In thiscolumn,Nouriaaddressesthepreconceptionsand
judgmentswebringto paddlerswe don’t know.IMMERSED
ByNouria Newman
Thereis noboxinwhichtoplaceNouriaNewman.ThetalentedFrenchpaddlerhasa wide-rangingwhitewaterresumeofaccomplishments,fromslalomtofreestyle,toextremeracesandmulti-dayexpeditions,andholdsa Mastersin
JournalismandPoliticalSciencefromSciencesPoToulouse.A formerICFWorldSlalomSilverMedalist(K-1)andthecurrentSicklineWorldChampion,Nouriais alwaysdrivingto be her best, on and off the water. When not pushing the limits
of the sport or spending time with the important people in the important places, Nouria can often be found sharing her love of kayaking, coaching on rivers around the world.Abouta yearago,I realizedforthefirsttimewhatmygoodfriendRatameantwhenshesaid,
‘‘You’recoolfora pro-kayaker.”It wasalsothefirsttimeI wasashamedtobecalleda “pro-
kayaker,”whateverthatmeans.At anyrate,wewerein IndiafortheMalabarRiverFestival and,
“pro”ornot,prettymucheveryonehadfootrot.Monsoonseasonwilldothat.WhileI hadspenta daycoachinga clinicforIndianpaddlers,someoftheboyshadopened
a nicesectionofwhitewater.In otherterms,theyhadbeenoutexploring and scored a “Sick
FirstD.”Theyput-inat a bridge,spenttwohoursona section
thatwasmostlyreadandrun,withonemandatorychicken
linebutnoportages,anda take-outatanotherbridge.The
nextdaypeoplewantedto headupandcheckit out.I had
justmetAnup,andalthoughI hadneverpaddledwithhim,
I knewofhimfromfriends,andI invitedhimtopaddlethe
topsectionwithme.Asweweretryingto figureoutshuttle,
oneof the“pros”cameupto Anupandaskedhimif heknew
thatweweregoingtothetop.DespiteAnup’sassurances
thatheknewwhathewasin for,the‘‘pro’’keptquestioning
hisability, reiterating the challenge of the run.I getthepartwhereyouneedtomakesurethateveryone
in thegrouphastheskillsrequiredto besafe.WhatI don’t
understandandwhatI findunacceptableis a condescending
attitude,andtheassumption that the person in front of you
doesn’tbelong.Maybethistypeof behaviorupsetsmesomuchbecauseI
haveexperiencedthatsamesituationmanytimesmyself.
Somehow,it tendsto happenmoreif you’refroma country
wherekayakingisn’tverypopular,if youdon’thavean
Instagramaccount,if you’reyoung,or female.Notthatlongago,I wasthelittleFrenchgirlthat
nooneknew.I rememberhowsomepeoplelookedat mewhenI firstshowedupto theriverwith
myworn-outgear,asking,“Isshegonnabeokay?”Nooneeveraskedif mydadwasgoingto
beokay.Yes,I lookedlikewhatkayakingslangcallsa “Beater.”I wasrockinganolddrytopthat
waswaytoobigforme,oneof mydad’soldskirts,andmyWildwaterslalomhelmet-unlessmy
parentshadforcedmeto wearmyskihelmetforextraprotection.I willalwaysrememberthe
girlwhotookonelookatmeandsaidto herfriend,“Lookathergear,shewon’tmakefinals.”
Well,it turnsoutI understandFrench,andI madefinals. Just because you haven’t heard of
someonedoesn’tmeanthattheycan’tpaddle.Between 2003 and2012,I didn’tswim;notonce.I feltlikeI alwayshadto provemyselfandI
wasscaredthatif I swam,peoplewouldn’twantto paddlewithme.I gotprettygoodat holding
my breath but learned the hard way that sometimes fighting for too long is dangerous. NowI swimat least2-3timesa year,soif wepaddletogether,pleasedon’tforgetyourthrowbag.Everyonehasbaddays,averagelines,anda bitof beatering.We’reallin betweenswims.Just
becausesomeoneis sponsoredandhasexposure,it doesn’tnecessarilymeanthattheyare
betterthanyou.It is importanttorememberthatsocialmediaandvideosaren’tabsolute
reality,notevena projection of it, but rather a selection of highs and or lows that we are willing
to put out there.Andif someone(myselfincluded)is beingcondescending,callthemout.It’seasyto bescared
onsomeoneelse’sbehalf,butyoudon’thaveto bea c***aboutit.Thisonegoesto allthenotsowellknownpaddlerswhogenuinely love kayaking- and who are
betterandwaymorefunto paddlewiththanmostpros.AndrejBijuklic,TheQuebecConnection,TeamBeer,TheSilverFoxes,PauloGarikano,Antoine
Dupuis,JaimeLancaster,KristofStursa,Giordi,PhilandRata,SteezyTracy,SumantheNinja,
Jaime,LauraBanon,Darcy, The Russian Savage Operators, Coldo, Thomas Neime...and all of
youI don’tknow.Nouria
THE UNKNOWNS
“JUSTBECAUSEYOU
HAVEN’THEARDOF
SOMEONEDOESN’TMEAN
THAT THEY CAN’T PADDLE.”TECHNIQUE