And so the first race of 2007 has come and gone. The World Series of canoe slalom kicked off the season with a race at the Australian Open. 12 Countries competed for prize money and bragging rights on the 2000 Olympic slalom venue. Several teams were already in Australia as they are every year taking advantage of the warm weather and fantastic training environment. I am not sure that going 13 days without a day off before the race was the smartest thing I have ever done but the training group was so inspiring that it was hard to take a day away from the river.
The race was somewhat plagued by some glitches caused by a new timing system but in the end the fastest boats came out on top. Cruising through the Saturday race I came a disappointing 13th but the first run of the final was considerably better and I was third after first runs within half a second of first place. Unfortunately an average second run dropped me down to the wrong end of the tenths as three of us shared the same second with Campbell Walsh the Olympic silver medallist taking the top spot out in front. I had to settle for fourth place yet again bested by Helmut Oblinger in second and Anthony Brown of Australia in third. It was a tough final with eight of the ten athletes being previous world cup medallists.
Pierre Levesque narrowly missed the final with some strong paddling in the K1 class, while Craig Allen showed moments of brilliance to give indication that when he nails one down he is going to be a force to reckon with. Our new C2 team of Tom Hewitt and Mike Holroyd impressed the crowd with runs that improved throughout the weekend. I had not had the opportunity to watch them paddle and it was inspiring to see them rip it up out there.
For full results check out www.canoeworldseries.com
Now it is back to hard work for the next few weeks before we head down to Brazil for the Pan Am championships and Pre worlds in March. The competitive fires have definitely been lit and I am looking forward to keeping the ball rolling.
Here's to smart training and fast paddling!
