{"id":24572,"date":"2025-11-27T15:19:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T14:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/?p=24572"},"modified":"2025-11-27T15:19:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T14:19:05","slug":"kayaking-at-university-why-its-worth-every-penny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/kayaking-at-university-why-its-worth-every-penny\/","title":{"rendered":"Kayaking at University \u2013 Why it\u2019s worth every penny"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019d told me at the start of university that I\u2019d end up spending more time upside down in a kayak than figuring out my degree, I\u2019d probably have laughed\u2026 and then spent my evenings feeling vaguely miserable in my room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I joined the University of Bristol Canoe Club (UOBCC) in my second term of first year, at a point when I wasn\u2019t entirely convinced that uni life was my thing. I\u2019d just moved away from home, felt a bit lost, and was mostly existing rather than living. Then I found kayaking. I\u2019m not going to pretend that discovering the sport was a mystical revelation that magically resolved all the problems in my life, but it was pretty damn close\u2026 The society bundled fun, adrenaline, structure, friendship, relaxation, mindfulness, competition and responsibility all into one; which, if you ask me, is as good of a uni starter pack as you\u2019re gonna get!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whitewater kayaking was the perfect excuse to scream at a river after a week of deadlines and lectures. There\u2019s no room for overthinking when you\u2019re trying not to tip over, which is exactly what makes it so therapeutic. Our Thursday evening pool sessions were my first taste. For an hour and a half I wasn\u2019t stressing about essays or pretending I knew what was going on in my lectures, I was just flipping boats, laughing at other people\u2019s capsizes, and hanging out with a group of people who were equally obsessed with not drowning.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Figure 1: Thursday evening pool session shenanigans at UOBCC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Weekends quickly became my favourite part of term. River trips and peer paddles were the norm, venturing out into areas of the country that had been previously untouched by my painfully suburban feet to tackle rivers I\u2019d never heard of was exciting. I remember my first time taking on the course at Cardiff International Whitewater Centre<\/a> as a stale fresher (I\u2019d been kayaking for just under a year at this point) in the middle of January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was absolutely freezing; there was even ice on the reservoir at the bottom! However, despite many capsizes, rolls, and swims, I could barely feel the cold as I was overcome by the adrenaline of making it past each rapid. That being said, the post-trip Maccies was still very much needed to refuel after a long day of (mainly) swimming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, as a 4th<\/sup> year, weekend trips and peer paddles are still the norm; I still get the same adrenaline rush I did back in my first year, and I\u2019m always happy to enjoy the post-trip Maccies with the same people who have been by my side from the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Figure 2: Surfing my new Ripper 1 on Ski Jump wave (Upper Tryweryn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Fair enough, the question of money comes into play. It\u2019s a well-known fact that the so-called \u201cstudent budget\u201d is tighter than it\u2019s ever been; with the price of a Steam larger increasing by a whole pound in the space of a year, how on earth are students expected to fund the obligatory shenanigans and side-quests associated with university life?? Yes, kayaking can be expensive, but university clubs are great at making it affordable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At UOBCC everything was provided for you! You could show up with absolutely nothing and still learn how to roll a kayak within your first few pool sessions. That said, by my second year I was hooked enough to buy my own boat (student loan coming in clutch) \u2013 a Pyranha Ripper 1<\/a>, because if you\u2019re going to be obsessed, you might as well go all in. Having your own kayak means more freedom to push yourself, chase rapids and waterfalls (regardless of what TLC say\u2026), and basically justify all the time you spend near water instead of in the library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just about the sport, either. I\u2019d been seriously considering dropping out after my first term, but kayaking changed that. Having something to look forward to every week, and a group of people I wanted to spend time with, made a huge difference. The social side of it is just as important as the thrill of whitewater; a few hours on the river is surprisingly good for mental health. Plus, unlike some other sports where you\u2019re chained to rigid training schedules, kayaking is flexible. You decide how much or how little you want to get involved, which makes it easy to fit around lectures, essays or a social life (what\u2019s that??).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Figure 3: Last year’s trip to the Alps!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Then there\u2019s the accidental personal development. Joining the club committee as Treasurer in my third year meant I ended up doing everything from budgeting to planning a trip for 30 people to the French Alps. I learned leadership, problem-solving, and decision-making, all while pretending to be \u201cjust a kayaker.\u201d Throw in Whitewater Safety & Rescue, Outdoor First Aid, and a few more random skills, and suddenly three years of uni left me with way more than I\u2019d ever imagined as a silly fresher in first year.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Figure 4: WWSR cohort of 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Looking back, kayaking turned out to be the highlight of my uni experience. It gave me new skills, great friends, a sense of belonging, and a sport I\u2019ll happily carry on long after I graduate. So, whether you\u2019re staring at your first term feeling a bit lost, or you\u2019re already well into your university sentence and looking for a new thing to pass the time, get in touch with your uni society and grab a kayak. Take it from me, you\u2019ll end up with a story far better than whatever your seminar notes could ever give you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I joined the University of Bristol Canoe Club (UOBCC) in my second term of first year, at a point when I wasn\u2019t entirely convinced that uni life was my thing. I\u2019d just moved away from home, felt a bit lost, and was mostly existing rather than living. Then I found kayaking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8939,"featured_media":24579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":false,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[1805,1804,1774],"class_list":["post-24572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-paddler-lifestyle-articles","tag-getting-in-to-kayaking-as-a-student","tag-kayaking-at-university","tag-university-canoe-club"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Picture3.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9tk9G-6ok","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8939"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24581,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24572\/revisions\/24581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}