You are never too old to paddle. You might not feel as strong as you once were and experience stiffness in your joints as you get into your twilight years, but a paddling group in Sweden is proving age is just a number.
Mixing with juniors as young as four are seniors as old as 82 at a canoe club in the beautiful Swedish lakeside town of Sigtuna, near the country’s capital Stockholm.
The club is called “Kanotklubben Mälarpiraterna” and is run by evergreen Canoe Slalom paddlers Kerstin Öberg and Hans Erik Öberg.
With Kerstin aged 80 and Hans Erik aged 82, the couple are proof that there is no age limit for anyone considering getting into a boat and navigating slalom gates for the first time.
“The best thing that I can say to people is that if I can do this, then you can too,” said Kerstin Öberg.
After taking to canoeing for the first time in their mid-30s, Kerstin and Hans Erik fell in love with paddle sports.
Canoe Slalom became a huge family passion that they wanted to share with the rest of Sigtuna and beyond.
The couple launched Kanotklubben Mälarpiraterna to activate youngsters in the community, with Canoe Slalom lessons taking place in the local swimming pool at Midgårdsbadet.
Disaster struck in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the club losing all its members.
However, the club bounced back with a new wave of slalom enthusiasts that were keen to show that there were no age restrictions in the sport.
“We put an ad in the paper saying anyone can come and paddle and seniors came,” said Kerstin Öberg.
“We have been paddling in the pool for some years so we have half for canoeing and the other half for swimming.
“There were swimmers that had seen us and came over and asked whether they could join us.
One guy told me that every time he lies in bed, he thinks about slalom strokes
“At the start, we didn’t know what to do with them.
“What do you do with a 70-year-old man who can’t move properly, and his body is leaning forwards?
“But we ignore that they are old.
“We put them in a canoe, we put some gates up and they start to train really, really hard.”
Öberg said the physical and mental exertions that come from paddling were having a positive impact on the seniors.
“They are getting better balance because they had never paddled before,” said Öberg.
“They say that they are able to move better and their upper body is getting stronger.
“They are showing that even if you are in your 70s, you can do a lot of things.
“The whole control of their body is getting better and better.
“The best thing of all is that they are thinking better.
“When you have gates, you have to start thinking about how you should do this and that, what kind of paddle strokes should you use and things like that.
“They are so happy and they are keeping me on my toes, saying you have to teach us so I have been doing lots of material to show how to do Canoe Slalom.”
Such is the senior paddlers’ growing passion for Canoe Slalom, some have even been dreaming about it.
“One guy told me that every time he laies in bed, he thinks about slalom strokes,” said Öberg.
Kanotklubben Mälarpiraterna provides the senior paddlers with the opportunity to mix in with the juniors during the beginner’s classes and competitions.
As well as paddling at Midgårdsbadet and on Mälaren which is the local lake, the group also trains on the waters of Nyköpingsån, Dalälven, Gysinge and Falun.
“When we started with the seniors, more and more kids were coming too,” said Öberg.
“We now train the kids together with the seniors so each kid can have one senior to talk to.
“And when we are on the lake, we can have one senior taking care of one kid which is very good.
“We now have eight seniors training three times per week.
“Then we have five or six kids and we have free training for anyone who wants to come and paddle on Saturdays.”
Alongside running the club, Öberg is a qualified judge and most recently officiated at this month’s International Canoe Federation Canoe Slalom World Ranking event in Markkleeberg, Germany.
After turning 80, Öberg does not see any reason to stop paddling as she continues to enjoy navigating the gates and inspiring others around her.
“It makes me feel good,” added Öberg.
“You never get bored of slalom because if you are training on a river, it’s different every day and you can move the gates.
“Slalom paddling is great for the mind and the body.
“What we have seen is that for these people their lives have been made better and that’s what they say as well.”
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