Written by 
Welcome to the first Paddle Pulse of 2025!
I hope everyone across our paddling community had a happy and safe festive season, surrounded by family and friends … and water!
2025 has started off strong! We’ve had a thrilling beginning to the year, with nearly every weekend packed with action.
We kicked things off with the 2025 Canoe Slalom Age Nationals, which brought together paddlers of all ages to showcase their skills and passion for the sport.
Following closely, the 2025 PA Wildwater National Championships had competitors racing against both the clock and the rapids, highlighting the grit and determination of our athletes. Thank you to the event organiser’s, volunteers and officials and to Tasmania Hydro for providing the water for us to play and perform upon. The event was a great success.
The 2025 Canoe Slalom Oceania Championships held in Penrith over the weekend was another highlight, where we saw top-tier competition as athletes from around the world competed in search of the Oceania honors, individual world ranking points and in preparation for the 2025 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships which will be staged down under from 1-6 October 2025.
It was a fantastic opportunity for our Australian paddlers to welcome a large cohort of the international field back to Australia as they tested their skills on home waters ahead of the World Championships. The energy was palpable, and the level of talent on display was truly inspiring.
To see a full list of the winners from the 2025 Canoe Slalom Oceania Championships, click here.
This January also marked the launch of the first annual Canoe Slalom Girls Camp, a joint initiative between Paddle Australia and Paddle Tasmania. Held on the Forth River in Tasmania, the camp followed the Canoe Slalom Age Nationals and was led by an exceptional team of coaches. It was wonderful to see previous Paddle Australia President Andrea McQuitty and Ros Lawrence OLY out on the water with the girls.
The camp’s goal was to bring together female paddlers of all ages and skill levels, offering them not only high-quality training but also a strong sense of community and support in the paddling world. It has been great to hear from those involved how successful this camp was, and we look forward to hopefully planning more of these in the future.
As we reflect on an incredible start to 2025, I’m excited to share with you that a new “Paddling in Australia” 2025-2032 strategy is taking shape and is on track to be launched in April. I thank our State Paddle Associations for working with me closely on this. We are looking forward to sharing more with you, but everyone in our paddling community can be assured that the direction will position us strongly and set us up for growth.
I look forward to an exciting February. As always, remember to always stay safe and respect our beautiful ocean and waterways.
Kim Crane
CEO, Paddle Australia