Indoor Canoeing at Prestfelde

The Year 8 pupils at Prestfelde Preparatory School in Shrewsbury have just finished their exams for entry into their senior schools. As part of their post exam program, they are heading off for a week in the Ardeche region of France. During their trip, they will be experiencing a wide range of activities including a canoeing expedition.

This morning provided the pupils with the opportunity to get in a canoe in a swimming pool to practise a few of the skills they will need to employ on the river trip. The pupils were split into 2 groups, each of which benefitted from about an hour and a half in the boats. The sessions were based around using games and races that would enable the pupils to experiment with a few different techniques, which proved pretty successful overall.

One thing that people are often worried about when in a canoe is what happens when you capsize. Being in a nice warm swimming pool was the perfect opportunity to experience a capsize and to practise different ways of sorting the problem out. We had a look at what to do when: a) one paddler takes a swim, b) both paddlers end up in the water, but the canoe is still upright and c) the canoe fully capsizes. It’s great fun to play around with these scenarios in a controlled environment, but a little more pressured when the current of the river is taking you downstream and you’ve lost your paddle! I hope no-one has to do it for real in the Ardeche.

At the end of the day, there’s only so much you can pick up in an hour and a half, but I hope it proves useful on the expedition. Enjoy the week.

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