Mats grew up in the small village of Dala-Floda alongside the river Västerdalälven in Dalarna, Sweden. In the recent years, this small community has grown to become something out of a white water kayaking mecca in Sweden. Mats has paddled the rapids for almost fifteen years and has managed to cover most parts of the sport. He has represented Sweden in over ten different international championships and won Nordic Championship titles.
These days Mats lives in Stavanger, Norway. “Stavanger is probably the only city in Scandinavia where you can paddle a nice river in the morning hours, go surfing in the North Sea after lunch and catch some powder snow in the mountains the next day. Not that every day is like that, but the possibility is there.”, he says.
When Mats isn’t paddling or surfing, he likes to coach young talents in both Sweden and Norway. He is also one of the organizers of the annual festival, DaFlo, which is held in Dala-Floda. DaFlo is a small festival that combines paddling with music, circus, dancing and singing performances in a great atmosphere. For more information go to DaFlo.se
You can also follow Mats on Instagram
@matswalstedt