Lurching sideways and tipping closer to the river's surface, I had a decent wobble but luckily regained balance – I wouldn't be taking a dip in the Wairoa River just yet!

With their Canoe Slalom ‘give it a go' day happening this Saturday, March 4, the awesome Canoe Slalom Bay of Plenty club coaching team gave me a taste of the sport earlier this week.

Canoe Slalom BOP co-chairperson Tim Rex says: 'Slalom is on moving [or white] water and it's manoeuvring through gates – so slalom is about speed and manoeuvrability as opposed to kayak racing, which is in a straight line”.

Slalom pros Nico Baudoin and Adria Martin Castillo were on the scene, giving a beginner's crash course. Kitted up in a lifejacket and spray skirt inside a nifty 3.5m slalom kayak Spaniard Adria taught me forwards, backwards and side paddling. Being in Spain's top five for canoe slalom, Adria says: 'I'd like to teach kids and everyone I work with the knowledge I've learn”.

A pro for 19 years, Nico says the three main points of slalom is balance, propulsion, and duration. 'I like the challenge because you can always learn something new. It's all technical.”

Easily challenged, I nearly tipped from the kayak when experiencing slalom's technicalities. 'Everybody falls out at some point. But paddlers quickly learn to ‘eskimo roll' so they can easily right themselves again,” says Tim.

'Our goal is just to give as much knowledge as we can in slalom classes for kids because then they can try go as far as possible in the sport like racing,” says Nico.

Canoe Slalom BOP holds sessions year-round for novices, intermediate and senior paddlers – and the first three sessions are free! With Aims Games kicking off in September, it's the perfect time for intermediate-aged kids to try this wet and wild sport. The ‘give it a go' day is 2pm-4pm tomorrow, Saturday, March 4, at Waimarino Water Park, 36 Taniwha Place, Bethlehem.