Why Paddling a K1 is Like Learning to Juggle
Sometimes effort is required before practice is possible.
This is where I paddle my kayak nearly every day.
It was a special day because I managed to stay upright in my full carbon Nelo K1 and take six or seven strokes before capsizing. The “K” in “K1” stands for “kayak,” and the “1” means my boat is for one person. If you are looking at an Olympic timetable and see an event listed as “K4,” it means each kayak is paddled by a four-person team.
It took me many hours of practice just to sit motionless in my kayak, since any slight movement threw me into the water. A K1 is the most twitchy kayak in the kayak family. It is designed for water with as few ripples as possible, and is meant for young, athletic paddlers with as many ripples in their muscles as possible.
Alas, I am not such a person.
If I were to be seen by a doctor, he would look over the top of his clipboard with an alarmed expression, frown, and say something like, “You are only 170 centimeters tall, and you are over 90 kilograms. You have a BMI of over 30. That means you are clinically obese!” But I will tell you the truth.
I’m fat.
Even though the ripples in my body aren't muscle, it has been my dream to paddle a K1. Watching a proficient paddler in a K1 is like watching performance art12.
I had no idea it would be so difficult.
As I managed to sit balanced in my boat for longer and longer stretches, it reminded me of learning to juggle. At first, it is impossible to practice juggling; you need to keep throwing balls in the air until they are aloft long enough to begin practicing.
And so, finally, on my seventeenth day—yes, I am keeping count—of paddling my K1, I not only managed to stay upright for several minutes, I could finally manage six or seven strokes before losing my balance.
Now I can finally start training.
This is a short clip of Lisa Carrington, New Zealand’s most successful Olympian, having won eight gold medals, titled “Lisa Carrington 2.”
This is Rick Mercer in an episode of the Rick Mercer Report, getting a kayaking lesson from Adam van Koeverden—a Canadian Olympic gold medalist. At the end of the clip, titled “RMR: Rick with Adam van Koeverden,” Mercer tries to sit in a K1 for more than five seconds.