If you’ve never heard of freestyle kayaking, you are in for a treat. Today we are lucky to be joined by Anaïs Donovan, who is representing Ireland in the European Freestyle Kayak Championships in Paris as we write this article.

Anaïs started freestyle kayaking just 1 and a half years ago, and describes it as “gymnastics in a kayak”. She credits the sport with helping her to appreciate her body, overcome obstacles in life and meet a wonderful community of paddlers.

If you’re curious about freestyle kayaking (from the equipment, to the tricks), or are in need of some inspiration or motivation for your own watersport, don’t hesitate to give this interview a read. Anaïs is such a positive force, and emphasises having fun above everything else. So let’s get to it!

Hey Anaïs, thank you for joining us today! For someone that doesn’t know – what is freestyle kayaking?

Freestyle kayaking is best described as gymnastics in a kayak. Freestyle kayaking can be done on flat water like a lake, a standing wave or a hole. These are most commonly found on rivers.

Freestyle kayaking uses very small kayaks about 5ft in length where the kayaker is sitting down and has contact with their knees and hips to keep them from falling out of the boat.

We wear what are called spraydecks which goes over the cockpit (opening of the boat, how we get in and out) and is attached to our waist. This prevents water from getting in.

We can perform dynamic skills like cartwheels, flips, somersaults etc. Freestyle kayaking when competing is 45 seconds. You have 45 seconds to perform the highest scoring ride. Each skill is given a point- for example a loop is 60 points. Each skill value is added together to get your score. You can get air bonuses which is when you go higher out of the water as well as link bonuses and clean bonuses.

You’re about to go off to the European championships in Paris, as part of team Ireland! Tell us about how you feel about that and what your goals are.

I am currently training in Paris ahead of the European Championships! I am super excited, as well as pretty nervous. This is going to be the biggest competition I have ever had but the whole experience although it can be overwhelming has been so incredible – from meeting World champions and European champions, to meeting like-minded people all around the world.

My goal is to go out and have as much fun as possible. This is my first big competition and I have learned so much in training that even if I flush (means gets washed out of feature/not retained) as long as I remember how valuable all those training sessions were, how happy I am and how much I improved, I think I will be very happy! That then is my goal ticked off.

When did you start getting into freestyle kayaking and what does it bring to your life (both in and out the water)?

I started freestyle kayaking about 1 and a half years ago. It brings me happiness, joy, compassion, stress (in a good way), friendships, adventure and gratitude. It’s really made me appreciate myself and my body, it’s helped me overcome so many obstacles in life and has given me the best hobby with a wonderful community!

What has been your favourite memory so far kayaking?

My favourite memory so far kayaking (this is a very tough question) is probably the day I got to take a kid who had autism out onto the water! The smile and happiness from the boy’s face said it all! He overcame so much from sitting in the boat, meeting loads of people and going down a rapid even though he said he was terrified but would really like to do it! It was incredible. The support from all my friends around me to help make his day perfect was unforgettable! This was followed by a lovely picnic on an island before heading home.

Have you had any experiences of discrimination because of your gender in the sport? What would you say to someone listening who has gone through something similar?

Unfortunately it is something I have come across a lot but because my group of friends (most are males) are so kind and see me as a person and not a gender, I can almost always forget about it. They just want me to have fun and thats what we do as a team. If you are being discriminated I think it is horrible but by listening we let them win. Find a group of people who care for you and don’t care if you’re young/old male/female/black/white etc. and continue the sport with them. Remember the people are probably just jealous because you are passing them out/showing them up and as far as I am concerned keep living your life and keep pushing your progress!

How do you think the sport will change in 5 years’ time?

That is a really hard question. I think the sport will change a bit but not significantly. There are talks about it becoming an Olympic discipline, so potentially that, but I haven’t heard anything more than rumours. I think people will start scoring higher and start pushing the boundaries more. I hope the sport gets more people involved and more older people continue. By that I mean have less drop out rate from people because they feel they aren’t young enough anymore. But that’s my hope!

What other water sports do you do, and what skills do you transfer over between the sports?

I am a gymnastics instructor so I always think like I am coaching my gymnast when I am paddling! I can be quite harsh sometimes to myself but thats because I like perfection. I do swimming, sailing, surfing, windsurfing and rock climbing mainly along with running and coasteering, and any other sport my friends are doing. I think I take mindset from each of them, balance, strength, determination and I often compare two sports to make myself understand a skill easier in the next. Kayaking is by far my favourite. I also do whitewater kayaking which is running waterfalls and rapids, and that teaches me to be present in the moment, which I transfer to other sports and indeed life in general.

Any final words of inspiration or motivation for someone thinking of trying a new watersport?

If you are trying a new sport expect to fall on your face, expect to not be good at it, but expect that with time progress will come. Remember we couldn’t walk from the first day we tried to and look at us now, flying it. Everything takes time. Keep enjoying it and you will see progress. Try to get your friends, family, neighbours etc. out doing the sport with you. This creates such a wonderful smiling environment! Hope to see so many wonderful people getting active this year!

P.S. If you’re into kayaking, check out our other articles here!