Paddle your own canoe

On deep midwinter weekends, when most sane folk are snuggled up in front of warm fires, there are others for whom heaven is the forecast of heavy rain. They are white-water kayakers, people who voluntarily throw themselves onto and into cold, fast-flowing, rock-strewn rivers in plastic boats about the size of a bath tub.

Crazy? Perhaps. Addicted? Usually it's a hopeless case. Enthusiasts claim the thrills and spills generate a tremendous buzz and that it is also an extremely sociable activity. That may be fine for young people who do not mind getting cold, wet and exhausted in the name of pleasure. But this rapidly growing adventure sport is proving to be a big attraction with more "mature" recruits. Conor Ryan of the Irish Canoe Union (ICU) says that of the 200 or so people who take a beginner's course with the organisation each year, a high proportion are over 25 and the number over 35 is steadily growing.

"One of the questions I'm regularly asked by people is whether they are too old. I tell them I didn't take it up until I was 35, so it's never too late to begin," he says. "Once they have the basic training in place, people can then choose what kind of canoeing they want to do. For example, some people would be quite happy to paddle on quiet rivers, whereas for others wild water is the attraction. It can be a bit miserable in winter and we get more people coming out from springtime onwards, but the hardy paddlers will stick at it year round and will enjoy going out even when it's cold and wet."

The ICU runs ongoing courses from early spring to early autumn at its training centre at the Strawberry Beds near Lucan. Courses cost around £90 and all beginners need to bring is a towel, a swimsuit, clothes to wear on top and suitable footwear. The ICU supplies everything else and provides experienced instructors and helpers to "mind" the new recruits. It goes without saying that would-be canoeists need to be able to swim - and Conor Ryan says that having a sense of humour is also a big help.

The average age on this year's courses was 30-plus and it's a sport that appeals equally to men and women. The ICU runs regular trips for members which gives aspiring paddlers the chance to decide if they really like the sport before committing themselves to buying a boat and other equipment.

Seamus Tutty took up paddling in his late 40s. He is a sergeant in the Garda and says that having done the ICU course he was completely hooked. "The course was excellent and I quickly got over my apprehension about tipping over," he says. "It is more difficult to learn when you're older, possibly because you're not as dare-devil as you used to be and I suppose you're more aware of the risks. I also felt quite self-conscious initially, but you get over that pretty quickly and there is a tremendous sense of camaraderie among paddlers. They look out for each other and they are very supportive and encouraging to new recruits.

"What I love about paddling is being outdoors and on the water. It's a wonderful sense of freedom. You also get to go places in a boat that you could never reach on foot. For example, paddling in Wicklow and going through parts of the State forest that you'd never normally see."

John Stanley started at the same age as Seamus Tutty. "I took an ICU course at its centre on the Liffey because we had kayaks at our family holiday home in west Cork and I wanted to be able to use them safely. But by the end of the second session, I was really having fun and when we were brought over our first weir I knew this was something I wanted to keep doing," he says.

"Since then I've joined a club and done another ICU course. I think it can be difficult for people to make the transition from being a raw recruit with basic skills to being a proficient paddler. The ICU does an excellent job in helping people through their first year, but after that you're reliant on the help and tolerance of other people. That's where joining a good club comes in. There are a number around and I joined Voyagers which is known as a `roof rack' club. The key attraction of this type of club is that it has minimum bureaucracy and no premises, so you aren't spending all your free time fundraising or sitting on committees. They're also a great bunch to be out with.

"White-water in particular is highly addictive - it is `adrenalin junkie' territory. But it's not the same as a big rollercoaster. You're not doing it to be scared, you're trying to develop the skills and the balance to be in control of a very small boat in an exciting and challenging environment. When you look at the skill of other people on the water you could easily regret not taking up the sport earlier. But then you remember what you were like on your fist day on the water and you know that, at the end of the day, there's no substitute for practice, for simply getting out there, doing it and enjoying it."

The modular BA degree in English and history taken by last week's profiled student Owen Dawson was from UCD and not, as stated in the subheading, Trinity.