Freestyle

Posts and Pages containing content relevant to the paddle sport’s discipline of Freestyle at LVPC.

First Club Night of 2026

The weather is finally warming up a little just in time for our first club night of 2026, so get out all those welcome thermal layers that Santa brought and join us on Wednesday 14th Jan 2026 for the 90 minute sessions on both courses, 7-8.30pm. Booking via WebCollect now. Bank safety Thanks again to all those who gave their time, expertise and enthusiasm to provide bank safety during 2025. Hugely appreciated of course! Please sign up with Spond if you are able to help this week as we return to Club Night paddling.

LVPC 2025 Year End Message from the Chair, Jonathan Males

Dear Club Members I really enjoyed meeting so many of you at this week’s Christmas meal. The paddling session beforehand reminded me of what makes this a great club – people young and old paddling freestyle, slalom, race rafting and simply having fun on whitewater. As we come to the end of the year and a pause in LVWWC based activities, I wanted to acknowledge and say thank you to: *All of those club members who have volunteered – to cover bank safety, welcome members at reception, coach fellow club members, organise trips and competitions, tidy the sheds, update websites, manage our finances, post on social media… *David Redington and his team at Lee Valley Whitewater Centre, for the welcome partnership and collaboration.*Pam Phillips and all the committee for your work behind the scenes.* Martin Smyth, one of the club’s founding Directors, who will be standing down in 2026. Some Club Highlights of 2025 *The summer inflatables session, where we discovered that pink flamingos are fine to go down the legacy course, but that certain other inflatable items are not (IYKYK !).*The hotdog event, where I laughed more than I have laughed for a long time.* Hosting the successful British Open …

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Winter Paddling

Following a successful trial last year, we will be reducing the paddling hours again this year from November 26th for the winter months until March 4th 2026. There will be one session of 90 mins on each course, from 7pm to 8.30pm. The cost will be as last year, £10 for the Legacy, £15 for the Olympic sessions. There will be a complete break from 17 Dec to 7 January inclusive,  so the last session of this year is the night of our Christmas Get Together on December 10th. (Save the date!) The first session in 2026 will be January 14th . Reducing our winter hours worked well for us last year and certainly contributed to getting our finances in order. We will, of course, be grateful for members’ help with bank safety, which will run in 2 sessions of 45 minutes.

Freestyle Competition: Wednesday 15th October on the 7:30pm Legacy Session

We are organising a pilot freestyle competition on Wednesday 15th October on the 7:30pm Legacy session. If you’ve ever wanted to see what freestyle is about, now is your chance! Anyone can enter in any boat; this is all about having fun and finding out about freestyle. Heats will be in a ‘jam’ style format (a set time allocated for the heat based on the number of paddlers and you just take it in turns getting on the feature). The categories are mixed gender and age but based on ability level: Novice – All fun moves count (think paddle spins, cosmic donkeys, Harry Potters – if you have no idea what these are you’ll learn along the way) Intermediate – ICF moves with flexibility i.e. if you initiate in the feature but flush, you’ll still score it and some flexibility on angles. If you retain in the feature, there will be additional bonuses. Advanced – ICF scoring. Stricter scoring, requiring you to retain in the feature to score the move. There will be a mandatory safety brief in the island on the Legacy at 7:15. Heats will also be allocated at the brief along with bibs. The cost of the …

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AquaPaddle on 28th September 2025

AquaPaddle is coming to Lee Valley on Sunday, 28th September! The Club is hosting an AquaPaddle 5km event open, on the Lee Navigation canal to all Club Members in any craft* on Sunday 28th September. Meet at 09:30 to be on the water for 10am. Anyone wanting to paddle or volunteer needs to register on www.aquapaddle.org to get your number/register your qualifications etc and please then also send an email to Reuben (reuben.sweetman@gmail.com) who will arrange to get you registered for the event. Spectators are more than welcome and we hope all of you (i.e. paddlers, volunteers and spectators) can join us afterwards for an – entirely optional – celebratory bite to eat and something to drink in the Whitewater Centre cafe. *You don’t even have to bring your own craft! LVPC’s Flatwater Racing group can potentially supply a range of suitable craft. If this is of interest, please email Reuben at reuben.sweetman@gmail.com (ideally WELL before the event) so we can try to accommodate. We look forward to seeing you all.

AGM 2025: Chair’s Report on the Year

At our 2025 Club AGM, Jonathan Males reported on the 2024/25 year, thanking all those who had contributed to the Club’s ongoing success. ” I’m pleased to report on a successful year for our club, that has been enabled by the club members who volunteer to keep sessions safe and coach other members to grow in confidence, by dedicated committee members who give their time and expertise, and by deepening collaboration with our key partners Paddle UK, Lee Valley Whitewater Centre, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and local clubs such as Whoosh Explore, Shepperton, and Viking Kayak Club. I will leave the detailed Financial Report to our capable Treasurer Marie Bauerova, who has done a magnificent job managing our ingoings and outgoings, supported by our Finance Sub Committee (Carl Upsall, Mark Corti, and myself). I am delighted that our financial situation is stabilising and I’m confident that with continued attention to costs we can maintain our viability. For example, we will again run shorter ‘winter hours’ from December to April, and you will be asked to approve a small regular increase in annual membership fees. Whilst cheaper access to the whitewater course is one benefit of club membership, I hope …

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LVPC Update From the Chair

Changed winter hours The General Committee of the Club has reviewed the recent survey results, and we will move to winter hours of 7.00 pm to 8.30 pm in January. Bank Safety will work in two, 45-minute shifts. The cost of a 90-minute session will be £10 for the Legacy and £15 for the Olympic. We realise that some people will not want to paddle for the full time, or may start late, so we hope that a single fee will keep things simple and encourage more people to paddle through winter. We anticipate keeping these hours in place till the end of February and reverting to 2 hours in March, starting at 6.30 pm. Winter Bank Safety We will continue to work in two shifts but these will be shorter than summer hours. Time on the bankside will be 45 minutes not 1 hour. Shift 1: Arrive onsite no later than 6.45 pm to collect trolleys and radios and be bankside by 6.55 pm. Remember the pumps cannot be turned on until our safety volunteers are in place. If you are late, the whole session will be late too. Shift 2: 7.45 pm, take over on bankside through to …

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End of Year Report from the Chair, AGM 2024

LVPC Chair’s Report to AGM September 2024 Jonathan Males, Chair Let me start by saying thank you to our club committee and our members who have volunteered for bank safety over the past twelve months. Without your contributions the club would cease to function. A special thank you to Pam Phillips, who continues to be the beating heart of the club. Thanks also to Sunny Rhodes who steps down as Welfare Officer, with Irina Medunyak taking over this important role. We carried out a member survey in January 2024 and this has guided the committee in decisions and planning. As reminder, here’s what you said: 6. Cost and Membership Stability. The cost of living is impacting us all, and several members were concerned about possible price rises. Yet some also said they would be willing to pay more, because the club represents great value to them. Recreational paddling beyond the whitewater centre has taken off this year, thanks to the efforts of Peter and Helen Nash and our collaboration with Whoosh Explore. There are plenty of hidden paddling gems in the east and south-east and I recommend these trips for a relaxing and sociable day out. The club supported the …

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Freestyle Coaching Opportunities

Two courses begin this week with Mike Shaw,  freestyle coach Booking on webcollect now _______________ Legacy Freestyle Coaching  6.30-7.30 4 x weeks development course: 17th, 24th April, 1st,  8th May £120 (4 week period)  For Legacy assessed paddlers who have a roll (this doesn’t need to be 100% but helpful to have a reasonable roll). _______________ Olympic Freestyle Coaching  7.30-8.30  4 x weeks development course: 17th, 24th April, 1st,  8th May £120 (4 week period) –  For Olympic assessed paddlers who have a reasonable roll. _______________

New Courses On Offer in April, May and June

Booking on webcollect now Legacy Coaching 2 x weeks with Will (£30 a session) (24th Apr / 1st May) + (22nd / 29th May) + (5th / 12th June) Will is training up to become a Stadium Leader and will be offering his skills for 2 x Legacy assessed paddlers who are looking to develop and gain skills to paddle the course with confidence. _______________ Legacy Bank Safety Training – with coach Jon 5th June – 6.30 – 8pm 24th July – 6.30 – 8pm No charge _______________ White Water Essentials (Introduction) with Stadium Safety Certificate with coach Pav 7.30 -8.30 pm 8th May / 15th May / 22nd May / 29th May / 5th June (bank safety) 12th June This course is a 6 week course for £150 which includes one week of bank safety training and stadium white water award certification. No pre-assessment required if you are (discover award – manoeuvre a boat around obstacles easily, able to do a capsize rescue with neoprene spray deck, can control the boat on edge). _______________ Legacy Freestyle Coaching with Mike Shaw 6.30-7.30 4 x weeks development course: 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th June £120 (4 week period) Legacy assessed paddlers who …

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