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James Bebbington aka ‘Pringle’

Passionate about Kayaking, Travel, Nature, Dreams, Raw Food & the Beauty of Life. Don’t be afraid to be different, stand out, show your personality and live your dreams & listen to your heart! My strongest value is that in our life we need to inspire the next generation, be physically active, we need to protect our environment, save it’s animals and creatures, stop eating meat and have a lot of fun along the way.

My dream has always been to pursue freestyle kayaking as far as I can. I haven’t reached my limit yet and I don’t think I ever will. I want to learn & perfect every move, invent some new ones, win at the highest levels and surf the best waves & holes around the world and discover some new ones too. I just love to be on the water, its the place I feel happiest and truly at home so thats where I’ll be as much as I can.

I started kayaking when I was 12 and was  hooked from the get go, I started out playing around on lakes and in the pool then moved upto the small dirty rivers in Lancashire then as my paddling progressed  I took a couple coaching courses with my local shop to teach me the fundamental skills of whitewater. Afterwards I gradually moved onto paddling more and more whitewater in `North Wales and the Lake District with my canoe club at the time Wigan Canoeing Group.

I was about 13 when I first saw freestyle kayaking in the 2nd ever issue of Canoe & Kayak Uk magazine, straight away I knew that was where my passion would be. I saved up my pennies doing every odd job I could scrounge from my parents & neighbors until I got my first boat. It was a a Riot Dominatrix 44 from Brookbank canoes  I never looked back & have been paddling hard around the world surfing, competing and enjoying the freestyle lifestyle ever since.

Now I am a 6 time GBR Freestyle Kayak team member, British Champion, World Champion, World Cup Champion and European Silver & Bronze medalist. I’m training harder than ever and enjoying it more & more. We’ll see what the future holds for me…

Website: http://riverzoo.com

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