About
Kirsty is an elite standup paddle board racer and advanced certified coach with Paddle Canada. She has also completed her Mental Performance Mastery (MPM) certification, something she is really excited to be working with athletes to perform their best.
Current 2X Canadian National Champion Women’s Elite 50+ (2023, 2024)!
Incredibly passionate about all things SUP, Kirsty discovered paddling in LA in 2015 and has been racing since 2017. She has been training under SUP Legend Larry Cain since 2018 and raced at the 2024 ICF World Championships in Sarasota Florida… 11th in the world in Technical Racing, 12th in Sprint Racing and 21st in Distance Racing! She has competed in the prestigious Graveyard elite race at Carolina Cup twice, a race that is world renowned as being the ultimate, complete test of a SUP racer. Kirsty is a member of Team Canada that raced at the ICF World SUP Championships in Poland (2022) and Thailand (2023) where she finished 15th in the technical race and 16th in the distance race for her age group! She went to the Canary Islands in January 2024 for a SUP Race Training camp with multi-World Champion Susanne Lier. Another important part of her race training is attending the local races of the Ontario SUP Series, for which she was awarded the Georgian Bay Spirit award in 2022 for her contributions to the paddling community!
Kirsty is equally excited about mental performance coaching and being able to help people achieve their goals in life! The mental side of athletics has always intrigued her, and so this was a natural development to endeavour into this largely untouched aspect of performance.
Sponsored rider for Starboard since September 2021. Truly honored to be a part of such an innovative company that not only creates incredible boards but is equally invested in protecting the environment. Always happy to share the stoke with the paddling community! Also sponsored by Oofos (athletic recovery footwear) and a member of the Oocrew! Check out her story here on Oocrew Blog.
Published writer for Paddle Monster’s e-magazine The Catch:
2022 ICF SUP World Championships
Competing Indoors: The Toronto Indoor Boat Show Race 2023
Did they leave with more skills and knowledge? Did they leave with more confidence? Did I help them get closer to their dreams and goals? These are things I ask myself as a coach.
— Kirsty’s philosophy on coaching