All is well, its summer here!

It seems that I have no long lasting effects from the car accident and training has been going very well. Today the temperature has gone past 25 degrees C and its still not even noon. Life out on the water is a lot of fun when its this warm in December.

Car Accident

Our first day on the course went by fairly well with the time spent acclimatizing to the river and the conditions. With the course only being on from 12pm to 5pm, the time between sessions is not ideal.

 

The excitement of the day came after dinner when on the way home we were hit by a driver who didn’t see us, wrecking both cars and shaking up everyone involved. The Toyota Prius we were driving did not deploy the air bags which is a little bit scary but thankfully everyone is okay if quite sore. I was in the back seat and didn’t actually see it coming and was lucky to be leaning to the side so I did not hit my head, Jim was not so lucky and took a pretty solid nock. I am curious to see how my body feels in the morning.

 

Back in the USA

Today is the start of another two week camp here in Charlotte. After the snow we had in Canada I am looking forward to warmer temperatures and some good training.

 

I will keep you posted and hopefully post a few pics as well.

Gold Medal Plates

What an amazing evening. Gold Medal Plates has become the must attend Olympic fund raiser and the sold out event in Vancouver surely demonstrated why that is the case. Twelve of Vancouver's best Chefs squared off against each other and the result was tasty indeed . The true winners of the evening however had to be Olympic athletes as the proceeds raised go to the Olympic Excellence fund which aids Olympians across the country in there preparation for upcoming Games. I was inspired by the enthusiasm in the room and had the opportunity to mingle with old friends and make some great new ones as well. I can't wait for next years event.

Daylight savings?

It is getting harder and harder to do the number of workouts in a day that my schedule calls for and still have enough light to see what you are doing. As the light faded during my workout yesterday afternoon I started to have to guess where the rocks and waves were. When I looked up after one run down the top section I noticed the coach having to use the LCD screen on the video camera to light up his clipboard so he could see the times that he was writing down. That definitely made me wonder if being out on a whitewater river at that time of day really made sense. Maybe being able to see where you are going is over rated anyway, I will let you know.

Back in the swing of things

Home again after a great camp in Beijing. It was nice to get on the course for a couple of weeks and not have to worry about volume accumulation. The course has changed a little bit since the pre Olympic race in august and will likely stay in flux until June some time. I was amazed at how very little changes to the configuration of the obstacles really changed the flow dynamics. With the river being so challenging it is difficult to get used to a certain section and then have it changed from the morning to afternoon workout. Hopefully things wont change too often out there.

My legs are finally starting to recover from the riding in Beijing. Foreigners are not able to easily rent cars so we were left with either paying through the nose for a shuttle to the course or riding a bike back and forth a few times a day. With a bike costing only around 20 Euro's the choice was clear. We encountered some bewildered locals as we rode by every day.

It was strange to be the lone Canadian at the camp in Beijing, and while it would have been nice to have team support there I think the work that Eoin and I did with Jim Jayes was extremely productive.

Now it is back to the grind stone, lots of volume in the gym and on the different energy systems on both white water and on flat water. Hopefully the weather will hold here until travel starts again in December to Charlotte and OZ in January and February.

World Championships

Another World Championships has come and gone and this one did not disappoint. Unfortunately the organization was what we all expected here in Brazil and the weather opened up with a torrential down poor but in the end the racing by the medal winners was intense and inspiring.

 

The qualifier was very interesting for me as I went out on my first run and left my brain in the start gate. After dipsydoodling my way down the course and accumulating six seconds in penalties I found myself in 52^nd position. As only 40 boats qualify for the semi final I had my work cut out for me on second runs. My coach Jim Jayes reminded me that I had been in this same position before and we went to work to craft a better second run. Strangely I was quite confident heading into my second run and while still staying in the middle of the gates and not risking anything I was able to put down a top ten run and qualify. I almost threw it away at the finish line though when I caught a boil and went too far to the right and had to stop dead to avoid a pile of rocks, I lost over two seconds and in retrospect should have just paddled over the rocks.

 

I felt good for the first run of the final, the course looked good and I was feeling confident after my second run in the qualifier. Unfortunately I had to start early because of my trouble in qualifying and that meant I didn’t get to see how fast some of the flush gates were running. Coupled with the fact that I was in the Semi final alone and had to be somewhat conservative to ensure that I qualified a nation spot for Canada for next years Olympic Games. The run went fairly smoothly although I lost some time in gate six and in gate nine. In gate 19 the wind blew the pole into my arm and that touch was the kicker. Even with the conservative paddling I would have been just outside of the final in 11^th place but the penalty dropped me down to 20^th. At the moment it looks like I qualified the last nation spot available at these world championships so at least that goal has been achieved.

 

Looking forward I am off to China in October to train on the Olympic Venue, it looks like I will be making the trip alone as no team staff are going to support me there. I had a lot of fun on the Beijing course and it will be a great opportunity to spend a few weeks dialing in some Olympic specific technique.

 

While this season wasn’t quite what I wanted with the food poisoning at the world cup and not making the final for the world championships, there were still some highlights. Finishing 6^th in the overall for the World Series which was held on water more like the Olympic Venue than the World Cup and 5^th at the Pre Olympics definitely instills some confidence that with the right type of preparation for next year, anything is possible.

A little late, sorry!

Here I am in Brazil writing a blog about the trip to China. It felt a bit like a mad rush getting home from China and preparing for the biggest event of the year down here in Brazil, but more about that in the next post.


China was a fun and successful tour and while I was happy with my top five result I still felt like I left quite a bit out there on the course. A four second surf in the hydraulic mid way down the course definitely cost me a medal but all in all the race was a good indication that things are moving in the right direction.


Our time in China was not just about the river, we had the chance to get out and about town and thanks to the Canadian Olympic Committee we were able to see some very cool sites in style. It is very difficult to rent a car in China so were reliant on buses and taxis, below is our crew heading into town to visit the silk market and pick up some made to measure suits that we all had purchased. I was happy to be on the bus as traffic is intense and full contact and the street signs are impossible to read as they are in Chinese characters.

We also had the chance to visit the Great Wall. This was an inspiring trip that started with a bus ride, followed by a trip up to the wall on an old ski lift. The wall is amazing as it snakes through the country side, to think when it was made and the overall size of it boggles the mind.

We spent about an hour up on the wall trying to get as far along it as we could. It was very hot and the group was a sweaty mess when we decided we had gone as far as we dared for a rest day. Looking on along the wall we hadn't even made a dent. The trip down was on a metal toboggan ride and was done at much higher speeds then were recommended, putting Olympic athletes on something like that is probably asking for trouble.

The course itself is state of the art and impressively ready to go. In past Games the venue has been under construction until almost the day of the official competition and to have the venue for Beijing finished is a testament to the seriousness of China's will to host the best games ever. I was very happy with the course and while it needs some tweaking it is fun, continuous and difficult. I will enjoy spending time on it over the next year.

We share our venue with the Rowing lake and Sprint facility and everything is very green and quite nicely set up. The buildings are well appointed and offer boat storage, change rooms and team areas for rest and video analysis. The competition was also well attended by local crowds that clapped very politely for the paddlers as they made their runs. It reminded me of a golf tournament with a subdued golf clap.

Typically at the Olympic Games there are lots of rules, regulations and security. This event was no exception as it was the official pre Olympic event. I was not surprised to see high security check points and accreditation's for everyone entering the venue. I was surprised though at some of the directions and requirements inside of the venue, including an area specifically designated for "Kissing and Crying", I didn't get a chance to use this area but I will be there quite a bit over the next year so you never know.


The flight home was comfortable and non eventful. The airport in Beijing was another story though. We were ushered through by officials and did not have to wait in any lines, but I met one woman returning to Canada that had to wait for almost four hours in various lines to navigate the airport to get to the departure gate.


We have several training windows between now and the Games and I am looking forward to both learning more about the course, and learning more about Beijing and the Chinese people.

China

We are not in Kansas anymore Toto!

The flight over was uneventful and almost comfortable as a few of us were upgraded to the new Air Canada "pod" business class. Isolated in your own little pod with a TV and a seat that goes flat to form a bed the eleven hour flight literally flew by. To Air Canada's credit they made no fuss over our equipment and we had all of our boats arrive safe and sound.

The drive to the course and our hotel was only a short distance on brand new multi lane divided hi way but for some reason our bus driver stuck to a 60 km/hr speed limit and it took forever. Our venue is next to the rowing venue and we share the same entrance gate, the Junior Rowing world championships are on as an Olympic test event and there is a definite Olympic feel to the place with security screening and lots of walking.

We were all very anxious to see the whitewater venue and it didn't disappoint. I was very surprised to see that our venue is practically fully complete and ready to go. In the past we have trained in a construction zone right up to the last minute and to have the site ready a year out is impressive.

The course itself is a gem, fast, steep and continuous, it is a real test of paddling skill and concentration. We have had six sessions out there and it has been a lot of fun, if a little tiring. The drops are big but manageable and this course is one of only three in the world that turns clockwise, something you don't really notice on the water but an interesting side note. I will post some pictures of the course and the venue in the next few days.

Today we are going to the Great Wall, I am very curious to see this wonder of the world and my body is welcoming the rest day.

Pieces of the Puzzle

Performance not only requires having all of the pieces of the puzzle, but also putting all of the pieces into place at the right moment. In the semi final in Tacen I had the pieces but after hitting my stern in the top drop and almost missing the first upstream I was reminded that having the pieces counts for nothing if you cannot use them properly.

 

Now we are in Augsburg getting ready for the last world cup of the season and it feels like summer has left us and a good Chilliwack winter has replaced it. My week will be spent dialing in the quirks of the course here and trying to find a solution to my inconsistency of late. Right from the start the focus was on the world championships in September but now there isn’t much else left.

 

One stroke at a time!

Tacen Qualification

A beautiful day in Slovenjia welcomed us to the river today for the qualification event at the second stop of the world cup circuit. I had a good week of training recovering from the food poisoning of last weekend. The week started well with a good day of training with the team head coach Michal and the other mens kayaks. I also worked one on one with Jim Jayes working on the missing pieces in the puzzle that have been nagging me of late. Heavy rains on Wednesday raised the water levels on Thursday cancelling training for the day and providing higher than normal water levels for the training slots on Friday. The increased flow made for a fun last day before the competition but unfortunately a return to normal flows for the race means quirky surges and the need for complete focus and the willingness to work hard.

 

I had a good night last night which was welcome after last weekends antics and left for the river in good spirits and feeling refreshed. Demos showed a fair but tricky course and I was excited to get my turn out there. Warm up went well and I spent a lot of time mentally rehearsing the course and patterning the pacing model that I would need to paddle the way I want to paddle from now on.

 

My run started a little rough as I was slightly off line going down the very large first drop on the course, I was slightly low heading into gate two which was the first upstream. Fortunately I had done my homework and I was quickly back online and had a very solid and comfortable run. I crossed the line in first place by more than two seconds and was only beaten in the end by Peter Kauzer who was the last paddler to come down the river.

 

I must say that it felt very good to have a run go well after so many runs that have not gone to plan lately. I was able to stick to my race plan and pacing model and to be rewarded is a great boost to my confidence in what I have been working on of late. There is a long way to go this year with the World Championships being the focus and this run was a great step in a positive direction.

 

My second run started extremely well, I fixed my mistake in the first drop and was quickly into gate two, unfortunately I was caught off guard by the surge in gate three and was surfed across the river having to react quickly and sprint back to make gate four. This cost me in excess of six seconds and left me very cautious the rest of the way down the course. With the strength of my first run I was still able to qualify in 23^rd place and with the exception of gate four the rest of the run was very solid.

 

Scott Parsons of the US won the qualifier with a very fast second run over home town favorite Peter Kauzer. The course map for tomorrows final looks very difficult and the stage is set for a very exciting race.

Rough Day

It would be easy to blame today on the food poisoning, and to be honest I am really not sure how much that played in today’s result, but the reality is I raced incredibly poorly, again. I watched John Hastings narrowly miss the final with a blazingly fast run finishing in 11^th place, a personal best for him. This was a clear indication to me of where I should be finishing and has inspired me to work hard to return to form.

 

I have come to the realization that I have been working on trying to become a paddler that isn’t me, and that I need to return to the strengths that allowed me to deliver good solid and consistent performances when it counted most. Somewhere in trying to modify my technique I have lost myself and my confidence. Re-building will be a challenge but with Beijing only a year away the time to start getting back on track is right now.

Food Poisoning, Fun!

Imagine our delight when a very chic Italian restaurant opened four hundred meters from our hotel here in Prague the week we arrived. Great food, nice ambience, and close. We ate there a few times this week and always enjoyed our meals and our time there. Last night, as I was eating my Rigatoni Bolognese I noticed a large table of Australians, some other Canadians, a Chilean team athlete and others. What a nice international environment on the eve of the World Cup Qualifier.

 

Unfortunately I woke at eleven pm feeling a little queasy, the queasiness rapidly escalated to full blown nausea, followed by very violent projectile vomiting. Since I have only been sick a few times in my life you can imagine how sick I must have been. In total I only got a few hours of sleep.

 

Friday morning came as it always does and I was not feeling at my best to say the least. Fortunately my qualification runs were not until the afternoon so I went to the course relying heavily on Kelly’s support to get me there and watched the C-1s first run. James had a solid morning and finished in a strong 10^th place. I learned that I was not the only person who ate at the Italian restaurant who got food poisoning, one of the Australians and a Suisse competitor also fell ill. I then returned to the hotel and went back to bed to try and find some strength for the afternoon.

 

I was still feeling really tired and achy with a swooning stomach for first runs and just cruised it down the course. The times were extremely tight and I was happy to still be in the top 30 sitting in 25^th place. I felt a little worse for second runs and again just tried to survive and was a little quicker moving up to 17^th. John Hastings had a very good day finishing in 13^th but Pierre unfortunately had a 50 to drop him out of the qualifying top 40.

 

Now my focus is rest and recuperation, lots of fluids and sleep. I know that I should eat but the thought of food right now is not sitting to well. I have a rest day tomorrow with semis and finals on Sunday. I will cheer on James as he races for another top ten and lay as low as possible in the hopes of finding some form for Sunday.

 

No more pasta for a while.

The start is here!

Prague. The site of the first world cup of the season, a city steeped in history, charm and tradition.

 

We arrived here on Saturday to begin preparations for the competition and having spent a considerable amount of time here preparing for last years world championships I feel like I still have a good feel for the place. A couple of sessions in and the normal feelings of being lost on the course are few and far between and it has been fun to rev it up with Helmut Oblinger, a top ranked competitor and sometimes training partner from Austria. I say that it is easy to get lost on this course because unlike most of the artificial slalom stadiums being built these days, Prague is dead straight. The gradient is constant and the 75 gates hung for training make it a sea of poles that are hard to differentiate from one section to another. I have always had trouble the first few days figuring out where I am on the river. The race actually is easier because there are only 20 gates out there and the course becomes obvious. Still, this year has been easier and I am enjoying my time out there.

 

The weather has been hit and miss with either scorching heat or drizzly rain. At least the nights are cool for sleeping in either case so all is good.

 

I will update as the week goes on so tune in.

 

Watch for stories of lost boats in transit and missing athletes…hopefully the old saying, alls well that ends well will apply.

Team Selected

Another team trials has come and gone, for me it was my 25^th team selection event and my 24^th consecutive successful team trials. I have to admit that I did not race my best this weekend, struggling a little with the size of my new boat and the volume I have accumulated in training the past few months definitely took there toll. Still it was an awesome event and performances from Craig and James in the C1 class and some amazing effort by some of the younger kayaks definitely inspired me and are a clear indication of some great performances to come for Canada in the future.

This event was the first big international held at the new course in Charlotte which has amazing facilities. With three channels, a climbing course, a ropes course, lots of mountain biking trails and a beautiful building with a great restaurant it has everything that an outdoor enthusiast might want. The slalom channel is extremely challenging and requires full focus to achieve an ultimate run.

I was very happy to see the crowds come out and support the race. The local community seems to be very aware that they have a world class whitewater facility in their backyard and will hopefully ensure the success of the park. To see the huge number of kids out to watch also sent a message as to how strong the potential is for the US program with a course like this to build from.

Now I am back in Chilliwack for a week or two before heading to Europe for the spring tune up races. I will be focusing on a heavy physical training block and trying to decide which boat I will be using for this first part of the season. Both the 350 and the Sting have great attributes but the Sting has proven to be just a little too small for me on bigger courses. I am very hopeful that the new wider Sting will be ready soon and it will be the clear choice heading to the World Championships in September. Otherwise I will keep an open mind and keep testing different boats to find the right fit.

Getting Stung

After over a week on the course here in Charlotte I am definitely tired but feel good on the water. This has been an intense week of training with course acclimation, getting used to the new boat and also trying to get in a good fitness block.

 

I have been very surprised by the new boat, I have been testing the Sting for a couple of weeks now and it has added a dimension of flexibility to my paddling that I think was missing in the 350. While both are great boats, I am beginning to settle into the Sting and I am starting to find the subtleties that make this boat quite quick.  I was a little concerned that I might be a little bit too heavy for the boat on a river as big as the course in Charlotte but so far it has proven to be responsive and easy to change direction while still on top of the water. I am looking forward to testing the new wider version in the next few weeks but right now I am sold on the regular sting.

 

My plan is to take the weekend away from the boat and re charge the batteries and come back to the river on Monday with a clear race focus and race taper in mind. I am looking forward to giving my body a chance to bounce back after the pounding it has endured the past month, physical blocks seem hard to come by in this years schedule and I really tried to maximize this last one before the season really gets started.

Charlotte

Another flight, another hotel room and another bed. The joy of being a slalom kayak racer.

 

Right now I am in Charlotte North Carolina preparing for our team selection event. This year we are partnering with the Americans to have a duel event here on the new state of the art US Whitewater Center. I had the chance to come down and train on the course in December so I was prepared for what to expect and after only a couple of days I am starting to feel comfortable on the water. The course here is a challenging one with some whitewater that can be considered fairly big. This makes paddling here a challenge and learning the tricks of the river a must. I will make good use of the next two weeks to prepare and learn the river while still maintaining my fitness for the upcoming world cup in Europe. It will be interesting to see who has the goods come race day.

 

The format of the event is three day’s of racing with each day’s race counting for individual points that accumulate. The three athletes with the most points at the end of the weekend in each class will be nominated to the team. There is a second hurdle however that each athlete must clear and that is a percentage off of the fastest Canadian paddler on each day. The stress will be thick and the racing fast and furious. The added twist to this years team selection event is that it will begin the selection process for the team that will represent Canada at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

 

Let the racing begin!

Penalties and Lessons

I am back home in Canada after a great three week camp in Brazil. By the end of the three weeks I was feeling at home on the course and feel like I have a solid understanding for how to paddle there.

 

Going into the race I probably had a little more fatigue from the training than I would normally like during the race season but the training and acclimation to the course was the primary objective of the trip. The qualifier went without a hitch, I had a strong first run that was maybe a little too relaxed and was 7^th going into second runs. On the second run I pushed the line a little bit more and was more confident with the upstreams and moved into 3^rd.

 

I was very happy with the look of the finals course, the new rule changes allow the course designers to set a completely new course rather than being limited to the six changes that were previously allowed. I liked the moves and with the success I had in the qualifier I was very optimistic. Unfortunately in sport you cannot guarantee anything and I was caught off guard by a surge in the first upstream and caught the inside pole as I entered the gate. This cost me just over a second and the two second penalty so I was three seconds down on the field coming out of gate 2. Not the position I was planning on to be sure. I was able to re group however and had a good run the rest of the way down. I knew I was behind on time though and tried to cut the line where I could and that cost me another small touch on gate 14 that no one but the judges were able to see. Giving up one second to the field is bad enough but to also take four seconds in penalties is certainly not going to get the job done. In the end I finished 27^th but my time was good enough to put me into the final in sixth place which would have been a great position to attack from. I will have to be satisfied with the fact that I am paddling well and will have to take the lessons from this race and apply them to the rest of the season.

 

I continue to be optimistic and I am looking forward to the next steps.

Brazil

After 13 days, 43 degree heat and 98 % relative humidity and a course that paddles allot like the course in Spain where I won the world championships, I am starting to get the hang of this place.

The Pan Am championships are only a few days away and I am feeling good about my paddling here. The last two race simulations have gone quite well, although I touched a few too many gates on one of them. The times have been quick and relatively easy to achieve. It is nice to have a course that sets up well for my natural pace. This is a tough course to put a full length together on though, there is no big drop or massive move to worry about but the shallow eddies and boily currents pose a good challenge when racing with urgency.

The hardest part about being here is filling the days, with the high heat and humidity, spending time outdoors is quite tiring. Still, we have managed to play soccer with the French team and the Chinese team, we visited the Iguassu Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. We were also treated to a tour of the Itaipu dam and power complex. Until the new hydro electric project is finished in China the Itaipu dam is the largest in the world and truly is massive.

I find myself quite anxious now to get to the race and see where I stand against the best paddlers in the world on the course that will decide this years world champion in September. Until then, the word of the day is patience.

RACING!

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!