When: Saturday 24TH October 2023
Where: Nene Whitewater Centre
Paddlers: Tony McKenzie (Organiser), Nigel Atkinson (lead coach), Graham Summers, Chris Brown, Conrad Chambers, Ian Walker, Martin Edwards, Aled Johnson, Paul Childerhouse (coach), Lleyton Fiordelisi, and Andy Slatford.
On a bright October afternoon eleven Nomads made the trek up to the Nene White Water centre in Northampton for some Grade 2 white water shenanigans. It was a mixed bunch ranging from seasoned white-water paddlers to paddlers that had never previously paddled white-water. Not an issue as in true Nomad style there was plenty of help at hand in the form of both formal and informal coaching.
The group split into two groups with the less experienced paddlers starting at the lower pools and slowly working their way up the course with coaching support provided by Nigel and Chilly. A second group of more experienced paddlers started at the top of the course and worked the eddies whilst navigating their way down the 300m course. As time went on and confidence levels increased Nomads could be spotted all along the length of the course in various guises and poses, practicing eddy hopping, surfing waves, boofing down drops and of course, inevitably, practicing their swimming technique 😊. A great afternoon had by all, lots learnt and all home safe.
Special thanks go out to Sue and Nigel for some really cool action shots, some of which are included in this report.
Thanks to Tony for organising. Looking forward to the next one when it reopens in the Spring.