Joanne Hamilton-Vale is a newly-arrived Albury resident who has been racing competitively for the last four years.

She has also conducted fundraisers for people affected by cancer for a number of years.

Following her husband Peter Vale, new Brad Jones Racing manager, from England to Albury, Hamilton-Vale did not want to give up her annual good deed.

And so the idea to paddle on Lake Hume – come rain, hail or shine – came about.

“For every thousand dollars I raise, that will go directly to a family dealing with cancer, but for them to go away and not think about the disease for a couple days,” Hamilton-Vale said.

“I don’t actually want people to give me money, I want them to give me their recycling.

“I’m going to go on to Lake Hume and will not take my feet off that board for 24 hours – every five hours someone will paddle me out hydration and food.”

Hamilton-Vale, who is the number one female in the world for ultra endurance, has raced in Alaska, Hawaii, America, and even took part in the Massive Murray Marathon, where she came in fifth overall (despite being told her craft would be too slow for the race).

“I was a sailor, and found I’d completed what I wanted to and the boats were getting too big for my frame and strength,” she said.

“I thought stand up paddling was the most boring sport in the world until someone told me I could race.

“I came to Australia in 2016 to do my base training on the Hawkesbury River.

“I went home to the UK and it was freezing cold, my husband said ‘The canal is frozen over’, and I would take out my ocean board which has a rounded nose and break the ice to enable me to run sprints.

“I think that’s when I realised, ‘I can do it’, if I was willing to do this.”

She paddled 6000 kilometres for racing and training last year, and can cover 9.5 kilometres in an hour – 11 km when sprinting.

The 50-year-old has been nursing an injury since moving to the Border in November but plans to get back her other world record next year.

“Someone broke my record for non-flowing water last week, but only by 1.3 kilometres over a 24 hour period – I have raced 180km for non-flow and 283 for flowing water,” she said.

“I completed the world’s longest race in 2017 on the Yukon River and I asked people to donate me money and a photograph of someone who had been lost to cancer or was fighting it.

“I said there would be times in the race I would be really struggling – I had to carry pepper spray for bears, one girl who was hallucinating thought she could see dead bodies in the water – I felt by taking these photographs on the race they would give me strength.”

Hamilton-Vale is seeking a bank that will open an account for the money she raises for transparency, and plans to approach businesses for their recycling.

But her day on the lake is not just about charity – she wants people to learn more about paddle-boarding as a sport.

“It’s not a sport that’s hit the Border yet – it’s been the fastest growing water sport in the world in the last four years and we reckon it’s going to be in the 2024 Olympics,” she said.

“I run a not-for-profit in the UK, we have brought structure to racing, and I’d like to start a group here.

“You may have your next Olympic champion on the Border.”

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