As if you needed telling, the world’s greatest athletes are doing their stuff here in Great Britain this summer. And to build on the excitement Visit Wales is challenging people to head for Wales on holiday and have a crack at some medal-themed challenges!
The long jump takes place this week – but you don’t need to wear spikes or practice your run-up to jump across acres of sand on the wild and wonderful beaches of Wales. If holidays for you are all about the scrunch of sand and the rush of salt water, there are few places that are better.
But don’t take our word for it, we’ve asked Welsh kite-surfing expert, Kirsty Jones to come up with her gold, silver and bronze beach adventure challenges. Fancy having a go?
Bronze – Stand up and paddle
The traditional way the Hawaiians used to travel around their islands is exploding in popularity. It’s similar to canoeing except you stand up on a big stable board. It’s a fantastic way to explore the coast and it’s much easier than it looks. Take a lesson in Stand up Paddle boarding and see if you can paddle for 15 minutes. Newgale beach in Pembrokeshire is the place to try it.
Silver – Stand up and surf
© Crown Copyright (2012) Visit Wales
Your Silver Challenge is to seek out the waves and take a surf lesson! In your first day of learning (after practising paddling into the waves!) see if you can stand up while actually moving with the wave and stay standing for 3 seconds! It’s not as hard as it sounds once you get the knack of it.
Gold – Stand up and kite
© Crown Copyright (2012) Visit Wales
Seeing as it’s my favourite of all beach sports I had to make kite-surfing my gold challenge! The best places to try kite surfing are along the Gower peninsula or the wonderful Pembrokeshire coastline. See if you can get up and going on the board after mastering the skill of flying and controlling the kite (which usually takes a couple of days with a BKSA/ IKO certified school).
What do you think? Reckon you can crack them? Let me know how you get on in the comments below!
Check out the Visit Wales website for more information about holiday ideas and beach holidays in Wales.
More about Kirsty
Kirsty is one of the world’s foremost surfers and kitesurfers, winning multiple World, National and Master of the Ocean titles and representing Wales as a surfer. She was also the first person to kite-surf across the Irish Sea and kite-surfed solo from the Canaries to Morocco – a distance of 140 miles. Kirsty is a fully qualified and highly experienced, kitesurf, windsurf, surf and yoga coach – you can find out more at www.kirstyjones.com.