Training and Racing with Danny Ching

This past weekend I had a really unique and awesome opportunity to train with hands down one of the best paddlers on the planet—Danny Ching! Danny made the trip over to Florida to host some clinics, including a stroke clinic right at Suncoast Surf Shop. On Friday night before the clinic, we had dinner with Danny and the other 404 guy Brett at my grandma’s beach house. They are both super nice and it was too fun to sit around the fire pit with them & some of our other friends. The next day, bright and early, I met Danny at the beach for a workout and some coaching. He is so perceptive and experienced, I learned a lot more about my strokes, what I am doing wrong and what I’m doing right, and how to be aware of my technique and fix it. After our training session I helped out with the clinic, which was mega informative and entertaining. Everyone walked away as a better paddler after that class.

Later that day I did an interview with Operation Innocent, a ocean awareness group creating a video about using surfing to promote conservation of our beaches locally and globally. We did the interview right at the shop and I really enjoyed it. I’m so glad that I can use my position in the public light in order to promote causes I really believe in. That’s big reason why I’m going to be working with Ocean CREST Alliance, an organization that uses education and inspiration to work towards the betterment of our oceans. I’m really excited to be promoting their mission and making a positive difference in the world.

On Sunday, nearly the whole Florida Junior SUP Team headed over to Treasure Island for a training session with Danny! He essentially gave a shorter version of his clinic adapted to a kid’s understanding, and the whole team absolutely loved it. After running some drills, they took turns on the baby waves breaking on the sandbar right across the street from the surf shop. I can’t help but smile every time I see the amount of stoke they have for surfing and paddling! I believe that their lesson with Danny helped a lot of them to further understand stroke, and it’s awesome to have renowned paddlers come and work with them.

After practice the team headed down to the Sweetwater Paddle for the Cure, where they took over the race! Many of them raced the long course, and the younger kids raced the shorter distance. They all crushed it, and I’m seeing a staggering amount of improvement. It will only take a couple of years before they are topping Florida podiums over much older competitors. They’re bringing the sport to a whole new level and I can’t wait to see how far they go.

When I started the team, I never anticipated it getting any kind of funding other than sponsorship from surf shops buying tee shirts once a year or so. But I’ve received some very generous surprise contributions that I’m so humbled by and grateful for. I just want to give thanks to Stephanie Davis, Danny Ching, Ralfie Steiz, and Bob & Sandy for their contributions to the team. All of the families make sacrifices so their kids can paddle, and I’m so glad that I’ll be able to support them more because of your support. Next on my to do list—buy decals for the kids’ boards!! Thank you all <3

March is a training month in preparation for some BIG BIG things to come! Can’t wait to share them with everyone who supports me so much!!

xoxo Bailey

Lazy Dog Paddle Fest

Sometimes it’s not the places that make a trip special, it’s the people.

I can’t think of a better example of this than my visits to Key West, where I am always so warmly welcomed by the Lazy Dog girls, who travel to plenty of events in Florida and beyond, and are always my #1 supporters (besides my mom, of course ;) ) on the beach. On the weekend of February 8 & 9, they invited me down to the Lazy Dog Paddle Fest to give a kids clinic, host a presentation on the youth movement in SUP, and, of course, race! My mom and I flew down to Key West Friday night with a bunch of extra kid size Quickblade paddles in anticipation of my clinic the next day.

I couldn’t be happier with how it went! I had about 15 kids who were all super stoked on paddling! During introductions I always ask what their favorite thing about SUP is, and more often than not, most of the kids reflect on how much they enjoy the experience of just being in the water and observing all of the ocean’s biodiversity. That gives me a lot of hope for the state of our world ocean in generations to come. The clinic included paddling basics, skills, turns, and even fun relay races! I ended up exceeding my 2 hours (oops) because the kids and I were having so much fun!

Later I gave my presentation on the youth movement in SUP. I went back through the archives of a lot of different events to analyze under 18 numbers, and the statistics I came up with showed both staggering growth and surprising disparity between the West coast and the East coast. The symposium got a rave reception and I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be collaborating with Distressed Mullet’s John Beausang to make the Carolina Cup Junior Race into a really fun and dynamic event. The Lazy Dog girls said I really inspired and motivated the kids down there to paddle, so I’m stoked!! They have a lot of talent and a great venue to paddle from, so there’s most definitely a lot of potential there.

The next day was the Bone Island race! Luckily, my friends the Navarro Family were able to let me borrow a Bark board (thanks Milla & Dekai!) so I didn’t have to ship or fly with my own board. I had a great race and ended up in first place! The field wasn’t super deep, but I actually ended up in 5^th overall, and of course Key West always presents the usual challenges; wind and heat, plus the added challenge of having to swim around a boat halfway through the course! But I went fast and had a ton of fun. After a quick stop at the Southernmost Point of the US to take cheesy tourist pictures with the Navarros, my mom and I were dropped off at the airport so we could head home.

What a crazy fun whirlwind weekend! Huge thanks to the Lazy Dog girls for hosting me, and for always supporting me so much!! Also thanks to my mom, the Navarros, and my sponsors; Ocean CREST Alliance, Maui Jim, Quickblade Paddles, Bark Paddleboards, Mi Ola, Suncoast Surf Shop, Sweet Waterwear, SUP Race Fins, and Coach Mike’s Training Center. Couldn’t do it without you!

Bailey