I first started prone paddleboarding in summer of 2022. I had seen it done years before though by one of my favourite sports photographers in the world, Donald Miralle, who is also a surfer & triathlete from California. I’d followed Donald’s work for years, ever since I was shooting F1 actually. I had no idea of what this sport was, what were these super long boards. I thought it looked pretty cool, but left it at that.

Fast forward to early in 2022 and I come across a post on social by one of the guys in Strandhill, and low & behold, 4 of the guys here just paddled across the north channel on these prone boards. That was it, a couple of messages and wham, I was trying out Mark Walton’s board & instantly I was hooked. Part of it comes from just being in the water, not relying on needing waves, and another part likes the regimented training part, similar to triathlon training & I do like that it’s a pretty niche sport, especially here in Ireland. Secretly I think I missed the training for triathlon – it had been years since I took part in my last triathlon, Escape from Alcatraz triathlon. So I think I needed something to focus on. Prone paddleboarding gave me this focus.

The ultimate goal for me has always been to race in California. Whether or not I have it in me to train for 7 or 8 months for the granddaddy race, the 32 mile Catalina Classic, who knows. For 2025 I’m going to scratch the itch by training solo in the depths of winter for an early season race in Newport Beach in May, the El Morro Classic. A 15 mile (27km) part harbour part ocean course. I’ve done the distance here in Strandhill before, but as usual, I have put added pressure on myself by giving myself a time I’d like to do it in. So the goal is set, logistics sorted. Now it’s just head down & follow the training plan. It worked for Alcatraz, hopefully it’ll work for El Morro!