ICF Freestyle Committee

08/11/2025

What keeps these amazing women coming back to the freestyle features? 💬 Our ICF Freestyle Masters ladies open up about the joy, challenge, and community that fuels their continued passion for the sport. Get ready to be inspired!

02/11/2025

Another podcast episode has just been dropped.

In this episode of The Whitewater Line, we sit down with Tom Dunphy, Irish whitewater freestyle kayaker, and Matt, team manager for Team Ireland. Together, they take us through the story of freestyle kayaking in Ireland — from the early days on local rivers to international competitions and the growth of the Irish paddling scene.
It’s a chat full of river stories, community vibes, and a look at how far the sport has come (and where it’s heading next). Whether you’ve been in a boat for years or just love a good adventure story, this one’s all about passion, progress, and paddling in Ireland.
Recorded live from the World Championships

Podcast Episode · The Whitewater Line · 01/11/2025 · 1h 10m

06/10/2025

06/10/2025

In this article, Coach Dennis Newton looks back at two titans of women’s freestyle, Claire O’Hara and Ottilie Robinson-Shaw, who have carried the sport forward together, building a lasting mark on freestyle kayaking. For more than a decade, both have pushed the boundaries of gender parity and ke...

06/10/2025

Naina Adhikari details her experience competing at the 2025 ICF Freestyle Kayak World Championships—one of the first Indian woman to do so.

20/08/2025

🌊🔥 NEW PODCAST EPISODE DROP! 🔥🌊

We sat down at the World Freestyle Championships with two of the sport’s biggest names:
🚀 Eric Jackson – legendary paddler, boat designer, and world champ
⚖️ Charlie Brackpool – ICF Head Judge, the man behind the scores

From the history of freestyle and the boats that changed everything, to judging secrets, scoring rules, tech innovations, and behind-the-scenes stories — this episode of The Whitewater Line is packed with insights you won’t hear anywhere else.

🎧 Available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen!
👉 Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1yRahQk7TcGcAFaGEu8Zzm?si=FrfsG1__SqO7o5kb7KZGWA

⚡ Don’t miss this deep dive into the culture, competition, and future of freestyle kayaking with EJ and Charlie!

The Whitewater Line · Episode

03/08/2025

31/07/2025

30/07/2025

Columbus, Georgia is riding a wave of international recognition as the city commits itself to becoming the ‘Freestyle Kayaking Capital of the United States’. In addition to this commitment, the city has earned the International Canoe Federation’s inaugural Centre of Excellence designation for ...

30/07/2025

Columbus, GA named ICF's first Canoe Freestyle Center of Excellence; to host 2028 World Cup & 2029 Championship with major investments in riverfront sports.

22/07/2025

🌍🎧 NEW PODCAST DROP — The Whitewater Line 🎧🌍

We’re excited to announce the launch of The Whitewater Line — a brand-new podcast spotlighting the stories, journeys, and voices of kayakers around the world 🌊

🎙️ Episode 1 is LIVE — featuring Naina Adhikari, and Devi Dada — a rising talents from India and a passionate voices in the freestyle community.

This episode dives into:
🚣 Their powerful journey to the 2025 ICF Freestyle World Championships
Their experience as part of the ICF Development Camp
📚 Learning from world-class coaches
💬 And what it means to represent underrepresented regions on the global stage

The ICF Development Camp is all about opening doors — giving athletes who might not otherwise have the opportunity to train, compete, and grow at this level a real chance to shine 💪

🎧 Available now on all podcast platforms
📲 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-whitewater-line/id1827793795
🔍 Or search The Whitewater Line wherever you listen, Spotify, I❤️radio, Apple Podcasts ..and more

Please share our podcast to your friends. Let’s celebrate the athletes who are shaping the future of freestyle kayaking — one rapid, one story, one paddle stroke at a time 🌊🌟

21/07/2025

One picture, one story

Being Coach is one of my roles which I chosen for myself when I was a teenager. In the begining of high school I already knew where I'll go, what I'll do next. My school mates wanted to be engineers, doctors, lawyers... My path was different. Maybe it's becouse of my father who told me one day: "Tomasz, you are free man. Do what you want, what makes you happy. Find your own path and go".
Besides My Dad noone understood that I'll be coach of completely unknown sport (unknown in Poland) but I was stubborn. Every small success on university or in competition as an athlete was taking me one small step closer to this moment. It was long journey, with many curves but I knew that good things in life are result of hard work. I put myself in 100% into sport. Freestyle Kayaking gave me my platform for development.
I started my International career in 2004. I was 16 y.o. and had to learn many things by myself. I was also learning skills which started to be my tools in being coach. One of them is awareness.
Awerness of where I am, what I need to learn, how to learn it... this is the most important thing for me as an athlete and as a coach. This is what I'm teaching my paddlers. Besides throwing tricks we need to know why we are doing that. It's our phylosophy, becouse sport, lifestyle, training process are important elements of something bigger...
Today I'm proud coach of Austrian Beast.
We started to work together on our road to Europeans nearly 2 years ago. Today Jonas is the World Champion. I'm very happy, satisfied and proud!
This wasn't typical competition that's why I'm super proud of Jonas. He handeled the situation being the best paddler out there and making nearly 100% of our tactics plan. What is great achievment!















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