The selection for this years Great British Freestyle kayak team was three events held over the past two months. The first two were held up at Nottingham, at the Holme Pierrepoint white water course. The third was held at Hurley. These events, for anyone that doesn’t know, were to select the British team for this years Europeans that are being held in Austria.
The first event was held at Twin Waves, the new feature below the inlet gate. In training before the event, I had been confident on the wave and was able to stick spins and shuvits both ways consistently. However, they had changed the feature just before the event, making it a lot stickier and harder to paddle. Both the senior and junior men did amazingly on it, with Pringle scoring 1100 points in one ride! It was a lot harder for the junior and senior women. Most of the junior women spent most of their runs getting stuck in the bouncy bit of the hole. This definitely wasn’t my best event and I came joint 3rd.
Lowri styling it in the hole
The second event, also at HPP, was on the new feature Tardis. I had never properly paddled it until a few weeks before the event. I trained hard on it and was, again, feeling confident, as with Twin Waves – the feature was ‘tweaked’ before the competition, this time using a picture of the hole in Austria to try and simulate the actual competition.
It was freezing cold on the competition day. I was even colder because I’d, cleverly, left my skullcap and shoes at home. I paddled my best and came 2nd, with Gabby Bates getting 1st. The cold water was obviously discouraging any swimmers. Even the OC1’s managed to stay in their boats!
Aiming for the Hole Gate at Hurley (c) Matt Rodgers
The third and final selection event was held at my favourite place, Hurley. Since it had only come in the week before selections, no one had managed to get much practice. The feature was on a flushy two gates, both of which were a strange sort of hole. As there were only three junior girls competing at this event, we were on and off the cold water quickly. The judging was very harsh (they’d say strict!) with two of my spins not scoring. In the end I came first in this event, which I was very pleased with.
This means I’ve come second overall in selections and will be going to the Europeans this summer as part of team GB!
The full team listing can be found here:
http://www.ukfreestyle.com/articles.php?id=405
That’s all for now. A massive well done to everyone who made the team. I’ll now be taking a quick break from freestyle over winter to do a bit of river running, before coming back to train for the Europeans when it gets warmer.
See you on the river
Tasha
From the National Assembly of Wales website:
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Inquiry into Access to Inland Water
The Sustainability Committee agreed on 24 June 2009 to undertake an inquiry into Access to Inland Water in Wales.
You may be interested to note that the Assembly Bus will be visiting the following locations to gather video evidence as part of the Sustainability Committee’s inquiry into Access to Inland Water. At these sessions the Committee are keen to hear from organisations and people who have not previously given evidence to the Committee on this topic.
Friday 20 November – Gwydyr Hotel, Holyhead Road, Betws y Coed between 11.30 and 12.30
AMs present: Mick Bates and Brynle Williams
Friday 20 November – Queens Square, Wrexham between 16.00 and 17.00
AMs present:: Mick Bates and Lesley Griffiths
Saturday 21 November – Guild Hall Square, Carmarthen between 9.30 and 10.30
AM present: Mick Bates
Saturday 21 November – Welsh Assembly Government Office car park, Merthyr Tydfil between 14.00 and 15.00
AM present: Mike German
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This inquiry is a real chance for the paddling community to be heard, so spread the word, and if you can then come along to support the cause and make your voice heard.
To learn more about the access situation for canoeists and kayakers in Wales, click here, or on the image at the top of this post.
It’s been a little while since my last post and now I’m back in the south west I thought it was about time I did a time trial on my adopted “home” run, the upper Dart. So here it is, my time from just below the put in where it opens up into the river, to the eddy below surprise surprise took 19 minutes 10 seconds in my Nomad… so who’s up for breaking it?
For anyone wanting to smash the time, I’d guess the level was on the upper end of low, although I don’t know it well enough to give an accurate gauge. Those that know the section well, will be able to tell the level from the pics above.
… and those that don’t can judge the level from the slab at the take out of the upper/loop put in.
I hope some people are up for having a blast at it and getting the banter going! I’ll keep updating my times as I get fitter and when my AT’s arrive 
… and of course I’ll set a Green Boat time soon!
Catch you on the water
Ed
When I was 15 I ran the top drop on the Gamlan (at very low levels). 10 years later, I was lucky enough to find good water levels and sunshine on the same day; so donned my shiny kit to run the river with nostalgic memories of Topos and Schlegels.
The gear has changed, but the line’s still the same…
Recent photo by Chris Eastabrook. Old photo by someone in York Canoe Club (I can’t remember who exactly!).
It’s raining again now… see you on the water!
Lowri
Although many would reel back in horror at the idea of spending a rainy November weekend camping in a field outside Newcastle, team Palm are made of tougher stuff. With a van full of warm clothes and a fleet of kayaks and Canoes, we headed to the historic town of Hexham for one of north England’s biggest paddling weekends.
Yours truly keeping it old skool, Warden Gorge.
Every Year the Tyne Tour attracts hundreds of kayakers from all over the UK, for two days of paddling and to enjoy the now legendary annual Ceilidh. Here are some pictures form the weekend, thanks to Paul Wilkinson.
Several shops and manufacturers temaed up to make a mini retail village.
Saturday night's Party and Ceilidh - Far more fun than you thought organised dancing could possibly be.
The demo fleet of Axioms were out having fun all weekend.
For many the rapids in Warden Gorge are the first taste of whitewater paddling.
A good spot to enjoy some soulful surfing and watch the carnage unfold in the rapids above.
This October once again saw Plas-Y-Brenin play host to the BCU Student Safety Seminar, where Britains’ intellectual cream gather to gain tips and tricks on running a university canoe club from some of the best in the business. As you’d expect at such a valuable event, Palm were there with bells on (not literally, you understand, that would look ridiculous).
Saturday morning was largely based inside, but after lunch, everyone headed out for an extensive selection of workshops…
Open Boating for those who don’t Open Boat…
“And the rabbit goes round the tree…” Nick Horwood and Paul Smith delve into the dark art of ropework.
After the traditional tea and cake, everyone headed off to Q+A sessions, before reconvening in the evening to hear Luke Farrington’s account of the Kayaknam expedition (www.kayaknam.com), aided by ale.
On Sunday, everyone headed for the Tryweryn for a day of workshops, including Safety and Rescue, Personal Skills, Leadership and more.
Dave Hollins.
Safety. Not just a word…
I’ll leave you now with a few pics from the weekend. Many thanks to Tim for coming along and sorting out prizes for the impromptu Saturday night quiz and supporting the event!
What Happened Next? Answers on a postcard to Tim Trew, Palm Equipment. The best guess wins a packet of Custard Creams donated by tomparkercoaching.co.uk
