Whitewater Skills for Multisport Course
- Do you get nervous when the water gets rough?
- Have you spent hours in your boat but still take unnecessary swims?
- Are you frustrated by how slow your progress feels?
On Canterbury Kayaking’s 4-day , you’ll train in a whitewater kayak so you can build confidence in rapids without fear. Learn to stay upright, roll when needed, and eliminate swims. With expert coaching and structured progression, you’ll improve faster than months of trial and error in your race boat. Once you’ve improved your whitewater skills, you’ll return to your racing kayak more capable, in more control, and ready to race Coast to Coast with confidence. Without solid whitewater skills, you’re always one mistake away from a swim.
Many athletes believe that “the more time in my boat the better," but if all your training is on grade 1 or flat water, you’re not truly preparing for the rapids of the Waimakariri Gorge. When you finally get the chance to paddle the Gorge, you’ll spend around five hours on fairly smooth water, and only a few minutes in actual rapids. That’s just not enough time to build the whitewater skills you need for race day.
While the Waimakariri doesn’t have many big rapids, the ones it does have can make or break your race. If you hesitate, lose control, or swim, you lose valuable time and momentum.
On this course, you’ll maximize your time in real whitewater on the rivers around Murchison—the perfect training ground to get comfortable in big rapids. You’ll also develop a reliable roll, so when mistakes happen, you can recover instantly instead of swimming.
By the time you return to your racing kayak, you’ll have the control, confidence, and skills to handle rapids with ease—so you can focus on racing, not just surviving. How to Book
- Select your dates and complete your booking at the top of this page ↑
- Download your information pack and train for 4 days with expert coaching.
- Apply your new skills to your racing kayak and enjoy feeling way more confident.
Meet Your Coach
Sam Milne is the most expereinced kayak coach on the Waimakariri River and the founder of Canterbury Kayaking.
Through coaching over 1,000 Coast to Coast athletes, Sam has seen that what often separates good paddlers from great ones is their whitewater skills. Many multisport athletes train exclusively in their racing kayaks on fairly easy water, only to find themselves nervous, unstable, and swimming when the water gets rough. But the best competitors know better. Elite racers like Steve Gurney, Rachard Ussher, and Nathan Fa’avae all spent time in whitewater kayaks to develop their skills and achieve world-class performances, and you can, too.
Sam knows that confidence in rapids doesn’t come from trial and error—it comes from structured training in the right environment. That’s why he designed this four-day whitewater skills course, which gives multisport paddlers a proven way to develop control, read the river better, and handle rapids with ease.
In this course, you’ll get access to the equipment, coaching, and river time you need to fix the weaknesses that are holding you back. By the time you return to your racing kayak, you’ll be paddling stronger, smoother, and with the confidence to take on the biggest rapids in the Waimakariri Gorge without fear. What do I get with the course?
- Free use of a whitewater kayak, paddle, and spray skirt for the entire program.
- 4 days of professional skills coaching with Sam Milne, the Waimakariri River's most experienced kayak instructor.
- 2 nights accomodation in Murchison.
- 1 day of pool and lake sessions, plus 3 river days.
- Exclusive discount on products from our gear shop.