A rookie paddler – My European Story
Hi there guys,
So back at the end of
June (yes that was a while back but better late than never!) the European
Championships were held at the Drau Hole in Lienz, Austria. I spent 10 days out
there with fellow Nookie paddler Sam Stephenson and other members of team GB
having a great time. As the European
Championships was my first international competition; I learnt loads, made lots
of new friends and gained valuable experience. This write up is the story of my
week (and a bit).
Day 1 – Thursday
I woke up on Thursday morning with mixed feelings; I was
excited about heading off in the evening to Austria but also slightly nervous
of my last A Level maths exam that afternoon. Two years’ work rested on the
hour and a half just after lunch! Fortunately I can say that it went really
well and in no time we were in the car driving down to Faulkstone to catch the
train that would begin our European travels.
Day 2 – Friday
Friday was a mix of sleepy car travel, traffic jams and
torrential rain as we wound our way through; France, Belgium, Luxemburg and
Germany before finally reaching our final destination in South West Austria.
There was only time to put up our tents before collapsing into bed for some
much needed sleep.
Day 3 – Saturday
Waking up to 25 degree heat was a nice change from cold, wet
and miserable England. Sam and I also got our first look at the hole that would
become our showground in the next few days. The banks of the Drau River create
a natural theatre with lots of space for sitting and watching the action on
river right and the judges tent ideally positioned on river left.
One tool that I use to get to know a new feature is called
“hole mapping”, this I find really useful in helping me dial in moves as quickly
as possible. It involves drawing a detailed picture or map of the hole and
marking on where moves are being hit, where rocks under the water are and any
other useful features that can be used to maximise each 45 second ride. I sat
developing my maps for that first morning, watching other paddlers and making
adjustments as necessary. One thing that was very evident was the variation in
water levels. Due to the hydroelectric dam upstream the water could raise by a
foot in a matter of minutes, drastically changing the characteristics of the
hole. We were guaranteed high water for the competition and team training so
there was a flood of paddlers getting on when levels were on the up. When I
felt I had gathered as much information as possible I jumped in my kit and hit
the water.
The hole was bouncy but good fun! It’s kind of like the
second hole at HPP on steroids for those who know it. In these first few days
when paddlers are not restricted in paddling time it is vital that run plans
start to form and moves get nailed. Throughout the day I did short 30minute
paddling sessions with rest in between to maximise my paddling potential. It’s
probably worth mentioning at this point that I was paddling for the C1 team as
a reserve… ready to step into action if any of the other GB C1 paddlers were to
get injured or have to drop out. So despite not guaranteed to compete I had to
train as if I were, a strategy that turned out be important in the end!
Fellow Nookie Team mate Sam Stephenson practicing.
Day 4 – I’m sure you know the days of the week!
Sunday followed in a similar manor with short sharp training
sessions however by this point the whole GB team had arrived so there were a
few more familiar faces in the eddy. One thing that I found great about the
championships was the meeting of new paddlers. With 20 different nations
attending there were lots of new friendships made and experiences to share.
Day 5 – The Opening Ceremony
This was the first official day of the championships so the
first port of call in the morning was the registration tent to ensure that our
names were down on the start lists. It was also the first day of team training.
Each team is given 135 seconds per paddler, with team GB being the biggest we
had about 70 minutes of paddling in the day. To shorten queues in the eddy we
split into four groups of around 10 paddlers… the time really flies! This
format really shows the best paddlers who are able to dial in quickly to new
features. It was obvious that GB were going to be successful looking at some of
the different moves and combos being thrown by our athletes.
Being the biggest nation out at the championships bought a
lot of advantages including a great support network. Top coaches Dennis Newton
and Sam Ward went through video individually and we talked about plans for the
competition. For those of us who had picked up slight injuries over the
training period physiotherapist Catharine was there to patch us back up and get
us back on the water.
Evening came and so too did the opening ceremony. Held in a
mountain top castle (the Schloss Bruck) it was all very James Bond! The
festivities started with performances from a local music group dramatics
playing a few old kayaks… suppose Pyranhas do have some use! Speeches from
local dignities, officials from the ECA and British World Champion Claire
O’Hara welcomed us to Lienz and officially opened the 2012 European
Championships! I would now like to say that every “athlete” stayed away from
the free beer and went straight to bed but I would be lying. Being my first
championships I was focused on the paddling but rumour has it that it was a
very good night!
Alan Ward certainly had a good evening as when he got back
to the campsite at 1am he crawled into my tent to tell me that he wanted to
concentrate on his K1 rides and that I would be taking over the OC1 team spot! As wake up calls go, its probably not a bad one!
Team GB
Day 6 – Team Training
An early start followed for team GB as we were second on the
water behind the French team. I was up
especially early to try and improve Alan OC1 and make it fit me! With this
being the last chance for practice before the competition everyone was anxious
to nail their rides, and for me to work out if I could roll the thing! The
standard at the end of the session was definitely up for everyone and I was
pleased to find out that I could not only roll the boat (most of the time!) but
also score a few tricks. Having done OC1 in the British Championships back in
2010 and swam 6 rides out of 6 I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged!
The rest of the day was a case of getting hold of as many
airbags, bits of foam and tape as possible to make some adjustments and to
reduce the amount of water that the boat could hold. Regulations say that 40l
of water must be able to be in the boat with the paddler inside… the Project 64
that Alan had converted held more like 40 gallons!
C1
Day 7 – The Competition Begins
The OC1 category was first up, this was something that I was
very happy with as I could wake up, do my rides and not have the whole day
worrying. It also meant that I could enjoy the other prelims of the day
including the K1W, K1JM, C1 and K1 Squirt.
I turned up at the feature about an hour before the
scheduled start time of heat 2 to prepare. The boats had to be checked and
verified that they complied with regulations and I had to get into the right
physical and mental state to compete. Sam Ward was there with me to ready
myself for my first international competition. I did a really good warm up and
then a few yoga relaxation techniques to calm down a little. I kept out the way
of the other competitors and crowd so I had no idea how the first heat went.
This was a planned part of my preparation as not to distract me from my run
plan. I practiced my run on the bank imagining each move and paddle stroke that
I planned to do. I felt a great sense of pride pulling on bib 145 as competing
for GB had been an aim of mine for about 4 years. This was my time to represent
the 62 million people in the UK.
Looking back my rides were a bit of a blur. I remember that
I really enjoyed the support of the crowd and generally had a really great fun
time! As this was my first real OC1 competition experience I placed no pressure
on myself to perform and this really helped as I could just enjoy every moment.
The results followed soon after and we were all gathering round the board. I
had come 2nd! I was going to be in a European Championship final
with a chance of a medal! I will admit to a bit of emotion and even sat here
writing this almost 2 months later it still brings a tear to my eye.
I could now relax and enjoy the rest of the day… and what a
day it was! Paul King of GB had also made the OC1 final just ahead of me in 1st.
Other brilliant performances were from the GB junior men (including fellow
Nookie team mate Sam Stephenson) who all progressed in the top 4 spots! Adam
Ramadam and Jack Gunter made the C1 semis, as did Ben Aldred and Tom Godard in
the squirt. In the women’s category Claire O’Hara progressed through the semi
-finals in second place.
OC1 heats
Day 8 – Rest Day, for me at any rate!
Although this may have been a rest day for me, it wasn’t for
most of the paddlers at the ECA European Championships. First up were the
junior ladies and with British interest in the form of Kim Aldred and Jen
Mcgally. Needless to say neither let the side down and progressed into the
finals. The biggest category was up next, the K1 men’s event. I was in the
judges tent scribing for Shep all day so got to see the standard from the other
side of the bank. There were so many big moves being thrown with scores passing
the 1000 point barrier. James “Pringle” Bebbington managed to lay down some
great rides and secure his place in the quarter finals along with the other
members of the GB senior team who were James Weight, Andy Brinkley and Alan
Ward. Unfortunately Gav Barker, who has been battling an injury for the past
few days did not quite make the cut but still put down some solid rides. Another
great day for team GB!
James Weight during the Men's Semis
Day 9 – My Final
Day 9 was a whole mix of quarter finals, semis and finals.
Up first were the men in the quarter finals. This was a very tough cut from 20
down to 10. Once again the standard was unbelievable high! British athlete James Weight topped the table
with the remaining three Brits all making the semis. The junior men once again
pulled out all the stocks in the semis with Bren, James and Sam taking the top
three spots. Unfortunately Brandon just missed out but finished a respectable 7th
place. GB were not so lucky in the C1 with both Adam and Jack missing the cut
but both had a really good run at it. In the men’s squirt semi Tom Goddard
managed to hurt his back in the local swimming pool so was unable to compete
but Ben Aldred stormed his way into the final. Up next was the women’s
semi-final. With Claire being the only Brit left in the competition all hopes
were resting on her shoulders and we were hoping that she could pull out
another winning performance. Unfortunately this was not to be and Claire missed
out on the finals but she still had the squirt final the next day to look
forward to. The men were back in action with the last semi of the competition.
With 4 athletes still left in statistically we were statistically going to get
2 in the final… and we did! The two James both hit solid rides to take them
through. The first final of the competition was the women’s squirt final with
British athlete and world champion Claire O’Hara tipped for taking the win… and
she did so in style! Claire left the others trailing with a huge 1072 point ride
to Eva Filova’s second place 261,670 and Nuria Fontane’s 173,330. Could Ben
Aldred of GB also get in the mix for a medal? Yes he could! Ben linked nice
ends and got a good mystery move to get GB their second gold of the
competition!
Sam with coach Dennis
Up next was my final, the OC1 final. I had spent the day
chilling in the pool and cheering on some of the others. I went through the
same preparation as previously. I was really excited about the thought of
possibly getting a medal so I was really fired up. Once again the experience
was a bit of a blur! The main difference with the finals is that each
competitor’s score gets read out after each ride so a target is set. In the
first rides the scores were similar to the heats but once the second rides
started the scores just kept going up and up! Seeing a OC1 boat loop is very
impressive and hugely difficult move to do but the top two managed it. With my
final ride approaching and after a discussion with Coach Sam I threw caution to
the wind, scrapped my run plan and planned to go for the loop. Paddling such a
big boat it was always going to be a long shot and it proved to be a little too
far and I ended up in the drink… but all was not lost! I was back in the eddy
with 20 seconds on the clock. I jumped on my boat hand paddling up the eddy and
managed to get back in a kneeling position. With cheers from the crowd I went
back in the feature, without any straps, and so nearly threw down a cartwheel.
I had no chance of rolling so I now believe I am the owner of the title to be
the first person to swim twice in an international freestyle competition! Yeh!
In the end I finished in 5th which I was mighty happy with as I
turned up not expecting to compete at all. It was a great experience and a
memory that I will treasure.
Ready to enter the feature
After the final
Day 10 – Finals and Closing Ceremony
There were a few sore heads the following morning from the
so called “losers party” which was a great night out in Lienz with lots of new
friendships being made. For those who had finals however had no such issues as
they were sent for an early night and a good sleep.
Once again I was in the judges tent which was a fantastic
experience learn from. First up were the junior women. After the previous
night’s rain storm the water was murky brown but this did not put off Nuria
Fontane from Spain who took first place a whole 110 points ahead of Lisa
Hasselwander (GER) in second and Jans Groß (GER) in third. Kim Aldred just
missed out on a medal by 3.33 points and finished in fourth with Jen close
behind finishing 5th in her first international competition.
The junior men were up next… and what a competition it was.
We were guaranteed at least one medal but looking at the heats and semis we
were expecting much more. There was a very close fought battle for first place
with Bren beating James by 1.66 points in the end. Sam also put down a stormer
of a last ride taking him into the bronze medal position! The other athletes
from Belgium and Norway had no answer to the supremacy of the Brits!
3 Brits on the podium!
C1 and womens finals followed the junior men but with no
British interest it gave us a chance to take a breath from hollering loudly!
Lukas Cervinka of the Czech Republic CZE won the C1 with 461,667 points closely
followed by Philipp Hitzigrath of Germany and Aitor Goikotxea of Spain. In the
final the hot favourite Marlene Devillez of Fracne took the win followed by Nina Csonkova of Slovakia and Maria Lindgren of Sweeden.
Last up, the main event, the K1 men’s final. In the judges tent we
were expecting high scores but when Quim Fontane dropped into the hole on his
first ride we were not prepared for the massive 1170 points! The others tried
their very best to beet this score but it was a gap to far as Sebastien Devred
of Frace finished in the silver medal position with 926,667 points and James
“Pringle” Bebbington of GB finished in third with 895 points.
With all the medals accounted for this is the most successful
championships for team GB in freestyle history. The other countries were
probably getting quite tired of seeing the Union Jack up the flag pole by the
end of the closing ceremony! This final hurrah was a great way to end the week
which consisted more speeches from local dignities and ECA officials, live
music from a local band and another good night in Lienz. I think the smiles on
the faces of everyone in the pictures says it all.
Men's K1
Men's Squirt
Junior Men
Women's Squirt
Medalists
Josh Wedgwood,
Team Nookie
