paddling alongside me and we both grinned
at each other. At that point I realised this is
what my husband loves about these
competitions: having fun, getting out on the
water in conditions you would normally
pass up and making friends with like
minded people. Overall I was pleased with
some of the waves I caught in my first heat
and I was really chuffed that I hadn’t been
crippled with nerves.
Morning briefing
The weekend arrived and we all gathered
around for the morning briefing and for the
first time I wasn’t just standing around
gazing into space while my husband found
out the plan for his competition. This time I
was part of the event. Five ladies had entered
including myself but unfortunately only
three of us registered for the day. As we were
such a small group the plan was to run two
heats with all three of us and the ranking
would be based on the overall scores.
Results
The second heat was even better. I felt
relaxed and much more at ease with the
situation. I never once thought about the
judges watching me and it was more like
just being out for a surf with a couple of
mates. The results came in at the end of the
day and I came third in the ladies. I was so
pleased as I felt like I hadn’t let myself
down and I enjoyed myself. Best part of all
was meeting some fellow lady paddlers
who, like me, wanted to have fun and enjoy
the experience.
My time had arrived. The heat before ours
was running so we had to get ourselves
ready. I was in my wetsuit, feeling a bit sick
and had already been for about ten nervous
wees. The waves were as promised, about 3ft,
messy and windy. I had borrowed my
husband’s board with a bit more volume to
help me stay afloat and hopefully counteract
my legs shaking. The hooter sounded and we
launched. Battling against the onshore wind
to get outback was a great distraction from
my nerves and I was very surprised to find
my anxiety eased almost immediately.
If you have ever wondered about giving
these events ago but haven’t felt confident
enough or unsure of your ability I really
would urge you to give it a try. If I can do it
really anyone can. I don’t have much
experience, I have never had a lesson, I
generally just make it up and hope for the
best but I am passionate about the sport
and love getting on the water. It was a great
experience and I would never have bothered
going out in those conditions normally and
it really pushed my paddle surfing.
I recognised the name of one of my fellow
competitors, Tina Beresford, and I knew she
was good so my strategy was to follow her
line out, as she must know what she is
doing. Twenty minutes in a heat feels much
longer than I thought and I had plenty of
time to gather myself together and try for
some waves. At one point I was battling my
way back out through the onshore wind and
looked across to one of the other ladies
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