The PaddlerUK magazine April 2016 issue 7 | Page 5

ThePaddlerUK 7 April digital 2016.qxp_ThePaddler 31/03/2016 21:54 Page 5

STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES

The rollers

Gino
Watkins
Do you remember your first roll? Or, I should say, your first rolls, because
there are a number of firsts in reality. The first roll, the first roll outside the
warm clarity of the swimming pool, the first roll on moving water, then the
first unplanned roll. It is not the hardest move in kayaking these days, not
even close to it.
Almost anything in freestyle is harder,
particularly the building blocks like
double pumps and bow stalls, so the
move has lost something of its cachet
over the years.These days, it’s more
realistic to see the roll as the crux move
that enables you to start your kayaking
career. It marks the end of beginner
status and entry into the real club. It
remains, however, the single most iconic
move in kayaking and probably always
will, because it represents something
fundamental and important, and
something that is nearly unique to the
kayak: the ability to come back up after
complete inversion.To the non-paddling
world it is more impressive than
anything else.
You don’t have to go back far in time to see its
evolution in the sport. Various kayaking films of
the 70s and even 80s show paddlers performing
it as a victory flourish after a rapid or as a
statement of intent before one. One good
example is the first legal descent of Niagara
Gorge – have a look on YouTube – it’s a great
video.

PADDLERUK 5

Far left:
Gino Watkins book
cover by John
Ridgway.

Left: Gino Watkins
illustration by Ian
Ribbons scanned
from the book
OUP1974