Women Only

Cynthia Thompson
BCU UKCC Level 1 Coach
ACA Level 3 Coastal Kayak Instructor
BCU 2 Star Award
BCU 3 Star Award
BCU Foundations, Safety, and Rescue Test (FSRT)

Cynthia, a Saint Petersburg native, began paddling canoes in 2000 when she spent a year living on the Santa Fe River in north Florida.  After returning to the Tampa Bay area in 2000 she continued canoeing and began kayaking.  She is currently working with Gettysburg College’s G.R.A.B. department helping their students develop skills and has lead trips in The Outer Banks of North Carolina and on the Suwannee River. In 2012-2013 she  has also taught sea kayaking and paddle boarding at Berkley Preparatory School in Tampa. Cynthia is a avid paddle boarder and enjoys touring, surfing, and yoga. Her recent endeavors are Bouldering, cycling, and kayak surfing.

Private classes with Cynthia:

Empowering Women: Fundamentals

Empowering Women is taught by women coaches for women paddlers. This is a great course for new or novice paddlers, or a solid review for seasoned paddlers, to learn the foundation kayak strokes. Students will learn how to efficiently move forward, backwards, and sideways. Additional topics to be covered include rescues, a.k.a. how to get yourself back into your boat, or how to help someone else get back in theirs, while on the water, and the fundamentals of towing.

Empowering Women: Beyond the Fundamentals

The series continues. The Beyond the Fundamentals course picks up where the Empowering Women: Fundamentals course leaves off. This class will introduce intermediate and advanced strokes, look at the blending of strokes learned in both classes, and revisit rescues with a scenario based style of learning. Empowering Women: Fundamentals is not required prerequisite for this class; however, it is strongly recommended.

Empowering Women: Learning on the Move

Practical application of skills is the best way to cement your learning. Come join us for a trip to Egmont Key and put your new skills to use. Weather permitting this class will be accompanying other classes as we all journey to Egmont Key.