What is AquaPaddle?: An interview with the Founder, Brett Scillitoe

The PaddleUK Marathon Racing Committee invited Brett Scillitoe to discuss AquaPaddle to highlight an emerging, community-led initiative that combines accessible 5 km timed paddles with safety education and charitable outreach; this interview explores how AquaPaddle supports youth development, broadens club membership, benchmarks performance across craft, and funds BlueSpace therapeutic sessions that extend paddling opportunities to vulnerable and underprivileged local groups. 

Who are you, and what is AquaPaddle?

I’m Brett Scillitoe, and I have been in and around the water since I was 9, whether it was sailing, canoeing, rowing or stand-up paddleboarding. I also have a tendency to start clubs: Dittons Velo (Cycling) in 2012, Dittons Paddle Boarding in 2017, from which AquaPaddle grew.

AquaPaddle is a free, community-run, 5 km timed social paddle. It’s not a race; you can paddle it as fast or slow as you like. We also run therapeutic and educational sessions under the BlueSpace banner.

Why did you start AquaPaddle?

AquaPaddle developed out of a tragedy on The Thames when a teenager went missing while the paddleboarding club were about to go out on a Social Paddle. I wanted to help reduce preventable drownings by offering gentle on-water teaching and awareness through BlueSpace sessions. To fund that work and harness community energy, I introduced a Parkrun-style 5 km timed paddle. A number of our members had started racing, and I wanted to tap into that enthusiasm and community spirit. 

How does AquaPaddle differ from a traditional club time trial? 

I think the biggest difference is that you are lining up with unknown paddlers. Within a club, there is a “pecking order”, and very quickly, you pretty much know your place in that order. Yes, from time to time, you might have a good day and rise up the rankings or some paddlers from another club come and join your time trial. But most of the time, you will be following the same boats and paddlers as you did last time.

With AquaPaddle, that is not the case. Anyone can show up, and chances are you won’t know them. Then you add to the mix other paddle craft, and that is where the fun and magic happens. It becomes a mini paddling festival. Hardened SUP racers chasing K1s and sometimes overtaking them. People in inflatable kayaks, being inspired to buy something solid. The chat around craft and equipment before and after the event is now an established part of AquaPaddle. Then you add in the fact that the times are published online immediately after the event, which means you can see the times of other events on the day or recently, to compare paddlers you might know. It all adds to the enrichment of the whole time trial experience than a closed club time trial.

Why would marathon clubs benefit from running an AquaPaddle event at their club?

There are many reasons why a Marathon club would want to run their own event.

It is about regular training, particularly for the youth side of the clubs. It adds a different dimension to a training outing. The fact that the club paddlers could go out and do a warm-up and then take part in the AquaPaddle is all part of the fun, as happens at Nottingham Kayak Club. It gives a focus to the warm-up/training as the paddlers know they will be pushing for that personal best. AquaPaddle allows juniors to take part as long as it is part of an organised Club paddle and the coach is on the water with them, as they would normally be.

It is a great way to attract new members. We have all seen the inflatable kayaks out on the water, and to the casual paddler, speedy K1s flying by can seem quite daunting, and when Kayakers are in the “Zone”, they can seem fairly unapproachable. AquaPaddle takes all that away as ordinary people come to their clubs and chat before and after. I’ve seen this work first-hand with Hampton Canoe Club, gaining members as they let the AquaPaddlers have a go after the event.

AquaPaddle is becoming a benchmark for 5 km times. Especially from some of our faster locations, such as Lincoln, Hampton or Kilsyth, where the record has recently been broken with a time of 22 minutes 45 seconds, by a young 17-year-old paddler called Rory.

Can you tell us about any marathon club success stories already?

John Handyside from Nottingham Kayak Club says: “NKC has embraced Aquapaddle in quite a big way. Initially attracting mainly SUP’s, there is now a healthy mix of canoe, kayak, SUP’s and outriggers. The events are friendly, relaxed and fun. There has also been an increased interest in joining the club, and our rules now include membership from other craft users.”

John’s final point is very good for Marathon Clubs in general. Don’t limit yourself to one type of craft. We have just witnessed the “DW” have a successful SUP trial with Paddy McCormack and AquaPaddle’s own Patron, Emily King, taking part in the stage race. The juniors with whom they were paddling and themselves got a lot of pleasure pushing each other along and hopefully improving their finish times. It is also worth noting that Nottingham Kayak Club is currently AquaPaddles second busiest location with one event attracting up to 43 paddlers! That’s a lot of teas, coffees and bacon butties sold for the benefit of the club!!

You have recently started a BlueSpace sessions initiative. What does this mean?

BlueSpace is the heart of AquaPaddle. They are the Charity sessions we run for underprivileged or those in need. We are working with Young Carers, Neurodiverse, Refugee, and Veteran communities, to name a few. They have been slow to get off the ground due to the nervousness of other charities and groups we work with to trust us with their vulnerable people out on the water. You can imagine the risk assessments some of these organisations need to do when booking sessions with us.

The way it works is that AquaPaddle funds local Delivery Partners to run the sessions. We are not asking for anyone to volunteer for these sessions as there is cost and equipment that needs to be maintained.

Our Delivery Partners are generally involved with AquaPaddle Locations in some form, but not exclusively. For instance, if a Marathon Racing Club were to run AquaPaddle, then we would be happy to talk to them about becoming a Delivery Partner and starting to help their local community. They could, obviously, do this themselves; however, as we grow, we will be able to help more people through the publicity of the events we run nationally. 

All our locations have their own donation pots that local paddlers can donate to their local BlueSpace sessions. Once there is enough in the pot, we then work with the local charities and groups to help people in need. 

Thank you to Brett for spending some time chatting with us about AquaPaddle and how it could strengthen marathon club offerings and more. If you are intrigued about how AquaPaddle and also the BlueSpace sessions could integrate into your club offering already, feel free to get in contact with AquaPaddle directly to start the conversation or explore their website for more information. The MRC strongly believes the more people getting on the water safely, the better.