Kayaking with Champion Lakes Boating Club
The kayaking section of our boating club is now getting underway. We invite you to come and check out what we are doing. At present we are a handful of members, but our future will be a big one. Why’s that?
- We are a new club located in the South East coridoor of Perth, well away from the river or ocean. There are no other canoe clubs nearby and a huge population of people who don’t yet realise that paddling is a terrific sport!
- We have a new world-class regatta facility, one of only two in Australia. We have change rooms, showers, boat storage, pontoons, a 5km circuit and 2km bouyed racing course, clubrooms, grassed access to the water, on-site caretaker and more. This is unprecedented for a new canoe club in Australia.
- We are part of the larger Champion Lakes Boating Club, which currently combines rowing, dragon boating and kayaking – other aquatic activities may be included in future. This is unique in the world, as best we can tell. It opens up all sorts of opportunities for these aquatic sports to work together for mutual benefit.
What are we offering now?
We are brand new, and there are a handful of us at present. That will change. You can be part of this change by joining in. Every member of our club will have a role to play in club development – that’s the only way we can start. It’s great fun to be in something right from the beginning.
- We have already hosted ‘Come and Try’ days for interested member of the public to have a go at canoeing/kayaking. We will be offering more of these – subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the details.
- Introduction to Kayaking Courses – we will be introductory courses, probably starting in May 2009. These will take novice paddlers and give them the skills to handle a kayak competently, and progress to becoming a member of our club.
- Club Nights – we have started these, and are reviewing the best night to offer. Again, stay tuned for further details. Club nights will involve a time trial for paddlers for all abilities to improve their speed and fitness, as well as a rotation of other activities such as skills sessions and canoe polo.
- Morning training – With the conclusion of the National Kayak Championships at our venue this weekend, the focus on training our sprint squad will change for a while. We plan to meet at 6:30am Monday and Wednesday mornings for a one hour fitness session on the water. The emphasis will be on paddlers with racing boats (K1, K2, plastics or whatever). We’ll paddle around 8km per session, practicising sprint and marathon fitness: speed, endurance, cardio, resistance etc. Give it a go – the worst that will happen is you will get wet. We have a limited number of privately owned boats that can be used for this, but paddler must have basic flat water competency – it is not a tuition session.
What might our future include?
There are many possibilities. Our club will grow, our range of activities will expand. We’ll introduce people from the local area to paddling, and they will become important members of our club. We’ll host races, put on family days, and generally make the most of our superb facility.
