The last time I wrote on here I was just about to go into a hand operation to sort out my dexterity issue after breaking it earlier in the year. At the time I stated I felt like I was capable of more but unfortunately may not get a chance to prove it for awhile. I never expected what the next 12 months would bring, and to be honest, despite the further injuries and setbacks, I'm not sure I would change a thing. So what have the last 12 months involved? A few months recovery and physio from hand surgery That classic thing called covid and its impacts And a little slip on ice resulting in fractures to my T6/7 and a seizure... It's definitely not all bad though. I'm now working as the Christchurch station manager for St John Ambulance. I've joined the committee of Arawa Canoe Club as the race coordinator. I've organised 28 kayak events with all proceeds going towards supporting juniors (and another 7 events planned between now and Christmas). I've also received
With my K2 partner heading to South Africa to see family and do some racing (lucky bastard), I finally lined up at a major race as a solo competitor. With hand surgery in a couple of weeks potentially wiping out the next few months of races, I wasn't sure whether I'd even bother to enter this race but the racing bug bit hard! While it was a warm morning, the wind was blowing hard! It was enough to make me slightly concerned about parts of the course, so I felt pretty bad for the novices, they were certainly in for a wake up call on what the Waimak can be like on race day! In the wind storm that was the 2011 Coast to Coast, I had managed to get to Woodstock dry, before swimming many many times in this final 15km due to the wind. There's really only two strategies for wind, paddle at the speed of it (or faster) so it doesn't impact you, or be at the heavier end of the scale so it doesn't affect you as badly. Unfortunately most of the time both of these strategies ar