My journey to the world champs actually began four months
ago with GB Team selections held at Nottingham and Hurley. These events are
designed to select the best team possible to bring home medals with between
three and five spots available for each class depending on the event. I placed
well in each event so was selected as first place C1 paddler. After selections
the training then begins in earnest. Training for me involved individual
paddling sessions and the official GB training sessions. At these three weekends
the GB team have access to some of the best freestyle coaches in the county
(Dennis Newton and Sam Ward) as well as strength and conditioning experts and
physios to fix any niggling problems. Jonathan “Malley” Males, one of the key
people behind the Australian Olympic Slalom team also was on hand to help us
with the psychological aspect of competing. It is due to these people giving up their time
to help that we have been able to bring such a strong team to the event.
So, back to the competition… the event is being held at the
Nantahala Outdoor Centre in the Smokey Mountains, North Carolina, this meant
that I had to fly into Charlotte Airport which is about a four hour drive away.
A shuttle bus was provided to get us to the competition, what with the long
flight and the time difference it was a pretty tough journey but when we were
arrive we were treated to our first sight of the feature, all be it in the
pitch black! Despite the late hour there was still a queue of about 15 paddlers
trying to maximise their time on the feature. Despite the urge to jump straight
in my kit and hit the water I knew it was best to catch up on some sleep and
get into the swing of American timings.
Local Transport
I arrived at the site late on Sunday evening and Monday was
the first day of nation’s training. Nations training always starts about a week
before the event and allows all the paddlers to have a constructive session
with the other athletes from your country without massive queues. Each paddler
is allocated about 135 seconds (3 x 45 second rides), so for the GB team gets
about an hour on the water each day. These sessions are vital as it allows us
to work with the coaches and dial in our moves for the new feature. We split
the session in half with to allow for two more intense half hour sessions with
the women, girls and C1 paddlers in the first and men and junior men in the
second. In these sessions we get between 4 to 5 rides… not much considering we
travelled 4000 miles to paddle here! The parents and non-paddlers all chip into
help with the session. Every single ride is videoed for analysis later in the
day. We also have a buzzer at 35 and 45 seconds to show when your time is up in
the hole. We have a set order to paddle in so that no time is wasted with
deciding who’s go it is. Everything is set up to maximise the time on the
water.
Going for the loop!
The water is dam released and depending on the day, the
water normally arrives between 10 and 10.30 with nation’s training starting at
11.30. This also gives a bit of time in the morning for free practice. The
queue in the morning is about 30 paddlers long and when you are in the line-up
with paddlers such as Eric and Dane Jackson it doesn’t move quick! Normally you
have to wait about 30 minutes for one ride so it’s important to make it count!
Monday’s training for me was about getting to know the
feature, learning the best way to set up and playing with a few tricks.
Yesterday’s session was focused on starting to throw all the moves and get the
scoring percentages up. Today my aim was putting together full rides. This will
continue through the rest of the week. My ride plan will be developed with Den
and Sam to maximise my potential in the competition.
Nation’s training continues until Monday when we have the
opening ceremony in the local town of Bryson City. The competition then runs
throughout the week with heats, quarters, semis and then finals on the Sunday. There
are over 25 countries competing at the event from Australia to Costa Rica with over 200 athletes attending.
Team Costa Rica
One thing that is really evident about the whole event is
the friendliness and helpfulness of all the staff and helpers. We have an
awesome local chef who will cook us anything we want who makes some pretty mean
brownies! Everyone goes about their business with a smile on their face and a
can-do attitude.
I will keep posting on the blog throughout the event,
hopefully daily from next Monday so keep your eye on the blog for all the
latest news!
Thanks,
Josh
