24 x Club volunteers
1 x first time Race Director and Safety Officer
3 x Fremantle Surf Rescue volunteers
2 x 6km competitors
58 x 12km competitors
55 x craft – K1, S1, double and sundry
U16 to over 65
48:36.5 fastest male
5.4 seconds between 1st and 3rd competitor
52:16.6 fastest double
57:21.8 fastest female
Fastest Male: Brendan Rice (48:36.5)
Fastest Female: Aya Okano (57:21.8)
To take our mind off the radical changes that are happening at the club and elsewhere, I thought I’d go back in time to an idyllic Friday night paddle with our new (and old) paddlers. We had not only seven new paddlers out on the water but three people for their wet induction beforehand. It was really lovely to see Ralph Burton, Wendy Meggison, Sally Wilson, Emma Casim, Natalie Ghosh, Lou Hains, Mary Sullivan out on the water patiently supported by more experienced Swannies. In total we had 15 on the water and since a number of our ’new’ paddlers were already looking very competent, I felt comfortable to lead from the back.
The ‘old’ new paddlers, with all of about three weeks experience, Sally, Lou and Wendy are absolute stars and it really is hard to believe that some of them had never paddled before they attended an Introduction to Kayaking in February. They’re really keen cyclists too and they love to have a laugh.
There was no wind. It was a lovely summer’s evening and a real joy to be out on the river watching the pairs and groups of three, chatting and getting to know each other. It’s easy to forget what a thrill it is for new paddlers to make it to Chidley and back and learn that they’ve paddled three kilometres!
Quite a few people weren’t able to paddle but they came along later.
Here’s Grace Paton’s description of the evening:
“We enjoyed a lovely evening on the verandah last Friday night, meeting some of the new members of our club. We all had a great chat, getting to know a bit about each other & answering a few questions about the river, where to paddle to & where to find a good coffee shop to paddle too. The weather was perfect, the wine was good & the meat cooking on the barbie smelt delicious.
Thanks to the organisers. What a good idea for us to welcome & encourage the new paddlers to join us on the water & enjoy the great facilities of our club.”
Finally, thanks to Andy Hewlitt for providing the birthday cake for the lovely Lisa and also thanks to Emma Kasim for some great photos.
Seven Swan Canoe Club members, including myself, attended the Sea Kayak Festival 2020 held in Albany over the long weekend 28th Feb – 2nd March. For some it was their first Sea Kayak Festival, and others who had been to at least one other fest had the opportunity to catch up with acquaintances from previous fests.
Apart from the guided paddling trips, we were entertained by four guest speakers, Les Allen, Dave Winkworth, Stuart Trueman and Shaan Gresser. Les, one of the founding members of the Sea Kayak Club WA, has spent the last three years traveling and kayaking on the east coast and Tasmania. Les gave a slide show of some of the amazing coastline and paddling trips he had been on.
This is the third time Dave Winkworth, a long-time member of the NSW Sea Kayak Club, came across for the WA Sea Kayak Fest. Dave gave a presentation on how we can make club paddling trips more interesting. He also showed us how to make a tow/ throw bag, how to make a kayak seat, showed us how the kayak is affected by wind and then gave us a practical session on the do’s and don’ts of ‘V’ towing.
Stuart, a member of the NSW Sea Kayak Club gave two presentations, one on kayaking in Antarctica and the Artic and one on his round Australia trip. Both presentations were accompanied by some amazing pictures of wildlife and scenery.
Shaan, also from the NSW Sea Kayak Club is the first female to cross Bass strait solo non-stop. Shaan gave us an insight into how the idea of the crossing came about and the training and logistics of the crossing. Shaan also gave us an interesting talk on her philosophy around food and nutrition.
Paul Cooper from the Sea Kayak Club WA gave us a practical demonstration on how to fit a sail to a sea kayak. Having a sail on your sea kayak adds another dimension to sea kayaking.
The padding trips were a mixture of distances and difficulty to accommodate all level of skills. Not all participants chose to paddle each day, some opting to go on one of the many walks near the camp where there is some amazing scenery – well it is called the Amazing South Coast.
All the SCC members who I spoke to thought the weekend was great. Even though the weather was not favourable at times everyone seemed to go away with a smile on their face. Looking forward to seeing more Swan Canoe Club members at the next WA Sea Kayak Festival.
The WA Sea Kayak Festival was organised and run by Paddle WA and the Sea Kayak Club WA.
Thanks to the SCC committee for their support and making the club rooms available for meetings of the fest committee.
Colin Priest
Sea Kayak Festival 2020 Committee Member
At the Annual Club Awards Night held in February 2020 for the 2019 paddling year, Jack Choate was awarded the Junior Paddler of the Year.
Jack’s achievements include selection in the Australian Junior Team for the 2019 Junior Canoe Slalom World Championships in both K1 and C1 and making the semi finals in both disciplines.
Awards Night Speech by President Julia Davies:
A look back on Jack’s achievements for 2019 and I’m sure you’ll agree Jack has had an amazing year.
In February Jack was awarded a portion on the Australian Junior Team, after a tight series of races Jack was selected to represent Australia at the 2019 Junior Canoe Slalom World Championships in both K1 and C1.
Many many training camps later Jack made it to Europe in June for a 3 week training camp in Ausberg. At the end of the training period and local events he was placed 2nd in K1 and 21st in C1 in the U16 category.
The team then travelled to Krakow this marking the start of the Australian Team Tour and where along with the team coaches he completed two weeks of training ready for the Junior World Championships. There he placed 8th in C1 allowing him entry into the semi-final for the first time in his paddling career, he also gained entry into the semis for the K1. Making the semis for both categories was a huge achievement for Jack and as you can imagine he was over the moon.
Since returning to Perth Jack has focused on his studies whilst recovering from a few injury set-backs but as you would expect of Jack he continues to help and coach other developing canoe slalom athletes.
Well done Jack, we wish youth best in your future studies and getting back to full fitness and competition in the very near future.
Junior Paddler of the Year – Jack Choate
Paddler of the Year – Demi O’Brien
Club Member of the Year – Geoff Emery
Hero Award – Evi Ferrier
A fun night had by all in late February to celebrate outstanding performance and contribution in 2019. Thank you to all members who have contributed to the Club throughout the year and to those who came along to honour your peers.
Jack’s achievements include selection in the Australian Junior Team for the 2019 Junior Canoe Slalom World Championships in both K1 and C1 and making the semi finals in both disciplines.
Demi achieved success at the Australian Wildwater Nationals (silver and bronze) and the Australian Sprint Nationals (gold) which secured her selection in the Senior World Cup in France and U23 Wildwater World Championships in Bosnia (bronze). Backed up with a 2019 Avon Descent team bronze.
Demi also contributes to the sport through her Paracanoe and Junior coaching.
Geoff has had many roles at the Club over the years and is currently Chair of the Training and Development Committee. Geoff promotes and facilitates the development of members through the Guide and Instructor training programs and he and his team work tirelessly to provide “Intro” courses, trips and tours for all members to enjoy. Geoff always puts his hand up to assist with events, races, open days and all things SCC so is well deserving of this award.
This year saw the introduction of the Hero Award – an open ended award category. For the inaugural award the feat of paddling the most southerly and northerly points of the globe within 24 months of taking up the sport goes to Evi.
SCC slalom paddler, Jordan Fleming, competed in two national competitions in January 2020.
He was the only West Australian athlete to compete in the 2020 Age Championships and the National Club and School competition on the Upper Mersey River in Tasmania. The scenery was spectacular, the locals friendly and the course challenging. He put in a very credible performance in the U18 Men’s K1 category.
Then it was on to the big water of Penrith Whitewater Stadium for the Australian Canoe Slalom Championships where he joined SCC paddlers, Demelza Wall (U23), Georgia Rankin and Kynan Maley and coach, Zlatan Ibrahimbegovic.
The athletes contended with issues of air quality due to the bush fires and associated race scheduling changes but had the opportunity to share the water with Australia’s best, including Olympic medal winner and world champion, Jessica Fox. Congratulations to organisers for such a well-run event in spite of the difficult circumstances.
Our time at Broke was again just magical with such a mixture of landscapes to enjoy and the tranquillity of our beautiful spot at Windy Point. I just loved the chance to do some real star gazing. Thanks Graeme for your insights. Thanks Marty and everyone who organised. It’s very much appreciated.
Elena Lennox
Eight cars and 15 people in attending.
Perth to Camfield (approximately 5 hours).
Meet on the beach at Camfield for the briefing at 1.00 pm Friday allowing enough sufficient time for packing gear on the beach before the briefing.
Weather looks good with temperatures in the low 20’s and light to moderate winds (details to be updated at briefing).
Ensure you have your PFD and all necessary camping gear including 5 lites of water / day. Good idea to do a dummy run packing the kayak before leaving Perth.
No fires and no toilet facilities at camp site at Windy Point.
Some guidance for the use of club craft
Club craft are for the use of all members, repairs are costly and time consuming, please treat craft with the care, as you would your own belongings
If a boat is damaged due to carelessness or negligence you may be requested to contribute to some or all of the repair costs, if a boat is damaged beyond repair, it may need to be replaced by you at the cost of an equivalent new model
Additional guidance for the use of composite club craft
This includes Stellar 14 and Stellar 15 touring kayaks, Stellar 18 skis, Grafton sport and other TK1s, Sprint K1s and junior Guppys
(eg in photo above Rack B – Level 4 – Column 7)
Each Boat Space has a Rack – Level – Column reference to enable the Boat Officer to manage the spaces and members to identify their allocated storage position. Dave has recently written these references on all spaces in the Old (East) Shed to a make things easier. We are looking into doing similar in the New (West) Shed.
Rack
Refers to the row of boats and starts from the East
(ie to the left as you enter from the Clubhouse foyer)
Rack A and Rack B are in the Old (East) Boatshed
Racks C, D, E, F, G and H are in the New (West) Boatshed
Level
Refers to the height location with the bottom being 1 and the top being 5 or 6
Column
Refers to the column between the roller doors (South) and the Clubhouse foyer door (North)
1 is closest to the roller door
Rack A has 18 Columns
Rack B has 15 Columns
Racks C, D, E, F, G and H have 3 Columns each
A large group lead by Geoff Emery enjoyed a 17km return paddle from Palm Beach to Point Peron, Bird Island, Seal Island and Penguin Island for lunch on the the 5th of January 2020.
