Im Back
JackieOnassis | 06/05/2010Competing at National Freestyle Championships 2010
From the end of summer 2009 til the end of February I struggled with a niggling back injury that refused to go away. I did try ignoring it but after a week of spasms following the Irish Surf Kayak Open in October I threw in the towel on paddling.
Ignoring the pain at Easky picture by John Mc Carthy
This more or less meant I was off the water but with lots of hard work, lots of physio and the discovery of Pilates Im back and finally rid of the back issues!
To keep me entertained while on hiatus I was busy helping the crew at Nui Galway run the 2010 Kayak Intervarsities. I was left in charge of the Freestyle event. This took place out at Clifden and was well received by all the competitors. Instead of the standard heat format each college was given the hole for 4 minutes with each team members best run counting to the colleges final score. Id love to see this format used again as it suited both beginners and experts alike. For further info on the Intervarsities see here.some-picture-highlights There is also an article in Outsider magazine (april/may issue)
In march I was back in better form thanks to Pilates and I recommend it as a great way of improving core fitness and stability. This year I competed at team trials for a place on the Irish Freestyle team to compete at the European Championships in Lienz this June. I was delighted to be selected for the 1st spot after a win at the Sluice event and a second place at the Clifden event.
Me at the Sluice event, pictures by Fran O Donnell
Im enjoying being back in a boat and feel stronger than ever! In April Ive been busy freestyle training at my local hole spots Tuam, Clifden and Oranmore. Last weekend we were treated to a nice level at Curragower for the first round of the National Championships. I finished in joint second place with Dee. Sinead O Donnell stole the show with some convincing rides to secure her first win. Fair play to her!
Sinead O Donnell, Picture by Dave P.
Also to note were Emer Farrells strong performance to win the Junior Ladies class in spite of a pulled muscle in her neck and the 1st , 2nd and 3rd place finish by the UL boys in the senior mens class. Dave O Sullivan was delighted with his first win in Senior Mens, while Conor Bredin was delighted to beat Tom O Donoghue to second place.
Conor in the Molan, picture by Dave P
full results
Face off
JackieOnassis | 01/07/2009Well I was really hoping to get some surfing done in the last week with Portugal Worlds just around the corner but the swell has died so instead Ive just spent some quality time in Clifden in glorious weather. The shorty cag was out in force and the cues were small. To be honest after the competition I was glad to see the shrinking cue…. I was paddling mainly with some of the NUIG diehard playboaters. Barry, Cian, Conor and Andrew were the main culprits. I managed to squeeze in about four sessions over a few days.
Also during this time the wave came up and was great fun as the tides were quite high. So lots of oldschool was on the cards and smiling fsces all round.
While there I took the camera out and decided to do a response video to my recent video of curragower a wave in Limerick. That video featured many UL paddlers telling us why they love gower so I thought who better to tell us why they love Clifden than some NUIG paddlers….
So I’ll let you decide who is showcasing the better playspot, I have my opinion which I will keep to myself
Why ULKC likes Curragower
Why NUIGKC likes Clifden
Part 1
Part 2
Also big up to Cian Mc Comb for putting us up in the Mobile Home and to Barry for giving me the Ibuprofene and the two of them for listening to me whine about my very sore ear.
Of course it didnt stop me going to Oranmore for a sneakey session on Sunday evening.
Im off now to take a trip to the very small swell for a despeation surf……..