| Ed Smith - Professional Water Baby and British Kayak Freestyle Champion |
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| Written by Mark | |||||||
| Monday, 12 March 2007 | |||||||
| Last Updated ( Monday, 12 March 2007 ) | |||||||
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Ed Smith – British Kayak Freestyle Champion
Ed Smith, British Freestyle Kayak Champion gave us some of his time after returning from the recent World Champs in the States. We hope to keep regular contact with him as his career progresses… Career Highlights
25 competition wins in the last 3 years How did you get started in kayaking and how have things developed? Ed is the archetypal water baby. He reckons he was in a canoe from 2 years old with his parents. His father was a successful paddler in slalom discipline and his mother also loved outdoor pursuits. He followed their lead and at age 10 is dad got him paddling his first kayak and he learnt the basics of running rivers. The term ‘duck to water’ applies for Ed. He began to teach himself tricks and new moves through watching videos and reading books. His progress was rapid and he started competing at 15 years old, making the British Team at 16. Freestyle kayaking is a particularly exciting sport where competitors have a fixed period of time to pull off tricks and manoeuvres on waves, big white water.and rapids. It is scored like snowboarding competitions. It is not yet a mass spectator event but through video format it should grow quickly. Ed competed with the GB junior team from 16-18 and spent that time rising through the ranks quickly, honing his skills. He also managed to come 3rd in the U21’s comp. He has progressed now to the senior team and managed a very respectable 10th place in the Worlds in Ontario. He is not satisfied with his performance having suffered a minor back injury which has a big impact. After some much needed Physio on his lower back he achieved 5th place in the final of the 3 events. His goal now, more than ever, is to win a medal at the next world event.
What other sports were you good at or do you fancy getting involved in? “I really enjoyed Karate as a kid and found the discipline and competition stimulating” Ed said of his other sporting interest. He was a junior Black Belt by 13 and went on to pass his Senior Black Belt grading by 16. Kayaking has now of course taken over. At the moment he is happy doing what he does with kayaking. He did however say that climbing seemed to have a magnetic draw for him, we have offered to hook him and Rhys up which would be a great combo for adventurous exploits. How is your training structured? Ed says he spends a fair amount of time on general fitness with workouts in the gym and also he rates swimming as a great all round training method. (ironic we reckon given that usually paddlers try to avoid swimming and being in the water!!). He spends 6-7 weekends a year with formal squad training with the British Team which if focussed towards the world champs. A fair amount of this is organised at Nottingham at the National Watersports centre, Holme PierrePont. The British Team has different coaches for different disciplines under the guidance of Pete Cattrell. The British Team also helps them with logistics and support for events. Which other sportsmen and sports women do you admire or that inspire you? He rates Laird Hamilton, the surfing legend who has in his words been hardcore all his life, always pushing the limits and always full on. In his own sport he reckons Eric Jackson is amazing. As mentioned in our last newsletter Eric is still World Kayak Freestyle Champ at 42 years young. Ed singles out his determination and drive to keep going as Eric’s biggest strength.
Who are your sponsors or others that you would like to thanks? Ed like many other sportsmen and women singles out his parents as the biggest sponsor and supporter. (Big Shout Going Out to Mum and Dad then). He also reckons that your friends in your sport also help you to push yourself. Ed is sponsored by the following companies:
- Riot Kayaks and Peak for his kayaks and gear Ed is largely unfunded as this part of kayaking, as a non Olympic Sport does not receive mainstream funding. He covers some of the costs of competing by writing for kayak magazines and also lots of freelance photography. Any other companies wanting to get involved and sponsor Ed or use his images for marketing then please contact us on This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it and we will make the introductions Quick Fire Round:
Favourite Saying: If you are willing to work hard for it then you will get it… Any superstitions when you compete? None!!! I used to have but they made me a weaker competitor so I got rid of them.
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