2015 ICF World Championships Slalom
 
1
2
3
K1M
CZ J. PRSKAVEC
PL M. POLACZYK
US M. SMOLEN
K1W
CZ K. KUDEJOVA
DE R. FUNK
DE M. PFEIFER
C1M
GB D. FLORENCE
SI B. SAVSEK
GB R. WESTLEY
C1W
AU J. FOX
CZ K. HOSKOVA
ES N. VILARRUBLA
C2
DE ANTON/BENZIEN
FR PICCO/BISO
FR KLAUSS/PECHE

Stand Up Paddling

Stand up paddle entrepreneur and explorer, Paul Hyman, talks Thames and ‘Stand Up City’

sup stand up paddling thames london great britain paul hyman polar bears paddleboard sportscene

Nick Harding | @nickhdg | Sportscene - Following a chat at the London Boat Show earlier this year, Sportscene meets one of the Directors of London's emerging paddleboard scene, Active 360, who is also championing a 9-man expedition across the Arctic in August 2013 [article to feature soon].

After 20-years playing underwater hockey and paddling European whitewater and Thames Valley weirs Level 3 Coach Paul's first love was surf-kayaking. In 2006 after paddling a session of heavy swell at Watergate Bay, Cornwall, the waves died down; Paul saw a paddleboarder catching smaller breaks that really wouldn't normally interest him. The stand-up paddler chose his waves carefully from man-height because he could see further out than water-level paddlers, effortlessly too he seemed to paddle through the sets.  After seeing paddleboarders again at Sligo Strand in Donegal Bay in 2009 Paul and again in 2010 on a coaching update course (where one of the participants was coaching kayaking from a paddleboard) Paul realised its potential. He’d been living close to the Thames in Chiswick since 1997 and had already set up three London canoe clubs. He had the contacts in the canoe world, infrastructure and with board distributors to get the London stand-up ball rolling.

sup stand up paddling thames london great britain paul hyman polar bears paddleboard sportscene “I was getting excited about the potential, seeing how it started to grow round the world, it was starting to happen inland away from the coast, like in Holland, the 11-Cities Tour where they paddle on the canals between cities.”

Now, going from strength to strength, Active 360 SUP (stand-up paddling) is ever growing, already with a school in place at London's Brentford Lock and Kew Bridge, two more centres are opening this spring, one in Essex on Mersea Island and another on Brighton beachfront aiming to embrace the substantial student and tourist populations as well as capitalise on the annual 'Paddle Round the Pier' competition and other local events; July this year. Aspirationally, these schools will then evolve into a franchise with others setting up under the 360 brand. A short walk from Kew Bridge, Paul's team is also opening an SUP shop.

In 2011 Paul co-organised the first London beginners' race day named 'Twickenham Alive', its success spawned the 'Twickenham Alive Blue Mile' World Wildlife Fund fundraising a year later featuring an advanced SUP paddler category. London's first SUP Marathon is planned for 22nd June 2013 as a fundraising event for fighting cancer. “I'm hoping we can fully exploit the potential of SUP to raise money for good causes over the next few years.”

Paul and his team are working to pioneer SUP City, a really exciting venture that is a stone-throw from Paddington Station. Its main purpose is to promote and develop the race scene in London. There is a very visible stretch of canal that would be used, it has a 'dead cut' of water with no through traffic. Paddington Basin to Little Venice is the perfect setting for weekly training and monthly races; companies overlooking the canal will be encouraged to pitch teams against each other.

“The flatwater race scene is starting to build up; London's a great place to start this up, it's got a lot of underused waterways: the canal system; it's hardly used for on water recreation and you can paddle right around London, and then you've got the Thames; you could paddle all day and barely see one kayaker in some parts! Rowers tend to use it Saturday/Sunday mornings and weekdays they're mostly gone by 1 o'clock. There's stacks of room.”

sup stand up paddling thames london great britain paul hyman polar bears paddleboard sportscene

The potential for further growth in grassroots SUP sport is incredible, Paul has tried whitewater SUP at the Hurley Classic with GB freestyle kayakers, surf-stand-up is certainly progressing across Cornwall, whitewater courses are cropping up and more and more instructors are becoming qualified. The PLA (Port of London Authority) recently told Paul that, their patrol boats report seeing more stand-up paddlers using the upper Thames Tideway than kayakers.

"Our ambition is to make it the biggest watersport in London, the most popular."

The sport's soaring popularity is down to its identity of accessibility to all; “it's a new sport, it looks different, its got that connection with surfing and on flatwater you don't get wet.” If you do happen to come off your board, you can get right back on the horse, it is your safety mechanism, like surfing you can have a leash to avoid coming separating from it. SUP is also deemed as highly attractive for women because it is not a male-dominated sport and it is a highly cardiovascular sport that builds tone over muscle.

The growth of SUP is also down to psychology; there is no fear of entrapment as Paul puts it, you are not restricted to the confinement of your spraydeck and you can self-rescue easily. He has coached many people who have had tricky experiences kayak-rolling or capsizing years – even decades ago, who struggle to get over it; SUP can heal any gremlins.

sup stand up paddling thames london great britain paul hyman polar bears paddleboard sportscene active 360Regarding SUP politics, administrative control in the UK has yet to be finalised. The British Canoe Union have invited Active 360 to apply to become their first accredited SUP centre in the UK being hierarchically managed by Canoe England. The ASI (Academy of Surf Instructors) is currently SUP's official worldwide training organisation and 360 is about to become London’s first accredited ASI SUP school. Paul is hoping to bring The ASI and BCU together to develop a coaching course aimed at people who are already canoe coaches. There is also strong interest from the BSUPA (British Stand Up Paddle Association) to become the sport's NGB (National Governing Body).

It is a red-hot potato period for SUP sport, internationally it is snowballing. The World Stand Up Paddle and Paddleboard Championship occur later this month in Miraflores, Peru with different categories including ocean-racing, flatwater sprint, surf, distance or marathon paddling and relay events. Word of mouth is spreading like wildfire too that particularly stand-up sprint could be suited for Olympic competition where it would use the same flatwater location as the canoe sprint and rowing races; all races would involve a turn though requiring skill and technique, similar to match-racing in sailing.

All in all, exciting to see how SUP sport is ever expanding. Part 2 of Paul's interview on his stand up expedition to the Arctic waters of Greenland is to follow.

Websites

www.active360.co.uk

www.paddleroundthepier.com

www.academyofsurfing.com

www.bsupa.org.uk