Best of the Web

Training my black dog

My favourite metaphor for depression is Winston Churchill’s. He called it his “black dog.” Something that follows you. Something to fend off. Something to which you are allergic- and medication offers relief of symptoms. Depression comes in all shapes and sizes. It’s hard to assess correctly at first glance. It seems obvious that it’s some kind of handicap or even a physical disease. But a chemical imbalance? Something that can’t be precisely quantified or proven? That’s a difficult argument to make to someone who isn’t experiencing it.

Read more

The 10 most common types of athletes

Athletes are quite a bunch! No matter which sport or what nationality, it seems like there is a recurring pattern in personalities. After much analysis of big data, we came up with the ultimate list of the 10 most common athletes types.

Read more

SSE #120 RECOVERY TECHNIQUES FOR ATHLETES

Recovery is becoming increasingly important to the high-performing athlete in a bid to reduce fatigue and enhance performance. Some of the more common recovery techniques utilised by athletes include hydrotherapy, active recovery, stretching, compression garments and massage.

Read more

Women’s Canoe Out of 2016 Summer Olympics

It might not seem like it, but women’s ski jumping in the Sochi Olympics and women’s canoe racing have a lot in common. Not only are both held on water mediums and involve adrenaline, they also have struggled to be included in the Olympic games.

Read more

New Zealand sprint nationals finish in style

Scott Bicknell was left rueing a giant missed scalp at the New Zealand canoe sprint championships in Rotorua today, as Australians Ken Wallace and Lachlan Tame completed a clean sweep for the second year running.

Read more

Training to live with pain: What we can learn from Olympic athletes

Some of the most memorable Olympic moments involve athletes triumphing over pain: Silken Laumann’s improbable bronze in 1992, just 10 weeks after a horrific rowing accident; Slovenian cross-country skier Petra Majdic breaking five ribs and collapsing a lung just minutes before her qualifying heat in Vancouver 2010, then skiing through it – four times! – to nab an excruciating bronze medal.

Read more

Turning Individual Athletes Into Team Players

Tying their fate to the performance of others isn’t something that figure skaters are accustomed to doing. Same for the single luge athletes, who are used to racing the clock alone on their slides. “Every elite athlete, has to have a certain degree of selfishness,” says Mark Aoyagi, director of sport and performance psychology at the University of Denver.

Read more

Ed McKeever: Rio on the radar

KAYAK King Ed McKeever admits it feels like just yesterday that he became the toast of the nation thanks to his London 2012 heroics. In reality, the 30-year-old thrilled the home crowds as he took home Olympic gold in his favoured K1 200m event almost a full 18 months ago.

Read more

Nymboida Power Station Petition

The residents of Nymboida and beyond are expressing their concern about the current closure and the uncertain future of the Nymboida Hydro Electric Power Station and would ask anyone interested to complete the petition below that applies to them.

Read more

How to Avoid 8 Common Race Day Mistakes

We all experience some level of race anxiety no matter how long we have been racing. The first step to dealing with race anxiety is acknowledging it. Simply recognizing that it is a perfectly normal part of racing is reassuring.

Read more

Conviction Of Kid Kayak Angler Killer Nears Appeal

Then came the ski boat driven by Steven Morse. It plowed over the kayak, leaving it shredded and torn. Witnesses said the powerboat drove on for another four seconds, and even then didn’t stop. The impact severed Gus’ arm and punctured his lung. The 10-year-old died a short time later at Noble Hospital in Westfield, MA.

Read more

Day 3 in the Canyon: Feeling Small in a Big Place

Day 3: We started to gel as a group. I have a feeling our late night party in Yonton's hotel room the night before putting on the river may have set the tone. The Truth serum brought out the camaraderie in all of us. It takes a little luck, social flexibility, and empathy for those in your group to come together as easily as ours did. It seemed the 3rd day was when everyone felt as though they could deal. Packing the boats was coming a little more easily.

Read more

Rafting centre gets the green light

Earthworks for the controversial $32 million whitewater rafting centre at the Vodafone Events Centre will start next month. The facility, in the heart of Manukau, has been given the green light by the sale of public land at nearby 834 Great South Rd and 10 Pacific Events Centre Drive.

Read more

Too hot for tennis? The impact of heat on players

As temperatures hit 43C at the Australian Open in Melbourne, officials decided it was just too hot to play tennis.There is little doubt that people had been suffering in the sweltering conditions. With readings in excess of 40C all week, ball boys were fainting, spectators wilting and players complaining of exhaustion and dehydration. So what impact is the heat having on their bodies?

Read more

Interview with SUP athlete Jenny Lee

Whether it’s waking up at the crack of dawn, taking an eight-mile paddle with her daughter perched on the front of her board, or charging the waves on her lunch break, Jenny Lee will do whatever it takes to feel saltwater against her skin.

Read more

Singapore Canoe Marathon raises $40,000 for the para-canoeing community

Held today, the 12th Singapore Canoe Marathon attracted over 100 participants of all ages and raised $40,000 for the para-canoeing community. Organised by the People’s Association (PA) Water-Venture and Singapore Canoe Federation, the marathon was held in the heartlands for more residents to participate in a good cause.

Read more

How To Date A Kayaker

Kayakers are a complex and interesting species. After five years of dating and studying my unique boyfriend, Chris Gragtmans, I want to let the ladies know that there is hope.

Read more

Snow Kayaking

In some parts of the world it's time for snow kayaking again. Watch the video!

Read more

Olympic and Dusi star dies in plane crash

Durban - Rescuers on Thursday found the bodies of two pilots in the wreckage of a missing plane by tracking the cellphone signal of one of them. The bodies of pilots David Grosvenor and Alick Rennie - chief flying instructor at the Pietermaritzburg Aero Club - were recovered in a sugar cane plantation, in Richmond, on Thursday morning. Rennie was an Olympic canoeist who represented South Africa in Barcelona in 1992 at the first games since the country’s readmission.

Read more

Sex wins - sex before sport has its benefits

Latest research into the effect sex has on sports performance suggests that as long as the interaction occurs 10 to 12 hours before the athlete takes to the field, it makes little to no difference to the athlete’s output.

Read more

Good deed generates attention for the right reason

OLYMPIC kayak coach Tim Jacobs knew when he went to the aid of a distressed female ski paddler after hearing her cries for help in the 20 Beaches Ocean Classic on Saturday that he had probably blown his chances of winning another title.

Read more

Rio Olympic programme proposal: A STEP BACK

Canoeing is an Olympic sport. Canoe slalom and sprint are the Olympic disciplines of canoeing. What does it mean to be an Olympic sport? It means a lot of things but from a practical point of view it means the sport signs the Olympic charter. By choosing to be Olympic, canoeing chooses to respect this charter. The international governing body, in this case the ICF, is there to make sure the governance and policies of the Olympic disciplines are in parallel with this charter.

Read more

SUP - AVOID THE “US VERSUS THEM” MENTALITY

If you standup paddle, you know the feeling. That mustachioed longboarder with eyes squinted in your direction, the scowl written on the baby-face grom, the detest smoldering in the souls of bodyboarders. Comments like, “You know that thing’s illegal under maritime law,” or, “Why don’t you take that somewhere else?”

Read more