Rise and Glide – the second part of the TotalSUP look back at this Paddler Logger Podcast

Welcome back to the second part of the TotalSUP look back at the Paddle Logger Rise and Glide Podcast. In the first part of this feature, Chris from TotalSUP sat down with his headphones on and enjoyed the first 5 episodes with Maddie and Holly and now he is back with episodes 6 through 11.

If you missed the first part of this TotalSUP retrospective then you can find that here and you can listen to all of the Season 1 Episodes on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts with this handy player.

The Rise and Glide Podcast Hosts

Maddie and Holly at the ICF World Championships. Image SUP North Devon

The Rise and Glide hosts are two top SUP Racers, Holly Pye and Maddie Leblanc. Based on either side of the North Atlantic these two enthusiastic hosts bring their love of paddling to your ears with episodes that are as entertaining as they are informative.

Holly is a paddler that many European SUP racers will know, one of the top female paddlers in the UK she has had some great results including a EuroTour podium and multiple successes in the UK domestic scene.

Maddie is one of the top SUP racers from Canada and is currently the Canadian champion in three disciplines – Sprint, Tech and Distance racing. She was also a winner of the prestigious SUP Woman of the year in 2020

Since we published the first part of this feature the Rise and Glide hosts have both been in action at the 2023 ICF World Championships in Thailand with fantastic results for both, here’s is how the Paddle Logger team got on at the biggest SUP event of the year

Rise and Glide Host – Maddie Leblanc

Maddie in action at the 2023 ICF World Championships. Image from the ICF

Overall, I had a fantastic time at the ICF Worlds in Thailand this year, I can definitely say that I returned home as a new person and a new paddler. I learned so many incredible lessons that I will carry with me throughout the rest of my paddling career.

The first two days started with sprints and I was super happy to make it to the quarter-finals! As each heat progressed my coach Larry Cain gave me lots of tips on how to improve my stroke to make it to the next heat. Since I didn’t compete in the sprints last year, I was stoked with a quarter-final finish.

In the distance race, I kept my head down and paddled strong. My mindset never wavered, and I felt confident in my performance the whole time, especially in the gruelling winds. I’m stoked to have achieved my goal of top 15, by placing 14th!

In the technical race I also felt as though I paddled strong but was devastated to realise that when my heat was over, I went on the wrong side of the last buoy to the finish which resulted in disqualification.

Besides this mistake, I felt happy paddling hard all week and knowing that this competition was the beginning of a long paddling career I’m happy to be creating for myself. I can’t wait to keep working hard and chasing my dreams!

Rise and Glide Host – Holly Pye

Holly in action at the 2023 ICF World Championships. Image @georgiasphoto

I really enjoyed my time in Thailand. A few months ago I decided to focus on this event and what an awesome place to hold the race! It was hot, it was humid, but it was also really fun!

I did some heat training before travelling and arrived a few days early which really helped me to acclimatise before the racing started. Sadly I got sick during the competition period so the only event I was able to put my all into was the technical race. It was a really fun course, 500m for the heat and 1km for the semifinal and final. This kind of sprint-technical race is my favourite. It’s really exciting and there’s no room for error… I made it to the B final where I got 4th place, leading me to 16th overall.

I’ve learned a lot from my time in Thailand and I am disappointed I wasn’t able to show all that I can do after training hard all season, but it’s left me fired up for a winter of training and I’m already looking forward to racing in 2024!

The Rise and Glide Podcast Retrospective – Part 2

And now, the second instalment of the TotalSUP look at season 1 of the Rise and Glide Podcast

Rise and Glide Episode 6 – Adya Misra

Before listening to this episode I had no idea who Adya Misra was and really enjoyed her conversation with Holly and Maddie taking listeners from her first time on the water in Sweden to her work with ‘People of Colour Paddle’

Rise and Glide Episode 6 Transcript

Rise and Glide Episode 7 – Michael Booth

Michael Booth at the ICF World Championships. Image @georgiasphoto

Now a seven-time SUP racing World Champion Michael needs little introduction but if you don’t know him then Michael is an Australian waterman who has been racing at the highest level of the sport for 10 years and runs his own highly successful coaching business, Booth Training. In this episode, your hosts discuss racing and how to get the most out of your training sessions with Michael. As one of Michael’s paddlers, this was my favourite episode in the second half of season 1.

Rise and Glide Episode 7 Transcript

Rise and Glide Episode 8 – a mini-cast with Maddie and Holly

In this episode, the Rise and Glide hosts talk about themselves and their plans before the ICF World Championships giving us an insight into how these two Starboard racers prepare for such an important event.

Rise and Glide Episode 8 Transcript

Rise and Glide Episode 9 – Emily Evans

Emily is the second member of the TotalSUP crew to feature on Rise and Glide, an all-round water woman who has been on the water for a long time, first as a kayaker then as a white water rafter and more recently at the sharp end of SUP racing.

Rise and Glide Episode 9 Transcript

Rise and Glide Episode 10 – Bella Collins

The last guest for season one is the incredible Bella Collins, another name that might be new to you if you focus on SUP. Bella is an Ocean Rower and her achievements are on a scale that is hard to imagine yet Bella makes it sound so ‘normal’.

Rise and Glide Episode 10 Transcript

Rise and Glide Episode 11 – Season 1 round up

Finally our hosts look back at their first season as podcasters with episode 11, maybe a good place to start to get an idea of this Paddle Logger production.

Rise and Glide Episode 11 Transcript

And that, as they sometimes say in showbusiness, is a wrap. The Paddle Logger team are already looking forward to Season Two of Rise and Glide and are looking for guests, check out their Instagram if you have any suggestions. I have enjoyed listening to Holly and Maddie and their guests covering a huge range of topics and their next season should be even better.

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