Date of birth: 3.7.1978

I’ve started kayaking at the age of 8. I saw some people and wanted to do the same. I found a local club when I came home. It was a very active club with a focus on younger paddlers. That was cool. When I got older I joined another club that was also very active with younger kids. The kayakers in this club were really good paddlers. Every summer we did trips to Austria and France. We were a group of 12 people. Then I went to college at the age of 16. I was paddling at school a lot, this way I got more access to water. My focus was always on whitewater paddling. Since we were based at the ocean I also surfed a lot. I was the youngest of my school year and I wasn’t 18 yet so I couldn’t work. Therefore I went with a friend to the French Alps to help him with his kayak school. I worked with him and then went back the next year. I had a winter job as a post lady part time. I usually finished work at 10 a.m., so I could go paddling afterwards. I had a good wave (Hurley) on the River Thames close to my house, so I got into freestyle and loved it. I had a lot of water time, during that time I worked for the mail.

In 1998 one of my friends, Dave Manby, was looking for someone to work for him in Turkey. I got the job and worked at the Coruh River. We taught people how to kayak and took multi day trips down the river. Dave was already a famous expedition kayaker. In 1976 he was part of the British Dudh Kosi expedition, where the group traveled overland to Nepal for the expedition. Dave had been around a lot and done many big international kayak expeditions. In 1998 we went to Iran for 10 days to prepare a trip for a trip the following year and to get a feel for the place. We found nice rivers there located in the Agoras mountains that sit on the Iraq boarder. A few years later I made a trip to Iran with some friends, to paddle some on these rivers. This was a changing point for me in terms of international travel. We drove all the way from the UK to Turkey and on in to Iran, that was very special for me back then.

After that, I went to Costa Rica for the Camel Whitewater Challenge as member of the British rafting team. I also got to kayak a lot and I staying a few months in Costa Rica. When I came back the pre-worlds in Freestyle took place in New Zealand. I won the contest and it was my first international success. For me it was a big surprise as I had no clue where I was standing in the world. You always hear this thing about the Americans, how unbeatable they are, and there I was winning the contest. I toured around with friends for two months and I did some jobs to survive. Then we went to California in spring 1999. By then I was already paddling for Wave Sport (I had met the owner in 1997 in Canada). At the worlds we fixed our relationship and I was invited by Wave Sport to Colorado to do some competitions and I won pretty much everything.

In 1999 I joined with Olaf, Oli and Manual in Norway. We paddled there for 5 weeks and it was super cool. The boys took me creeking and taught me a lot of things about white water river running. I became really good friends with Olli and we then spent about 3 years paddling every where together .

When I came back form Norway I went to Africa, to Zambezi for the first time, for 2-3 months and afterwards straight on to the world championship in New Zealand. I won the worlds. I was doing very well and won a lot of rounds. Then I got a contract with Wave Sport with a real salary. I could travel and I was a pro in the summer time. I started to paddle a lot more. I did all the European comps, trips to Norway, and all the normal stuff.

Then I went back to Zambia. This place is the best one day water trip in the world. You can go nuts there. It is hot, the water is so dynamic, it’s deep, the waves are green and the features are so profound. In Zambia you paddle 23 km and you hike 1000 m down and up. You get really fit there. I got fit and this brought confidence. I have never been so strong in my life. I also love to sit and talk with the locals. I had some jewelry made. It was my design and I wanted to sell it to make some extra money. In New Zealand I sold my jewelry at the worlds. I bought a second hand camera and started getting more into photography. I have always been doing a little bit of photography, but I wanted to do more.

In 2001 I came in second at the World Championship in Spain. I won all the rounds until the end. Later that year I want to Canada, to Stikine Canyon in British Columbia, to film with Olaf Obsommer. The idea was to run it source to sea. It had only been run 13 times. It was a boxed, steep canyon. It was actually too high to run the canyon. So we took a chopper to check it. We started our trip anyway at the source and finished at the ocean.

In 2002 we did a film for the BBC and a tour in Europe with Olaf. I also did some comps and in 2003 I got second again at the worlds in Austria. Then I published my book. I had kind of had enough of competition. So I compiled a book out of my photo stock and self-funded it. I taught a guide course in Canada, I sold my jewelry and I didn’t spend any money so I could put it all in that book.

In 2004 I moved to France and lived with Nico Chassing, a great kayaker. He had lived at Zambezi before and moved back when he had a daughter. We paddled a lot together. I was also in Eastern Turkey that year preparing for my second trip to Iran, but I broke my clerical so I couldn’t go. It was another world’s year in 2004, but I didn’t want to put pressure on myself to compete. I also didn’t have enough money to do both, Africa and the worlds, so I gave my spot away. I then went up to the Nile Jinger/ Uganda after having filmed with surfers for two weeks in a tube wave of Zambezi.

In 2005 I went for a race to Coruh River in Turkey to win a car. I got to race for it, but I didn’t make it. After a trip to the black sea where I was filming with some American friends I returned to Europe. I went to France to do another kid’s camp with Nico – we had already organized a few in 2004 – and I enjoyed it a lot. We had so much fun together and we had fun kids.

I went back to Zambia to take photos. That year I got some contractual work from Jackson kayaks. I have also been working for palm before and for the BBC, as well as the day to day rafting punter pictures.

I enjoy teaching kayaking and working with children. I also started taking kids to Zambezi. With some friends I founded a company in 2005 called Kara Expeditions Ltd. One of our partners is blind so our goal is to make our trips accessible to all people. My partners already ran a camp for 50 blind people.

My next projects are related to nature conservation, like the Invindo and Ogooue River Expedition in Gabon. I also started college in September 2007. My courses are environmentalism and photography.

What fascinates me about kayaking is the physical movement, being outside and exploring new places. To be with people that you wouldn’t normally meet and to connect with people that you normally wouldn’t have access to. It is a great sport to test yourself in every capacity. You must carry on, socially and physically. With kayaking everything is little more intense.

Strengths
I can put up with a lot of shit. I am social, pretty easy in a team and can fix problems quite well as they come up. I am not scared to try stuff, to try new projects. I put everything in, even if I get nothing out.

Weaknesses
I am chaotic, a little bit disorganized. Sometimes communicating what I want to do can be tough.