Hey Guys!
I’m Lane De Meulenaere from Belgium. I was born in a city in Belgium called Oudenaarde on January the 5th, 1996.
I started kayaking when I was 10 years old. I got into kayaking through my dad, my parents have always been very active in different kinds of sports, since then my dad was really getting into kayaking and enjoying it a lot.
As the young kid that loved water, I was interested ofcourse! From that moment kayaking has pretty much become my life and passion.
I’ve been traveling all around the world to see the most beautiful places, enjoy the craziest freestyle features and discover the most amazing rivers.
Thanks to the support from my parents I was able to paddle a lot. I was really lucky to have parents that made it their mission to support the passion of their kid and help him to achieve his dreams.
We started of traveling and paddling together. At first we were getting into some kayaking schools to learn how to paddle, pretty much learn the basics.
When I was 13 I made my first big step in the big kayaking world. The great parents that I have send me to the keener program to enjoy the Ottawa river and paddle with the best.
After 3 weeks paddling and learning from the absolute top paddlers around the world such as Dane Jackson, EJ, Nick Troutman, Stephen Wright, etc. I knew kayaking was the only thing I really wanted to do in life.
The 2 years after the keener program I spend teaching and helping out with Europagaai. Thanks to them I really learned how to safely navigate rivers and how to safetyboat.
In 2011 I started of my first big competition in Plattling, which was very disappointing. I had really good training runs, but naturally my first competition was a total mess. Stress killed me and messed up my head which resulted in a top 20 place.
I didn’t give up though! I really started training after that competition and have achieved some great results, a quick overview:
2012:
- European Championship Lienz - 4th
- Canadian Team trials - 3th
- North/West European freestyle cup - 1st
2013:
- Eurocup Plattling - 4th
- Eurocup Prague - 3th
- Eurocup Cunovo - 2nd
- Worldchampionships Nanathala USA - 6th
2014:
- Worldcup Millau - 3th
- Worldcup Salt - 3th
- Worldcup Sort - 6th
2015 (first year as a senior):
- Wiesenwehr Rodeo - 2nd
- SPB fest - 6th
- Natural Games - 7th
- Eurocup Wildalpen - 6th
- Eurocup Prague - 3th
- Eurocup Jelena Gora - 3th
2016:
- Wiesenwehr Rodeo - 2nd
- Outdoormix festival - 5th
From last year I got more into the creeking scene too, I hope to climb up the ladder during the next years and see how far we can get. In my first creeking competition I became 23th of the 65 participants, not bad if you know I’m never paddling in a creekboat. So these next years, I will spend more time in a creek boat and hopefully make some improvement!
As a person I like to be very positive and dynamic. I set my goals high and do everything in my power to reach them.
I really like to travel around, get a lot of new experiences, see the world, make new friends and enjoy new cultures.
I really want to thank my sponsors that have helped me through the years and have really helped me achieve the results and life experiences until this day.
- Jackson Kayak
- Werner / System X
- Kano Centrum Arjan Bloem
- Hermes Chocolaterie
- Sweet Protection
But most of all I want to thank my parents for supporting my dream and achieving my goals.
Maybe see you on the water! Don’t hesitate to talk to me or contact me through facebook or any other way if you have any questions!
