limerick

A bit of a busy weekend but i finally got pictures of me paddling in limerick.The first round of the nationals were run in limerick city which also doubled up as team selections.Thankfully the esb delivered the water they promised and we had a lovely wave.Heres some pics.

me mid spin

1st place finisher Moe Kelleher mid pistol flip

Tom O'Donoghue doing ul proud and blunting his way onto the irish team.

cross bow recovery stroke

Congrats to the new Irish team

JrMen:

Rory,

Corin,

Tim,

Eoin - Alternate
JR Ladies:

Caoimhe,

Emer,

Niamh
C1

Orky,

Niall
Ladies:

Kim,

Siobhain,

Sinead,

Jenny - Alternate
Men:

Moe,

Mark,

Bowsie,

Moogie,

Tom,

Neil - Alternate

Thanks to dave p for the excellent shots more of his photos and some vids are here http://www.irishfreestyle.com/node/4565

Dublin and Kildare

I've actually been very busy paddling for the last while so I haven't had the chance to keep this up to date.last weekend I travelled up to Dublin for the 2009 kayak intervarsities.I competed in polo in kilcock in Kildare on firday night where my team got knocked out in the quarter finals.Then on saturday morning I joined the hungover masses to compete in long distance with my oc2 partner tyrone who enjoyed the 4km paddle even though it was his first time in a canadian then we switched locations and travelled to castletown rapids for the downriver and where i once agian donned my pedo pants and hopped in the canadian with tyrone.

During the 1hour 45 minute wait to get on the water we enjoyed the company of many of our ul clubmates who chose to enjoy themselves by purchasing a slab of gallahad and enjoying the fine sight of downriver racing ie kev egans swim.When we finally got on the water we sprinted down the river through castletown rapids and were greeted at the finish line by the site of a capsized canoe and John Brady blaming kav for his sudden wet exit.Sunday morning we headed to lucan to hang out with the infamous sluice rats,compete in slalom and watch conor bring home 3rd in the freestyle sport class.Slalom was the highlight of the weekend for me.So much fun look out for slalom gates in ul in the future.

Overall ul placed 3rd.I had a good weekend.ucd put on a good show.

The End.

Thanks to ulac for the lend of the canadian and caitriona for the pictures.

Bring on Galway 2010

Galway

What a great weekend.Last saturday morning a group of us from Ul headed up to the west rodeo in tuam where I Judged and also competed in the 'pro' class.I wanted to get some more competition experience in my c1 before nationals so I thought I better compete in my c1 against the k1 heads.In the end I finished 6th but I was happy.Fair play to bowsie for running a great fun event.

Pro class winner,event organiser and all around nice guy brian cahill.

The other judges and I looking all serious and hopefully doing a good job.

plugging for a loop.

oh heres some pics from clifden from january

And We're Off

So the first county off the list is clare.I started off 32cc with a spot of surf kayaking and wave ski surfing.Conor and Bredin and I headed out to lahinch and caught a bit of surf around spanish point.The first day we headed out to spanish point beach. The surf was small but clean so I opted to take my waveski out.Had a great little session with conor in his surf boat wayne timmons on a short board and fitz and his girlfriend on longboards.Just 5 friends sharing waves on different surf craft on a sunny day without any agro.I'm beggining to get the hang of this whole waveski lark and I finally feel comfortable on my ski.

After lunch I headed off for a bit of sight seeing with the guys and we checked out the clifs of moher.

After the sun had set we headed back to waynes b and b where he kindly put us up for the night.the next day we headed out surfing at spanish point reef where we had a great session, I even managed to get covered over in the surf kayak.

Back in limerick

Finally back in limerick after a couple of weeks at home paddling in the midlands.I spent the day hangin out with my friend conor and some of the other ul gang and doing a spot of some longboard skateboarding.Haven't actually got on the water since new years so still zero counties paddled in this year but im heading surfing tomorrow so 32cc begins with clare.

Mission Statement

Hey guys I'm John O'Rourke aka Orky.I've been paddling nearly a decade now.I paddle many disciplines such as freestyle,whitewater and polo in boat c1 and k1 classes.This year I've decided to attempt to kayak in all of Irelands 32 counties.Hopefully this will motivate me to explore new creeks,playspots,coastlines,lakes and canals and see places I've never seen before.
hopefully I'll see you on the water in 2009.ORKY

If you want to leave me a suggestion for your area or if you want to paddle with me just comment.For now heres some old pics of me paddling.