Tuesday 25 October 2011

The Fickle Finger of Fame

I have always been interested in the way that certain events or particular people become famous. It is all the more interesting when it appears that something rather more significant has happened elsewhere or concerns another individual.

At the beginning of the month a new record was set for crossing the channel by 'canoe' (Surf Ski Kayaks / V12) with paddler Paul Wycherley accompanied* by a support boat. The crossing made the national news. At about the same time, a new record was set for crossing the Irish sea, as John Willacy with no support boat paddled a Rockpool Taran from Holyhead to Howth in just over 11 hours. Nothing in the national news.

Looking somewhat further back, much was made of the achievements of Helen Skelton on the Amazon - lots of national news coverage, and talk of breaking world records. Without wanting to knock Helen's efforts in any way, I could not help but compare them to those of Freya Hoffmeister - maybe Australia is just much smaller than I thought.

I am rather too old to expect the world to be fair, or news reporting to be unbiased, but .........

*I am not commenting here on whether or not the support boat assisted the passage in any way.


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