Younguns: Nene

May is the month of the Nene: not being there in 12 months, and then twice in the same month. This time though, it was for Younguns and the third event of the year. 

Younguns predecessor, Youth Freestyle Series, was a significant part of what had sparked my interest in freestyle, introduced me to the friendly community and gave me the opportunity to learn of many more experienced kayakers. Therefore, when at briefing I noticed the particular fall in participants from previous years - it was quite discouraging that something that had been so important in my development in the sport, was not being shared by others. 


However, this didn't stop us from having fun and putting on a good competition.

In the morning, every was able to practice together and even get helpful tips of other paddlers on the water. The feature at the Nene is by no means World class, but it is still great to train in and often offers quite a few entertaining power flips! I also really enjoyed seeing some new faces on the youth freestyle scene.For most of this session, I paddled in Pool A in the largest of the drops and also the top pool. Both these features, due to the nature, force me to do my weaker moves as my stronger moves like loops are very inconsistent in the feature, so for me, is quite good to train. 


After lunch, we each had two 45 second rides - this was the main competition. Due to a monkey bar session the night before, I was feeling a little tight, and didn't paddle my best, struggling to set up. Despite this, it was good fun to be part of an informal competition and try moves I wouldn't normally try. Overall, I finished 1st, which I was really pleased about as hadn't felt as strong as usual. 



Once everyone had competed, we were set a series of challenges - many involving getting very wet. 

The first begun with a ball collection race in the top pool, with two rounds to see who could collect the most. The second event involved a boaterX down the course - without our paddles! Then there was a "princess race"; in teams of three you had to cross the river with one person sat on the boat, trying to stay dry. And finally, it was the classic: the ball collection in Pool A. 



I did enjoy the day, and it was fun to paddle with everyone, but at the same time it would be great to push the sport forwards and see an increase in numbers for the final event at Cardiff in June! 

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