proposal for 2021
| nr_proposal_2020.docx |
Templemills 1 March 2020
See attached the race notice below for the Templemills Wildwater Race. Please keep posted for updates re water levels. Further communication will follow on Saturday.
Foxford February 9th 2020
See attached the race notice below for the next race of the season in Foxford!
Inny - Feb 24th
See attached race notice from Inny Kayakers for the next classic race.
This race is a selection race to qualify for the National team.
Reminder - closing date for applying for National team selection is 20th February 2019.
This race is a selection race to qualify for the National team.
Reminder - closing date for applying for National team selection is 20th February 2019.
Templemills Classic Race Notice 2019
See attached the race notice for the Templemills classic race on the 10th February.
2019 Irish Wild Water Racing Team Selection Policy
2019 selection policy can be found below.
| irish_wildwater_racing_selection_policy_2019_.pdf |
Foxford Sprint Mayo 10th March 2019
Thomastown Sprint 20th January 2019
See attached race notice for Thomastown Sprint on 20th January. Hope to see you all there.
Amended Calendar for 2019
Please see attached for updated 2019 calendar and take note of any changes. The committee have removed the Aghade race and the selection race at Sluice has been moved to a new venue on The River Moy Foxford County Mayo. The Foxford site hasn’t been used in a number of Years and we are excited about taking WWR back to Mayo.
Race Sponsorship
The committee has received €1000 sponsorship which will be used to encourage race participation. This €1000 will be split into 5 x €200 vouchers for different retail outlets/hotel breaks. Opportunity to win the vouchers will be open to all race entrants, regardless of class who are compliant with the rules below.
Rules:
· The paddler must compete in 2 races prior to the River Moy race at Foxford
· The paddler must also compete in the River Moy race at Foxford.
· Each race a paddler competes in he/she will receive a ticket and at Foxford all tickets will be entered into the draw, the 5 winners will be drawn from this.
· A paddler can only win one prize.
Race Sponsorship
The committee has received €1000 sponsorship which will be used to encourage race participation. This €1000 will be split into 5 x €200 vouchers for different retail outlets/hotel breaks. Opportunity to win the vouchers will be open to all race entrants, regardless of class who are compliant with the rules below.
Rules:
· The paddler must compete in 2 races prior to the River Moy race at Foxford
· The paddler must also compete in the River Moy race at Foxford.
· Each race a paddler competes in he/she will receive a ticket and at Foxford all tickets will be entered into the draw, the 5 winners will be drawn from this.
· A paddler can only win one prize.
Avonmore Classic 6th January 2019
Milltown Sunday 25th November
Lower Avonmore Classic Race Results 2019
Results from Lower Avonmore Classic Race can be found here . A really big thanks to all who helped out, both on the day and in advance: Mollie Claffey for the race notice, John Clarke, Sinead Foley, Doc Martin for timing and Tom Claffey for timing and pre-event organising!
Lower Avonmore Classic 11th November 2019
2018/19 Race Calendar
Junior European C1 Champion
DARRAGH CLARKE HAS COME FIRST PLACE IN C1 CLASSIC.
HE IS THE EUROPEAN CHAMPION!
Congratulations Darragh!
HE IS THE EUROPEAN CHAMPION!
Congratulations Darragh!
Junior Europeans Classic Race - Thurs 2nd August 2018
Darragh starts at 08:33 Irish time.
Best of Luck Darragh!!!!
Here's a link to the live timing: http://eca2018ww.canoe.mk/?p=437&lang=en
Latest News
SENIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS SWITZERLAND – Classic Race
Well done to our athletes who raced this morning in the classic race on the Muota river over a very difficult stretch of river.
In Mens K1 Odhran McNally finished in 28th place in a very fast race against a field of 70 other athletes.
In Ladies C1 Meave Martin, who is still a junior paddler & competing in her first international competition, finished in 13th position.
Saturday sees our athletes in action again in the shorter sprint race!
Well done to our athletes who raced this morning in the classic race on the Muota river over a very difficult stretch of river.
In Mens K1 Odhran McNally finished in 28th place in a very fast race against a field of 70 other athletes.
In Ladies C1 Meave Martin, who is still a junior paddler & competing in her first international competition, finished in 13th position.
Saturday sees our athletes in action again in the shorter sprint race!
Good Luck Maeve and Odhran
Best of luck to Maeve Martin (WC1) and Odhran McNally (MK1) competing in the World championships in Muotathal, Switzerland from tomorrow (31st May) on. For results and live streaming see www.wm-muota2018.ch
Wavehoppers for sale
Wildwater Kayak Club are selling some wavehoppers. These are several years old and have been repaired, but would be fine for someone starting out in wildwater racing or someone who wishes to progress from more stable non-racing canoes into something faster on easy rivers or flatwater. For further information, please contact Martin on 085-1742261.
The Avonmore race has been rescheduled. Please see updated calendar.
Important notice - Avonmore Race
Due to the high volume of rain expected on Saturday through Sunday we'd like to remind paddlers that due to the remote nature of much of the course, the Avonmore race is not suitable for novices and that airbags (as per the rules) are compulsory for all boats.
Thomastown Weir Sprint 7th January 2018
Mourne White Water Race - December 3rd 2017
If you are going to attend please email the contacts on the race notice below and cc the Wildwater Race Committee [email protected]
If you are going to attend please email the contacts on the race notice below and cc the Wildwater Race Committee [email protected]
Templemills to Salmon Leap Canoe Club
Sunday 26th November 2017
Sunday 26th November 2017
First Wildwater Race of 2017-18 season kicks of this Saturday on the Liffey. For further details, please click here.
National Team 2017
2017 ICF WWR Canoeing Junior & Under 23 World Championships (Murau - July 2017)
Junior Men's C1 Darragh Clarke
Under 23 K1 Odhran McNally
Junior Team Coach Mickie Brennan
Team Manager John Clarke
2017 ICF WWR Senior Sprint Worlds (Pau - September 2017)
Senior Men's K1 Odhran McNally
2017 ICF WWR Canoeing Junior & Under 23 World Championships (Murau - July 2017)
Junior Men's C1 Darragh Clarke
Under 23 K1 Odhran McNally
Junior Team Coach Mickie Brennan
Team Manager John Clarke
2017 ICF WWR Senior Sprint Worlds (Pau - September 2017)
Senior Men's K1 Odhran McNally
WWR British Championships Results
April 29th, 2017 Grand Tully
Big congratulations in order for paddlers Darragh Clarke, Mollie Claffey and Mickie Brennan on their victories at the WWR British championships!
Darragh is now the British junior C1 champion in Sprint and Classics
He placed 2nd in senior C1 Sprint and Classic
Then Darragh alongside his C2 partner Mickie Brennan drew in the C2 sprint and won the classic race by a massive two minutes.
Not letting the Girls down, a big congratulations also to Mollie Claffey who achieved 3rd Place in the womens U23.
An outstanding weekend of results for the Irish paddlers.
April 29th, 2017 Grand Tully
Big congratulations in order for paddlers Darragh Clarke, Mollie Claffey and Mickie Brennan on their victories at the WWR British championships!
Darragh is now the British junior C1 champion in Sprint and Classics
He placed 2nd in senior C1 Sprint and Classic
Then Darragh alongside his C2 partner Mickie Brennan drew in the C2 sprint and won the classic race by a massive two minutes.
Not letting the Girls down, a big congratulations also to Mollie Claffey who achieved 3rd Place in the womens U23.
An outstanding weekend of results for the Irish paddlers.
Kilcullen Race Results Here
2017 National Team selection Policy can be found here
Mourne Training Weekend Postponed - Sorry for the short notice but we have decided to postpone the Mourne training weekend due to the lower than expected water level. We believe the river to be still well paddleable and the race organised by Foyle Paddlers will still go ahead on the Sunday but the training weekend shall take place sometime early in 2017 when hopefully conditions will be more suitable for numerous river runs. Details will be circulated closer to the time.
2017-2017 Calendar available here
2016 AGM Notice
The 2016 Wildwater Racing AGM will be held in the Phoenix Room, West County Hotel, Chapelizod, Dublin 20, on Friday 2nd of September at 7.30 PM.
Coupled with the AGM will be the presentation of Medals to our 2015-16 National Champions.
Please forward any correspondence or motions to ‘secretary@irishwildwaterracing.com’.
Look forward to seeing you there.
The 2016 Wildwater Racing AGM will be held in the Phoenix Room, West County Hotel, Chapelizod, Dublin 20, on Friday 2nd of September at 7.30 PM.
Coupled with the AGM will be the presentation of Medals to our 2015-16 National Champions.
Please forward any correspondence or motions to ‘secretary@irishwildwaterracing.com’.
Look forward to seeing you there.
The last of the Wildwater Races for the 2015-16 season took place last weekend at Sluice on the river Liffey. Results are here.
Well done and thank you to everyone who raced this season and we also wish to express our appreciation for those who organised and helped to organise races throughout the cold and wet winter months!
On behalf of the WWR Committee, thanks again and see you all next season!
Well done and thank you to everyone who raced this season and we also wish to express our appreciation for those who organised and helped to organise races throughout the cold and wet winter months!
On behalf of the WWR Committee, thanks again and see you all next season!
The final race of the 2015-16 season takes place next Sunday at Sluice in Lucan. This event is the also the final event for the national team selection. Race notice can be found here.
Results from the two classic races, on the Inny, hosted by Inny Kayakers on 21st of Feb can be found here.
Inny Wildwater Race Notice Can Be Found Here
Results of the Thomastown Wildwater Sprint event can be found here
2016 National Team Selection Policy can be found here!
Avonmore Wildwater Race, Sunday 10th January. Race notice can be found here. Note that given the recent flooding, race course may be altered on the day or at short notice (alternatives include the Meetings to Avoca - to ensure competitor safety). Watch this space for updates!
Important notice - Mourne Wildwater race originally scheduled for Sunday 6th December has been cancelled due to storm Desmond!
Please see here for results from the Milltown Wildwater Sprints held at the weekend. A big thanks to GKC for running an excellent event!
Please see here for results of the Corrib River Wildwater Race, held on Sat 28th of Nov. Epic conditions for those who raced. A big thanks to Galway KC for running the event. Results from the Milltown Wildwater Sprints to follow shortly.
Please see here for Corrib race notice and here for Clare River race notice. These events take place on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th of November respectively. Lots of rain recently, so if the weather plays its part over the coming week, we could have excellent conditions for these events. Please watch this space and/or contact the organisers closer to the event to check up on conditions - we are monitoring the situation closely.
See here for results from the Aghade Wildwater Sprints, held on Sunday 8th November.
A really big thanks to Tullow KC and the Rothwells for hosting and organising the event. They put on a great show in the windy and wet conditions (perfect conditions for paddling, terrible for organising a race)!
A really big thanks to Tullow KC and the Rothwells for hosting and organising the event. They put on a great show in the windy and wet conditions (perfect conditions for paddling, terrible for organising a race)!
Updated draft calendar for first half of upcoming season
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Date |
Event |
Location |
Organiser |
Contact Details |
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Sat 17th October |
Templemills to SLCC Classic |
River Liffey, Celbridge, Co. Kildare |
Deaglan O’Drisceoil |
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Sun 8th November |
Aghade Sprint |
River Slaney, Tullow, Co. Carlow |
Tullow KC |
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Sat 28th November |
Corrib Sprint |
River Corrib, Galway City |
Pat McAlinney |
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Sun 29th November |
Milltown Sprint |
Clare River, Milltown, Co. Galway |
Galway KC |
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Sun 6th December |
Mourne Mass Start Race |
Mourne River, Newtownstewart, Co. Tyrone |
FPCC |
2015 Wildwater Racing AGM
Thanks to all those who attended the Wildwater Racing AGM recently and showed their support.
We’d like to congratulate the 2014-15 National Champions as follows:
Men’s Kayak: Tom Brennan – SLCC
Men’s C1: Mickie Brennan – TPCC
Men’s Junior Kayak: Craig Cummins – SLCC
Men’s Junior C1: Darragh Clarke – WWKC
Women’s Junior Kayak: Mollie Claffey – WWKC
William F. McCarthy perpetual trophy winners (best junior club): WWKC
The newly elected Wildwater Racing Committee is as follows (actually, it is the same committee as last year!):
Chairman: Martin McCarthy – chairman@irishwildwaterracing.com
Secretary: Tom Claffey – secretary@irishwildwaterracing.com
Treasurer: Brendan Quinn – treasurer@irishwildwaterracing.com
Ordinary members: Conor Healy & Deaglan O’Drisceoil
Thanks to all those who attended the Wildwater Racing AGM recently and showed their support.
We’d like to congratulate the 2014-15 National Champions as follows:
Men’s Kayak: Tom Brennan – SLCC
Men’s C1: Mickie Brennan – TPCC
Men’s Junior Kayak: Craig Cummins – SLCC
Men’s Junior C1: Darragh Clarke – WWKC
Women’s Junior Kayak: Mollie Claffey – WWKC
William F. McCarthy perpetual trophy winners (best junior club): WWKC
The newly elected Wildwater Racing Committee is as follows (actually, it is the same committee as last year!):
Chairman: Martin McCarthy – chairman@irishwildwaterracing.com
Secretary: Tom Claffey – secretary@irishwildwaterracing.com
Treasurer: Brendan Quinn – treasurer@irishwildwaterracing.com
Ordinary members: Conor Healy & Deaglan O’Drisceoil
USA Junior World Championship Report
The 2015 World Champs in Nantahala North Carolina are now all finished and the athletes have all returned home safely and extremely happy with their results. The young Irish athletes are exhausted after competing in almost every race! having three of the athletes to make finals of the sprint is a major achievement.
The Classic course had some excellent features and good sized rapids combined with some flater slower moving water where speed could really be pushed to the maximum. The Sprint course was both fun and technical with a variety of different racing lines to choose where the best of the best try to shave seconds of their time, a longer course than Vienna's sprint course this year at an average time of 75 seconds ( the fastest K1 men's with 64 secs). The main part of both the sprint and the classic course was the fantastic Nantahala Falls, a steep drop at the end of a massive wave train with a few sneaky Rocks hidden among it, that caused more than a few problems for a lot of the international athletes early, including ripping the skeg from the Clarke Brothers C2 during their sprint race! An Amazing feature of the Nantahala River is its dam controlled system giving the athletes consistent training on the river everyday, an annoyance would be the fact that there was a lot of raft tours during the middle of the day which obstructed the river.
The Classic course had some excellent features and good sized rapids combined with some flater slower moving water where speed could really be pushed to the maximum. The Sprint course was both fun and technical with a variety of different racing lines to choose where the best of the best try to shave seconds of their time, a longer course than Vienna's sprint course this year at an average time of 75 seconds ( the fastest K1 men's with 64 secs). The main part of both the sprint and the classic course was the fantastic Nantahala Falls, a steep drop at the end of a massive wave train with a few sneaky Rocks hidden among it, that caused more than a few problems for a lot of the international athletes early, including ripping the skeg from the Clarke Brothers C2 during their sprint race! An Amazing feature of the Nantahala River is its dam controlled system giving the athletes consistent training on the river everyday, an annoyance would be the fact that there was a lot of raft tours during the middle of the day which obstructed the river.
As for accommodation the NOC (Natahala Outdoor Centre) treated the Irish team incredibly well, being extremely friendly with the entire team and staff. The Irish team turned to cooking for themselves most nights in order to get full nutritional value. North Carolina truly is a beautiful place, Great powerful rivers, stunning Mountain Views dense green forests teaming with wildlife only too happy to sting and bite us all! Its a hard job every morning checking your boat for snakes before you get on the water!
As for results all Irish athletes were extremely pleased with their races!
In Classic
Craig Cummins came 13th K1
Cian Clarke came 26th in K1
Darragh Clarke came 9th in C1
Mollie Claffey came 17th in K1W
In the Team Race of Cian Craig and Darragh, the boys came 6th in K1
And Cian and Darragh also only sat into their C2 for the first time at that race and managed to get 6th as well.
In Sprint
Cian came 26th in K1 overall
Mollie came 20th in K1W overall , both not qualifying for the finals.
Craig came 13th in the finals with a personal best time of 1.11:02.
Darragh came 9th in his final, beating his qualifying time by 2 seconds with a time of 1.23:04.
And in the C2 Final the Clarke Brothers were overjoyed with their run crushing their best time and nabbing 5th position! (guess its easier to race a C2 with the Skeg on the boat!)
On a side note the men on the team all competed in the junior C1 team races to make the races official, and words cannot describe how funny it was seeing Craig and Cian try and paddle 4 metres in a C1 complaining how sore their knees were.
All athletes enjoyed their trip to the United states and were very tired travelling home, for some of the team taking up to 27 hours of traveling by air, land and sea! All athletes are ready for a short rest and then start training for next season of Wild Water Racing.
A huge Thank You To team Manager Eamon Cummins for all his tireless work and his support Team Noreen Walls, Tom Claffey and John Clarke who without the amazing trip would not be posible.
Latest News From the Junior Team in North Carolina
Yesterday the Irish Junior team began training for the world championships in North Carolina in the beautiful 30 degree weather and picturesque Appalachian mountains, under the stewardship of the Czech coaches, Today is the second day on the course and the team are beginning to find their feet and sort out the fastest racing lines, the 3 kilometre classic course suits the athletes very well and has been compared to a combination of the Irish Avonmore, Inny, Mourne rivers. The Nantahala falls are the athletes favourite feature on the river as it is fun,technical large volume water. Stay tuned for feed back and results from the athletes over the next few days.
Vienna World Championships Report
The weekend of 27th – 28th June saw the Wildwater Racing World Sprint Championships on the new artificial Donauinsel course in Vienna. Besides the new shorter sprint format (40 seconds for the winning men’s kayak run, a far cry from some sprint events in the past which were several minutes long!) the use of artificial rivers means that the sport is now changing quite dramatically for competitors.
Ireland were represented by Iomhar Mac Giolla Phadraig from Salmon Leap Canoe Club and Conor Quinn from Wildwater Kayak Club (who was racing in his first senior international championship event), both of whom were racing men’s kayak. In order to make the trip easier, both paddlers had agreed in advance to rent Tonga boats from Tomas Slovak from ZBSport for the event, meaning that they could fly to the event as they’d no need to transport boats.
The course itself was quite steep and pushy (flow rate of 12M3/s with three of the four pumps working), with the usual surging nature that one associated with artificial courses. The conveyor belt bringing paddlers back up to the top, while a great convenience did mean that the guys had to be careful not to overdo it in training by knocking out too many runs and risking over-tiredness or even worse forearm injury.
In addition the new sprint qualification rules are in place this year, meaning that five competitors qualify for finals from the first run, with a further ten qualifying from the second run (during which none of those already qualified compete). This requires a modified race strategy for most competitors, who feel that making the final from the first qualification run is a long shot. Iomhar and Conor determined that they’d paddle hard in their first run, but essentially treat it as a race pace practice run, with the intention of using it to set themselves up for the second qualification run where they would aim to produce their best performance.
All of the above led to quite a lot of adaptations that Iomhar and Conor had to make to prepare for the event, but given limited time and budget, these are just some of the challenges facing competitors.
Both guys were very comfortable on the water and it was really a case of them both performing on race day and being able to re-produce their best form from training when it really mattered. The fine margins which result from such a short race on such surging water mean that luck plays a part too. Race results are far harder to predict in such events than might be the case in classic events or longer sprint events on natural rivers. This may be best demonstrated if one looks at the results of the Czech C1s, some of whom would be familiar to Irish paddlers, given the amount of time they’ve spent in Ireland. The most favoured Czech paddler, reigning World Sprint Champion, Ondrej Rolenc, ended up in tenth place and their reigning World Championship Bronze medallist, Antonin Hales came seventh, with Lukas Novosad rolling back the years and finished with an excellent fifth! There really is a trade-off between risk and reward with the new event format. One major casualty of the unpredictable nature of the course was Tobi bong, double World Champion from Germany, who eddied out in his final run, when trying to power down the course, with the result that he finished last in the final.
Both Irish competitors put down very solid first runs, with Conor ending up in 30th place with a time of 45.74 and Iomhar 32nd in a time of 45.98 out of a field of 54, but both knew that they could improve on second runs. When second runs came around, Iomhar raced to a time of 46.32 for a final place of 36st and Conor managed a time of 47.45 for 40th place. Both of these results are very good and the guys, while knowing that they didn’t produce their best possible run, should be very happy with these results. Not only is there room for improvement right now, but armed with the experience of this championship, the two guys can better prepare for next season’s international events and can hopefully share this knowledge with the other paddlers at home hoping to race internationally next year.
Some of the main changes in the sport when racing on shorter artificial sprint courses include greatly exaggerated body movements in the boat to time the strokes with the waves, keep the pitch of the boat flat and in effect kayaks are now being paddled more like C1s in such races, as if competitors are seeking to increase their leverage while still ‘running dry’. There were some notable examples of this amongst the top paddlers, particularly the French, who were the most successful nation at the championships. Some of the body contortions being produced by paddlers on the difficult course demonstrated extremely high levels of skill and commitment.
One perhaps surprising aspect was the relative lack of new boat designs at the event. Typically at a World Championships one might expect to find several new designs unveiled. The only apparent new design on show this year was from Prijon in Germany. Their new kayak, the Pursuit is based on the Loisach, which was a very manoeuvrable and forgiving boat. The Pursuit has a remodelled deck to give it more volume and is apparently slightly less forgiving than the Loisach but quicker and responds very well to even a slight lean/edge. It was paddled to very good effect by Tobias Gandl from Germany and the McIntyre brothers from Australia.
The event was spectacular to watch and the two guys did Ireland proud. As usual the atmosphere was top notch and the camaraderie amongst the teams great, which really adds to the event!
Ireland were represented by Iomhar Mac Giolla Phadraig from Salmon Leap Canoe Club and Conor Quinn from Wildwater Kayak Club (who was racing in his first senior international championship event), both of whom were racing men’s kayak. In order to make the trip easier, both paddlers had agreed in advance to rent Tonga boats from Tomas Slovak from ZBSport for the event, meaning that they could fly to the event as they’d no need to transport boats.
The course itself was quite steep and pushy (flow rate of 12M3/s with three of the four pumps working), with the usual surging nature that one associated with artificial courses. The conveyor belt bringing paddlers back up to the top, while a great convenience did mean that the guys had to be careful not to overdo it in training by knocking out too many runs and risking over-tiredness or even worse forearm injury.
In addition the new sprint qualification rules are in place this year, meaning that five competitors qualify for finals from the first run, with a further ten qualifying from the second run (during which none of those already qualified compete). This requires a modified race strategy for most competitors, who feel that making the final from the first qualification run is a long shot. Iomhar and Conor determined that they’d paddle hard in their first run, but essentially treat it as a race pace practice run, with the intention of using it to set themselves up for the second qualification run where they would aim to produce their best performance.
All of the above led to quite a lot of adaptations that Iomhar and Conor had to make to prepare for the event, but given limited time and budget, these are just some of the challenges facing competitors.
Both guys were very comfortable on the water and it was really a case of them both performing on race day and being able to re-produce their best form from training when it really mattered. The fine margins which result from such a short race on such surging water mean that luck plays a part too. Race results are far harder to predict in such events than might be the case in classic events or longer sprint events on natural rivers. This may be best demonstrated if one looks at the results of the Czech C1s, some of whom would be familiar to Irish paddlers, given the amount of time they’ve spent in Ireland. The most favoured Czech paddler, reigning World Sprint Champion, Ondrej Rolenc, ended up in tenth place and their reigning World Championship Bronze medallist, Antonin Hales came seventh, with Lukas Novosad rolling back the years and finished with an excellent fifth! There really is a trade-off between risk and reward with the new event format. One major casualty of the unpredictable nature of the course was Tobi bong, double World Champion from Germany, who eddied out in his final run, when trying to power down the course, with the result that he finished last in the final.
Both Irish competitors put down very solid first runs, with Conor ending up in 30th place with a time of 45.74 and Iomhar 32nd in a time of 45.98 out of a field of 54, but both knew that they could improve on second runs. When second runs came around, Iomhar raced to a time of 46.32 for a final place of 36st and Conor managed a time of 47.45 for 40th place. Both of these results are very good and the guys, while knowing that they didn’t produce their best possible run, should be very happy with these results. Not only is there room for improvement right now, but armed with the experience of this championship, the two guys can better prepare for next season’s international events and can hopefully share this knowledge with the other paddlers at home hoping to race internationally next year.
Some of the main changes in the sport when racing on shorter artificial sprint courses include greatly exaggerated body movements in the boat to time the strokes with the waves, keep the pitch of the boat flat and in effect kayaks are now being paddled more like C1s in such races, as if competitors are seeking to increase their leverage while still ‘running dry’. There were some notable examples of this amongst the top paddlers, particularly the French, who were the most successful nation at the championships. Some of the body contortions being produced by paddlers on the difficult course demonstrated extremely high levels of skill and commitment.
One perhaps surprising aspect was the relative lack of new boat designs at the event. Typically at a World Championships one might expect to find several new designs unveiled. The only apparent new design on show this year was from Prijon in Germany. Their new kayak, the Pursuit is based on the Loisach, which was a very manoeuvrable and forgiving boat. The Pursuit has a remodelled deck to give it more volume and is apparently slightly less forgiving than the Loisach but quicker and responds very well to even a slight lean/edge. It was paddled to very good effect by Tobias Gandl from Germany and the McIntyre brothers from Australia.
The event was spectacular to watch and the two guys did Ireland proud. As usual the atmosphere was top notch and the camaraderie amongst the teams great, which really adds to the event!
Photos from the racing at the World Champs in Vienna can be seen here.
VIDEO FROM VIENNA HERE
UPDATE FROM VIENNA
After 4 days training on the course the boys to nail their lines at full pace. The course is a lot bigger than it looked in the videos, the course is very pushy and technical. The boys spent the first few training sessions getting used to being back on whitewater again. But in this Morning session they were doing some solid and fast runs. They have one more training slot in the afternoon and then tomorrow is race day. Racing gets underway at 10:00 tomorrow K1W, then C1M, then @ 11:15 K1M. Start list is still provisional but we will update you with start times when they become available. The heats are taking the same format as the new slalom format. So top 5 in the 1st heat will go straight to the final and then the top 10 from the 2nd heat will go to the final.
Photos And Video coming soon.
After 4 days training on the course the boys to nail their lines at full pace. The course is a lot bigger than it looked in the videos, the course is very pushy and technical. The boys spent the first few training sessions getting used to being back on whitewater again. But in this Morning session they were doing some solid and fast runs. They have one more training slot in the afternoon and then tomorrow is race day. Racing gets underway at 10:00 tomorrow K1W, then C1M, then @ 11:15 K1M. Start list is still provisional but we will update you with start times when they become available. The heats are taking the same format as the new slalom format. So top 5 in the 1st heat will go straight to the final and then the top 10 from the 2nd heat will go to the final.
Photos And Video coming soon.
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Senior Wildwater Team 2015, from left to right: Conor Quinn (WWKC) and Iomhar Mac Giolla Phadraig (SLCC). Conor and Iomhar will be traveling to Vienna, Austria next week for the 2015 Senior Wildwater Racing Sprint World Championships.
Junior Wildwater Team 2015, from left to right: Mollie Claffey (WWKC), Darragh Clarke (WWKC), Craig Cummins (SLCC), Cian Clarke (WWKC). In late July, the Junior Team will travel to America for the 2015 Junior Wildwater Racing World Championships.
