I was anxiously awaiting the return of this race ever since I heard about it last summer. A race in January, indoors, in a hockey arena lake? The world’s largest indoor pool! Sign me up! What a rad venue! When I walked into the arena where the Marlies play hockey I felt like I was finally doing a real sport with spectators. It was a really neat experience to be paddling on the lake and have bleachers surrounding us with spectators. During the races it meant we could hear the loud cheers and groans as people fell off their boards during tight pivot turns with 5 competitors trying to rotate around the buoy at once.
My background in flatwater kayak mostly consisted of 500m races that lasted just over 2 minutes long, these are comparable to the 800m run distance which I think is one of the toughest mentally. It’s a sprint, then hold on as much as possible until the end, it hurts. When I transitioned to SUP I was a little disappointed to find out that most of the local races are either long distance or ultra long distance. I had to learn to love it and embrace the hydration vest that I have to wear every race to stay alive. At the boat show I was stoked to finally have a sprinty SUP race with turns that my friends and family could actually see. Usually watching a long SUP race consists of seeing the start and finish but not much in between depending on the location.
I came 2nd in my heat, the turns were all wonderfully chaotic and I loved how it really could be anyone’s race! I advanced straight to the final which I appreciated because the air was so dry and the pool chemicals were not doing anyone’s throat or lungs any favours. There were 4 races for each participant, heat, semi, final and a fun relay that mixed up the men and women. It was fun cheering on our teammates in the relay.
I think we put on quite the show for the final women’s race. Each turn featured boards crashing into one another, boards rubbing so people couldn’t paddle on that side. It was very eventful and a lot of fun! I learned from the first race that I had to get to the first buoy turn first or I’d risk getting interference from other paddlers trying to turn at the same time. I paddled a choke stroke on one side for that entire first leg, switching sides to make the turn. Then I paddled as hard as I could for the rest of the race to avoid being passed. I was really happy with how my pivot turns went. Before the race I was nervous as to how I would feel on a 12’6 inflatable SUP because I don’t find them as stable as hard boards because there is a little movement under my feet due to the air being displaced by my body weight. I also hadn’t pivot turned in weeks due to my board deck freezing up this winter. I made the mistake of trying to pivot turn once paddling outside and my foot almost slid right off the back of the board on the icy surface. What I loved about the 12’6 is that it is so much quicker and easier for me to step back all the way to the kickpad on the end of the board. I felt really confident in my turns and they’re ridiculously fun to do!
In the final 2 turns of the race I almost fell right off the board a few times. I couldn’t believe it, I was mad at myself for losing control in the race. It wasn’t until I was talking to friends and family after the race that someone’s board had landed on the back of mine. I had no idea. I was stoked to have been able to keep going and paddle away without falling in.
I ended up winning the race and I attribute that to my extensive pivot turn practice last summer and my ability to push through lactic acid pain for 3 minutes. It REALLY hurt. When I finished I ended up with a combination of a lactic acid cough and a really dry irritated throat from the air. It was worth it haha! The trophy was one of the coolest ones I’ve seen, a mini paddleboard.
Thank you Northline Sports for putting on a great event and for all the volunteers and competitors who also helped make it a smooth and fun event.
