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!

Rest day, time to catch up!

And so ends the official team portion of the training camp in Australia. Team Head coach Michal S departed for Canada with Sara, James and John leaving Pierre, Craig and Myself to finish off our stint in the southern Hemisphere with coach Toby.

The camp was a success with a great team atmosphere and some awesome work done on the river. I am now looking forward to working with Toby and some of the best international paddlers in the world. In fact, for the next two weeks leading up to the world series race here I will be training in a group that makes up the podium from the 2003 World Championships. Fabian, Helmut and I will be working together to try and inspire and motivate each other to raise our game to new levels. Helmuts wife Vio will also be on the water to keep us honest. I am looking forward to watching these great paddlers and soaking in whatever tricks they care to share.

I was asked to comment on what specific technique I have been working on and the specifics of the training environment.

The technique in this sport has evolved significantly over the past five years, especially since the boats were shortened by 50 cm after the Olympic Games in Athens. This has allowed for a much more dynamic technique with a real emphasis on fast and efficient turns. For me this has meant working hard on running a much tighter line in the downstream gates, and holding the gate line and exiting much faster from the upstreams. Having been winning world cup medals since 1991 I have a very established technique and making these changes has required a concerted effort to stick to the new model. I am starting to feel really comfortable with employing the technique and look forward to firing away come race season.

As for the training environment, I work primarily with Toby Roessingh and Michal Staniszewski at the river. I also work with sport physiologists Istvan Balyi and Jonathan Tremblay for programming the various training phases and work loads. I have been a full time athlete for so long that it allows me to put a very high emphasis on specificity and I try and do as much of my work on the river as possible. This includes doing most of the strength and specific energy systems work there as well. At this stage in my career being an athlete is a lot of fun as the focus can stay very race specific and the need for the long boring monotonous work is past.

On tap now is one more hard week of training followed by a mini taper and the first of the world series races. Definitely looking forward to getting back into the competitive frame of mind. Stay tuned.

End of week 1, so far so good!

We have finished the first week of training and everyone seems pretty settled in. The first few days were quite a treat as the numbers on the course were still quite low. By the end of the week however the sessions were running at capacity and it was crowded. I only got hit in the head by another boat once though so I guess it wasn't all that bad.

Our day off was centered around an epic trip to Manly Beach in Sydney. I have never seen the beach so crowded but we found ourselves a nice little spot and enjoyed the time in the sun and surf. Ben especially enjoyed the topless sunbathers. We capped the day off with a Sushi dinner (nothing beats BC sushi) and faced a tough ride home through traffic.

More and more internationals are arriving daily and I am looking forward to seeing the "competition" in action.

As for me, I am really noticing the new technique that I have been working on the past twelve months starting to become automatic. The environment here is very good for comparative analysis and I know this course very well. For these reasons the changes in technique have been very evident and while learning will always come with frustration, I am really happy with where things are going.

Happy New Year!

I hope the new year finds you all happy and healthy with clear goals for an amazing year. I find myself down here in Australia for what will be six weeks of training and racing to start the year off with a bang.

I feel energized and ready to work hard.

I am looking forward to working with the team as the cohesion amongst the group has never been better. I am also very excited to test myself against and learn from some of the fastest boats in the world. The warm weather and fantastic training environment always attracts a world class field this time of year. It will be a great opportunity to see where things sit for the upcoming season.

watch for updates on the 'ups and downs" of our warm weather training camp.

Off to Poland

The time for rest and recharging is over and I am on my way back to Europe. Two races and two brand new countries for me. The first race will be the grand opening of a course in Poland in the home town of one of my coaches. Then we are off to Holland for another grand opening and a race on a new course that is billed as a replica of the course expected to be used for the Olympic games in Beijing. I am very excited to get back to racing and having fun with the new technique that I have been working on for the past 12 months. The technique was automatic this summer on the world cup circuit but I forgot how to deal with the pressure of turning on some urgency in the races. This will be a great opportunity to let her rip in a non pressure situation, if only I wasn't coming off a month of rest. I am not sure 100's of km on my bike is the best way to get ready for the races but ready or not here we come.

Time to join the world of blogging

Stay tuned for news and stories as I work towards Beijing. Thanks for checking in!