made it. no great leap for mankind. no world record. no headlines or front-cover action shots, but i still made it – my first session on the local ww course.

to the boofers, cartwheelers and rocksliders it won’t be a big deal. but me - I’m on top of the world. well perhaps not quite on top of the world. perhaps a small undulation on a small rise on a small mound in the shadow of the foothills of the top of the world. but i’ve already got an aspirational eye on the next mini-summit – a ww session without a swim.

so i swam. just the once, near the end of the session. i really didn’t want to swim – didn’t want to look a fool, didn’t want to look like a beginner, didn’t want people looking and laughing. and so i was tense – i could feel it, the instructor could feel it, no doubt everyone passing either on the water or on the banks could feel it too. and no doubt i looked like a beginner. so i swam. and actually, it made everything better. it took away some of the tension. it took away some of the stiffness. and it brought determination. a few slightly less shaky ferryglides. a marginally less tentative break-in and break-out. and suddenly i wasn’t a complete beginner – i was an improver.

each time i’ve paddled, over the last 6 months or so since being introduced to the sport - whether on a lake, or a gentle river, or a flat sea, or in the surf - i’ve been lucky enough to come away with a small sense of pride and achievement, and a single recurring thought - “ i’m a bit better today than i was before” so next session i’ll try not to worry about swimming, and i’ll try not to swim. if i do swim, maybe i’ll learn from it. maybe it’ll make me a bit better than i was before.

rookie x

ps. in todays analytical world we’re all encouraged to reflect on the hows and whys of our actions - so why did i swim? didn’t know much about it at the time – my last thought was “oops i’m over” and then it was into the much thought-about drill of pulling the deck and falling out. (but i probably let my edge go as i was breaking-in, just downstream of a feature that was growing as the tide fell)

pps. note-to-self #1 = hold on to that edge til i’ve finished the turn

ppps. note-to-self #2 = remember to do up the neck-strap on my cag before setting out!

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