Everyone looks forward to a girls’ weekend away, but Karyn Becconsall and her daughter, Charlotte, are taking things to another level this weekend.
The mother-daughter team are joining forces to compete in the two-day tandem event at the Coast to Coast — and it is not the first time the duo have made the trip to the West Coast together.
Karyn was a support person for her brother’s Coast to Coast team in 1998 when she found out she was pregnant with her eldest daughter.
By her own admission, Karyn was not much help after getting sick on the ferry and never recovering, eventually ending up in hospital.
‘‘I was just trying to hold it in, but oh man, I was just getting sicker and sicker,’’ she recalled.
She returned to the multisport event last year, linking up with Charlotte and her youngest daughter, Isabelle, for the team event.
After they ‘‘had a blast’’, Charlotte’s pitch to tackle the tandem this year was too good for her mother to turn down.
‘‘She said ‘the first time we kind of did it together, I just made you puke the whole time, you ended up in hospital, so it’s a pretty low bar. As long as I don’t make you puke, I should be a good team-mate’,’’ Karyn laughed.
The pair are no strangers to being in the water, having been members of the Warrington Surf Lifesaving Club for years, canoeing and paddle surfing together.
They make a great team, and have won national titles, but the Coast to Coast was all about making it to the finish line with a smile on their faces.
‘‘We’re aiming to complete it — completion is our goal.
‘‘But we’re aiming to have a hell of a lot of fun. We’re going into it with the expectation that we are going to be numpties and we’re going to laugh at every opportunity.
‘‘That’s the kind of joy we want to bring to the Coast to Coast.
‘‘Just being together, having a fantastic mother-daughter time and something to really remember. We want to make sure that we are just vibing it.’’
After completing different sections of the course in the team event last year — mum kayaked, Charlotte cycled and Isabelle ran — there is one thing Karyn hoped to tick off with her daughter this time around.
‘‘I’m actually really looking forward to crossing the finish line with her this year.’’
