To try and develop comfort being upside down, you might also try this at roll practice or in the flats on the river:

Flip over and instead of setting up, pass the paddle over the hull and set up on the other side, then roll up.  It not only gets you to hold your breath a little longer but also gets your mind working AND gives you practice on re-gripping your paddle which can come in handy in many upside-down situations.

Once you've got that one down, try passing it over, setting up, passing it back and setting up again before rolling.  You can continue to extend underwater time by introducing underwater switches as well - pass over, switch sides underwater, switch back underwater, pass over, set up and roll.

A really challenging option is to recruit a buddy both of you flip over, pass the paddles over your boats then hand off your paddle to them and vice-versa... find your grip/indexing, setup and roll... entertaining for the onlookers and exciting for the participants!


Have fun with it!

Stuart