Getting ready for those wild rapids

Wild rapids

Darryl

Avon Descent

The Avon Descent is Western Australia’s ultimate adventure sport event. Held every August, it attracts competitors from across Australia and overseas. Darryl Long has become a legend of the Avon. Monique Richards talks to this unassuming hero …

I started off with floaties on my arms,” says Darryl Long. Darryl first jumped into a kayak at age eight, inspired to start racing at 17 by his brother Neil who was 14 at the time. “Neil was entering a race and I thought ‘I’ll have a go at that’. We’ve had years where we’ve both been vying for spots in the Australian team. He got in more times than
I did!”

Thirty-five years later, with the floaties well and truly off, Darryl has 13 Avon Descent men’s singles titles to his name. As well as a passion that is obvious when you speak to him, dedication has certainly played a huge part in his success. “I train about nine times a week,” he says. “Often both before and after work. It also depends on how I feel though. Lately, twice a day has become a bit much- so I’ve cut back to once a day.”

Weight is also a critical factor, as for every kilogram of body weight, you displace a kilogram of water that you then have to shift. Darryl admits he has lost a bit of weight lately, in order to speed up for the 2008 race. “Training is a long-term thing,” he says .“It’s no good training close to the event, it’s too late then.”

1983 was the first year that a singles category was included in the race. For safety reasons, the event had previously been strictly a doubles or pairs race. In that same year, Darryl Long set the record for men’s singles in a white water boat, with a time of 7h 56 m 9s. That same record still stands today. The Tuesday before the event, Darryl had a once in a lifetime opportunity for a
pre-race warm up.

After some serious rain, the Avon reached ultimate flood conditions. The water level rose to seven metres, the biggest water Darryl has seen on the Avon. Thankfully, being a Tuesday, the river wasn’t crowded with most people being at work, making it slightly safer! Trees had washed away and Darryl recalls their branches rising treacherously from the water as they rolled over and over sideways. The run they did that day normally takes about three hours, but in these conditions they paddled it in about one and a half hours.

It wasn’t his only hairy experience on the river. A week after that same record setting race, he and a friend took some slalom boats to the bigger rapids of the Murray River. “I got pulled into a stopper,” he said. A stopper is a continuous wave that is caused by water flowing and curling back on itself. “I got stuck in one and spent 2 minutes getting looped until the boat broke. Then I got looped some more in a broken boat! The back third of the boat broke off, and in total I spent three minutes stuck in the stopper.”

“I train about nine times a week,” he says. “Often both before and after work. It also depends on how I feel though. Lately, twice a day has become a bit much- so I’ve cut back to once a day.”

Last year was Darryl’s 26th Avon Descent, where he came fourth. “It was hard to be out of the trophies! As the first 15 years I was always placed,” he says. Darryl spends his days at his job doing fibre glass work for aeroplanes. He recently competed in a parent/child kayak race with his eight-year-old nephew Marc Buttigieg. “He’s keen as, mad keen! And we beat everyone which made his day!”

As with any sport, the competition gets tougher every year. Darryl complains that the race gets faster, while he gets older. But as a 61-year-old man came second in the doubles last year, he feels there’s not really much of an excuse. His own passion and determination, healthy competition with Neil, the enthusiasm of Marc, and the ever present support crew of his mother and his partner Rosalie, are a powerful combination that will continue to propel this white water legend down river.

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