Sydney International Regatta Centre

I have always wanted to paddle at the Sydney International Regatta Centre at Penrith. Initially I planned to do the sprint races there today, but after seeing my Physio about an ongoing neck problem (that I finally got around to doing something about), I decided that I probably wasn't ready physically for it.

So after some dicussion with Chris, I decided to get up and leave mega-early (5am) to get down to Penrith by 7am, with the plan to train for an hour or so before the sprints started and then hang around to watch them.

I got there just before 7am and couldn't resist taking a photo of the view up the competition course. Unreal! The sun was just rising, there was still mist over the water. Beautiful!.

I quickly got onto the water on the warm-up lake and paddled up to the competition course. I paddled moderately hard for the full length of the course (2km) and then turned around, paddled back up to the start and did it again. Then I paddled back around to the warm up lake and finished near the pontoon closest to my car. All up, I did about 11km.

It was fantastic. I paddled in the gutter lanes which are bordered by a shallow rocky wall. So I was only a couple of metres away from the edge (and possible re-entry spots) the whole time. This enabled me to relax and have a really good, confident paddle. At one point there was a sign saying "Swimming training lane", but I figured that if anyone told me I shouldn't be paddling there, I would just tell them that I had a high chance of swimming anyway, heheheheh!

Because of the design, I was never paddling looking into the sun for very long, the water was as smooth as glass, and it was great to paddle in a straight line for so long. The facilities were great too. Toilets, showers, boat wash down facilities. In the warm up lake there are pontoons every 100m or so, and at each of these is a pressurised hose to wash down your craft. Soooo cool. I absolutely loved it, had a great paddle, and can't wait to do it again.

After my session I stayed around and watched the sprint races. There wasn't a very big turnout, but there were some excellent paddlers there. Actually, there was a huge range of craft, and paddling abilities. It was exciting to watch and has now given me the confidence to do the next races. I'll definately be there.

So, all in all, it was definatlly worth the trip down, and I look forward to paddling there again.