34 Paddling Upside Down

This manoeuvre is pretty straight forward. I put my paddle under the qajaq, capsize and go.

NEVER PRACTICE WITHOUT A FRIEND! And a friend who known what to do and can help you recover if you pass out!

Now there are a few hint to be able to go far...

First of all - go straight! The points awarded are calculated from the straight line and I normally have to paddle next to a line in the water with distance markings. If the water is clear it can be possible to see the line and adjust my path to it. I get 1 point for the first 3 meters and 1 additional point for every two meters after that. 5 meters is 2 points, so is 6 meters. 

I have seen paddlers rocking the qajaq to get the paddle deeper in the water as in a sprint stroke. That is a good idea both for power and for going straight.

To get a low profile under water is beneficial, lower drag, longer distance. I try to have my nose on the deck but it's hard. Hard to see where I'm going and hard because I compress my lungs. 

The most important aspect of this manoeuvre is to hold my breath for a looooong time. I have got some help from free divers. 

Get the area between your eyes and nose wet! This triggers the diving reflex!

1. How to breathe before going under. Inhale x seconds and exhale 2*x seconds, example: Inhale 4 seconds and exhale 8 seconds.

2. Hold your breath until you get contractions for at least one time, two is better if you have time left. After you've held your breath go back to 1. until your pulse is low again.

3. Take two very deep breaths before you capsize and start paddling. Fill your stomach, lungs and mouth with as much air as you can in your second breath.

As practice in/under water is potentially dangerous I practice mostly on land. What I'm really pracitcing is CO2 tolerance and land practice is just as good as in the water for this purpose. I practice in two ways, static and dynamic.
Static practice in an armchair I set up in the same way as described above, breathe, hold my breath until contractions, breathe, hold again and relax my body. Relaxing is key since the body doesn't consume oxygene and produce CO2 as quickly.
Dynamic practice mimics the effort you have to make while paddling. I walk! As I walk I count the steps. But that seems very unprecise you may wonder... Not really. A slow pace doesn't produce as much CO2 and I can walk for a longer period of time. A fast pace produce more CO2 but as the cadence is higher I take more steps. When I walk I try to be alone in the woods since this look very silly. The same procedure as described above, stand still and breathe, hold my breath and walk until I get contractions, stop and breathe, hold and walk again.

When I practice I rarely measure my distance, more counting the strokes I make. Counting strokes are easier, couniting seconds have a tendency for me to speed up as I get a bit stressed under water. 

Practice paddling upside down! There are a lot of points go gain and it's not very difficult. It can be worth as much as a Straight Jacket Roll... (23 meters = 11 points). In August 2025 I got 20 points from paddling upside down alone... (41 m, personal best)

Judges note: The distance is measured along a straight line.