Scottish Women’s Paddle Symposium

Next year, Glenmore Lodge will be hosting the Scottish Women’s Paddle Symposium for the third year (16th-18th May, 2025). Read on to hear from co-organiser Emy McLeod about how the biggest female paddling weekend came to be, and why.

The Scottish Womens’ Symposium (SWPS) started back in 2010 with Tracy Sherrington and Mags Duncan creating an event ‘for women, by women’ – a paddling weekend for females to attend workshops in a number of disciplines run by some of the top female coaches in paddling. The event, naturally as things do, evolves and grows with more attendees each year, more disciplines being offered, more coaches qualifying and wanting to coach at the event the location for the Symposium moved to its new home of Glenmore Lodge in 2023.

The weekend is for women with an interest in paddling; you may want to refine your technical skills in an advanced environment or have a guided trip on a gentle river. Maybe you have never paddled before and are looking to try it for the first time or you are struggling to master your kayak roll – there is something for all over the weekend. The workshops on offer range from beginner to advanced and from coaching to led trips in loch, coastal and river environments.

Why the need for a female only paddling event?

Inequality in sport exists, there is no denying that, but it’s also important to acknowledge that in recent years there has been positive change and increased opportunities for females in the paddlesports industry. The benefits of paddlesports for our health and wellbeing are for everyone to enjoy, and these recent developments that have made our community more inclusive and welcoming for all.

However the need for this event and others like it remains, so long as there are gender stereotypes holding girls and women back from participating in sport. There are a whole host of reasons why women attend SWPS, and we know from how quickly it books up every year that there is plenty of demand. The feedback given to the committee from both coaches & participants shows that the environment at a women’s only symposium can be more supportive, inspirational & relatable as the coaches are all female and can distinctly reflect the physicality of women & girls when teaching skill development.

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“I felt really supported and able to be braver than I normally am. My coach and my group were both amazing and I’ve come away feeling better about my paddling than I have in a long time.”

“Positive, affirming, empowering”  “Supportive, inspirational, joyous.”  “enthusiastic collaborative uplifting.”

Highlights of this year’s weekend

The buzz around Glenmore Lodge with all the participants is brilliant; we have booked out rooms, camping on the grounds &  camper van parking all on site. It is great to see so many people engaging in so many different paddlesport disciplines over one weekend. The white water kayaking workshops over on the River Moriston and the River Garry were noted as being great coaching venues with a lot of participants returning after the days paddling raving about how they paddled harder lines, developed their river reading skills or made it down a rapid without needing to roll. 

Coastal workshops in both sea kayak & paddle boarding were sell out workshops, including beginner to advanced coaching and with demo boats/boards available as well. The onsite pond at Glenmore Lodge provided the ideal venue to operate accessible and inclusive workshops for those with disabilities throughout the weekend. A key aim for the symposium is to have paddlesports accessible for all and there has been an increase in the number of people booking onto these workshops now they are available with the facilities here at Glenmore Lodge.

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New for SWPS 2024 was an evening programme with films & talks! Palm Equipment team paddler Heidi Walsh gave a presentation and film on her running waterfalls, and the progression and learning curve in paddling! A panel of inspirational women paddlers discussed with a Q&A session, the barriers and opportunities for paddlers, how to positively influence the younger generation and what exciting expeditions and paddle trips are accessible.

A highlight to the evening programme was the premier of a new canoe film by Emily Williams – the founder of Everybody Outdoors. Her film Cap-sized, is light hearted, funny, inspiring and so relatable for anyone who wants to give a paddle adventure a go. It shows that you may not have or in fact need all the knowledge and skills to go on a paddle expedition – it starts with an idea and that idea is powerful enough. The film also conveys and highlights the gap in the market in plus sized paddle clothing, a barrier for some in our industry. 

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Addressing the issues in Paddlesports for Women

Establishing working relationships with the brands that produce paddling kit has been an aim for the SWPS organising committee over the past few years. The availability of women’s clothing for paddling is a big issue, sizing is not just a S M L XL XXL for women, the fit is much different to that of males and needs to be considered in the designing. Access to these products is also very challenging with very few outdoor shops offering a paddlesports section with clothes in a range of sizing – 90% of the time you order online and then have to send it back as it doesn’t fit correctly.

SWPS made the push in 2023, having moved the event to Glenmore Lodge, to invite brands to attend and bring clothing & equipment with them. Both Peak PS & Palm Equipment attended and continue to support the event each year. That year, Pete Astles of Peak PS opened the floor to the women at SWPS and asked what they can do to help change the market and what they can provide for female paddlers. Having taken on board the feedback, he returned this year (2024) with prototypes of the new Peak PS female paddling range – in a whole range of sizes for people to try and provide feedback on.

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Palm Equipment each year have brought their female collections in drysuits, cags & BAs to be tried on.  The team gathered feedback on sizing, fit, and colours. This was then fed directly into the designing of new products. 

SWPS 2025

The weekend is set to return to Glenmore Lodge for May 16th -18th 2025, and is expected to be a sell out once again. The organising committee are already working on next years’ event, going through the feedback and suggestions for enhancing what is on offer.

Get the date in your diary and we hope to see you next spring!

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