PADDLER 20
Interview : Peter Tranter Photos : Aaron Kendall @ aaronkenken Many thanks , Emily , for all your help and taking time out of what I know is a busy schedule – we appreciate it . Before we start , please tell our readers a little about yourself , your family , your background , etc .
PADDLER 20
A chat with … Emily
DAVIES
Interview : Peter Tranter Photos : Aaron Kendall @ aaronkenken Many thanks , Emily , for all your help and taking time out of what I know is a busy schedule – we appreciate it . Before we start , please tell our readers a little about yourself , your family , your background , etc .
Hello , I ’ m Emily , a 25-year-old kayaker and raft guide born and bred in North Wales . I grew up in a very active and outdoorsy family . Both my parents were white water kayakers , and I was brought up around their passion . I was always encouraged to try everything . In my youth , I tried almost every sport or activity in the book : pole vault , high jump , dancing , climbing , running , mountaineering , swimming , to name a few . But the one I stuck with was kayaking .
I fell for slalom . At about 12 , I seemed to really gel with the sport . Being on the water was fun , and my competitive side came out . I wanted to go as fast as I could and perform my best from start to finish . As I put more and more commitment into training , I worked my way up into the Welsh team and then towards the British team , with my best British ranking bib number 2 .
During this time , I also attended John Moores University in Liverpool to study for a degree in Outdoor Education . While there , I earned a spot on the extreme slalom team , representing Great Britain at the World Cup for three years . In 2019 , I became a raft guide at the National Whitewater Centre in Bala . This experience exposed me to a whole new way of enjoying the river . From then on , I realised that slalom was just one small part of river life .
What inspired you to start WW kayaking , and how long have you been paddling ? I grew up on the water . But I mainly come from a slalom background . I competed in the C1 discipline for over a decade , and it put me in a really strong position when I started white water kayaking . When I wasn ’ t chasing those hanging poles , I was kayaking , heading out and pushing myself .
Kayaking is my place . It clears my head , makes me feel good , and is my happy place ! I love the thought of the places that kayaking can take you . When you ’ re on the river , you only get that perspective if immersed in that environment .
Despite paddling at an elite level for many years , it has taken some huge leaps forward in the last three years . Coming from slalom and after representing Wales and Great Britain , my skills in a boat were there , and I know you can put everything I used on a slalom course into play on a river . I began to fall out of love with slalom , but in no way was I falling out of love with paddling . So , I began to go whitewater kayaking more and more . Working at the National Whitewater Centre was the perfect playground to feed my addiction to paddling .
In 2022 , I was seriously sick ; my breathing and heart struggled with day-to-day life . It was put down and treated as long COVID-19 . This took me off the water and bed-bound for about a year , struggling to get up the stairs , never mind anything else . Kayaking was just a memory . It drove me crazy , but it made me realise how much I loved kayaking .
After a year had passed , I slowly started floating down the local class 2 / 3 of the River Dee ; it started with paddling 50m and taking a rest . Then , it progressed to 100m until I could paddle the whole stretch without having heart or chest problems . My slalom skills , love for kayaking , newfound passion for the sport , a new group of paddlers , and a relationship have led to my continued growth on the water .