I had been looking forward to and preparing for the World Championships of surf kayaking for the past two years. Ever since I came 5th at the worlds in 2011 in North Carolina and found out that the next World Championships was going to be held in Australia. I knew from the start that it would be hard job raising all the money needed to go but in the end I managed it. It was a close run thing though, I wasn’t sure I was going until about 3-4 months before it all started. I found a reasonably priced ticket just before Easter and decided to go out to Australia for 1 month. The competition was only ran for about 2 weeks so I went out 2 weeks before it all started so I could get over jet lag and get used to the breaks we would be surfing on. Back in 2011 I arrived only a few days before the worlds and I definitely didn’t do as well as I could have done so I was determined not to make the same mistake twice!
In the weeks preparing for the worlds I searched for ways to take two surf kayaks with me but in the end I found that it would cost way too much and in the end just took one with me as my checked in baggage. I was flying out from London Heathrow, through Dubai and Melbourne before arriving at my final destination, Brisbane. The flight from London to Dubai was only 6 hours long and as my flight was late arriving I went straight on to my next flight. This one wasn’t as short! It was a 12 hour nonstop flight through to Melbourne which was very interesting! It was hard to sit still for so long and as I don’t sleep that much on planes I watched several films and listened to a lot of music. When I got to Melbourne I had to collect my kayak and all my baggage and check it in for my domestic flight. While I was waiting for my kayak to arrive in the large baggage department I met a very friendly chap who was emigrating from Ireland to Australia. We helped each other out with our kit and it was great to have someone to talk to while waiting for my next flight. I got to Brisbane and I had to wait for awhile before the chap who I was sharing transport with arrived to pick me up.
I had arrived at 10.15 in the morning and as I walked out of the terminal I realized I was in for a nice time. It was so hot compared to England! One wanted to stay in the cooler places as much as was possible. As soon as I was picked up we headed straight to the beaches and within two hours was surfing a sucky point break with 40 board surfers, 10 kayak surfers and about 15 surf skis. It was busy! After that I headed out for something to eat and then for that night crashed out in my friends van. The next day we headed to another point break called Moffats and had a great time. In the afternoon I looked up and found a backpackers that had some room before heading out to the shops to get some essentials and some food. I stayed at that backpackers for several weeks and then moved and shared accommodation for the final weeks with someone who had come over from Wales for the Worlds. This worked out very well, we had a good time and it ended up cheaper as well. The next week or so went by in similar bliss. Getting up early and getting a 2-3 hour surf in before the breaks got crowded, get off the water and either go looking around the local area or just sit and sun bath.
In my time before the worlds I surfed a fair few different breaks. I got quite a few lifts with Darren Bason one of the organizers so I got to surf some of the breaks that were further away from where I was staying more often than I would have otherwise. I also got to see what lengths they were going to organize it which was good. It was a great place to hold the worlds. Everyone was very friendly, and most people were into some sport or another. Surfing was really popular but a lot of people had never seen a surf kayak before! I had people coming up to me as I walked up the beach and asking what it was I was doing. I had been expecting everything to be extremely expensive as lots of people had been warning me but I found that although most things were more expensive than back home one could keep an eye out for things on sale that made it all a bit cheaper. Also there were a few cheaper restaurants around that were ok. There was one Chinese that I’m sure used one kind of meat for all the Lamb and Pork dishes and just tried to disguise it in different sources! There were also lots of BBQs around the beaches that one could just go and use for free which was very useful.
Towards the competition dates the rest of the England Team started to arrive and unfortunately the surf and weather started to deteriorate. On the registration day it was the first time all the contestants had been in the same place at the same time so it was great to see how many had come from all around the world, including Japan, America, Canada, Portugal and many others. Quite a few people had booked into a resort further up the coast which meant that when free surfing one didn’t get to see them. The first day was a separate competition called the ‘Gath Shootout’. The way it was run was that everyone had a heat of 15 minutes and one surfed like usual but when one had a ride which was the best one thought one would get in that heat they would raise their paddles to claim it. Then at the end of the heat the scores for each paddler would be compared and the top two would go through like in the usual competitions. It was a good way to make sure that everybody was familiar with the flag systems and that everything worked ok. There were quite a few swimmers that day as the surf was pretty powerful but everyone was ok in the end.
For the first few days of the World Championships it was decided that they would run the first few heats of the individual competition. Mainly the Men’s HP as there were a lot of entrants. The way it was run was that in the first round the person who came first went through to the 3rd round and the rest went through to the 2nd round. This meant that everybody surfed in at least 2 heats which was great as it meant that the ones who didn’t get through wouldn’t have gone all the way to oz just for one heat. All the heats were hard and the level of surfing from everyone was very high. In my heat I had a fellow England Team paddler, actually he was from the same club as me so I had to make sure I beat him! When the heat came we went down and the surf was a good size, pretty heavy and not very clean. One couldn’t have very long rides and I didn’t think I had done very well but to my surprise I had won my heat! That meant I was through to round 3 which was great.
In the Men’s IC I didn’t do quite as well which was a surprise but I have a good excuse! In my first heat I did reasonably well getting a 3rd place which meant I was through to the 2nd round. In the second round I got another 3rd place which was not good enough to move into the next round. In that heat I couldn’t use the boat I usually would so I borrowed one of the demo boats and it was horrible. The hull flexed all over the place and it just didn’t want to surf at all! I think that possibly had I had a boat I was used to I would have got further. But, that’s how things go! It was a disappointing finish in that class as I knew I could have surfed a lot better but my later performance in the HP class certainly made up for it.
The first few rounds of the Individual competition and the Team event were held at Alex beach, It presented a great judging and viewing platform and I got quite a few photo’s while it was held there. Unfortunately though they didn’t have permission to run it there any longer than a few days so we had to move on to another beach. This was called Moffats and was a point break which meant that there were a few rocks one had to be careful not to miss and there wasn’t much of a lip to hit at the end of one’s rides. The 3rd round of the individual Men’s HP was run here and in this round the top 3 would go through to the quarter finals. I was fairly confident that I would get through and although I didn’t feel I had done that well I came 3rd so I was through to the quarters! This was great as I hadn’t expected to get this far as I had gone out mainly for the Junior classes so it was great to know that I wasn’t that far off the Men’s level of performance for my step up next year. My quarter final was really hard. By this time only the best paddlers were still in and I had the one I had thought had a good chance of winning the worlds. Plus 2 other really good paddlers. The surf was dropping off a bit when we paddled out. I had a really good wave at the beginning but that wave seemed to be the last of the bigger sets and I had to settle for several smaller waves after that. It was the top 2 to go through to the semi final and I was pretty happy with what I had done, but I had no idea of how everyone else had paddled but it was paramount to place ahead of another England team paddler who was in my heat as I knew him quite well. The scores were added up and then written onto the board and low and behold I had come 1st! A really excellent result that I was not expecting. So I was through to the semi finals and when the heats were drawn up I had some really hard competition. The surf for the semi was not very good but I caught a few waves but I wasn’t happy with what I had done and I wasn’t too surprised when I came 4th. It was still a great result as it meant I now have a ranking of number 7 in the world. Which isn’t bad!
It was decided that all the Finals would be run on one day at Mooloolaba right at the end. That day the surf was quite small but it had enough power in it to be quite nice. My 2 finals the Junior HP and IC were towards the middle of the days surfing. I got ready and was fairly confident that I would do reasonably well. In the IC I had a good time but I wasn’t sure if I had done enough as I felt that I had stayed too far from the pocket most of the time so it was a bit nerve racking as I waited for the prize giving when we would find out the results. In the HP I had a couple of good waves but I didn’t think I had done enough to win.
The end of the day finally came and everything was set up for the prize giving. I was very tense as the results were read out and everyone went up to get their medal and Koala Bear. At last they came to the Juniors and they started with the IC. They read the results from 4th place up to 1st and it was a great feeling to have my name called out last… I was the 2013 Junior IC World Champion! I had a really big smile on as I went up to receive my medal. It was a great feeling to have all the training pay off and to realized that all the thousands spent to get me to where I was, was worthwhile. In the Junior HP I got second place which I was happy with. It would have been nice to get 2 titles but I was definitely happy with just one! A couple of other England paddlers got 3rd and 4th places which was great.
In the first round of the Team event I was surfing in the Men’s HP and the Junior IC. My Junior IC heat went well with me winning my heat and my Men’s HP heat went well as well with me coming 2nd which was what was needed. Everybody did well with nearly everyone placing in the top 2. By the end of the round it was the Jersey Team which was knocked out and the Teams that were looking the strongest were the Basque, Australian and of course England. In the next round I was in the Junior IC and the Men’s IC I got a second place in the Junior class which I was a bit surprised about but as I had tried something different I decided to revert to my original surfing style for the next round. In the Men’s class I won my heat which was good. At the end of round 2 it was the Americans who were dropped and the final consisted of the Basque who were looking very strong and the Australians who were showing they could put together a very strong team, and of course us the English!
The final was run on one of the last days in some interesting conditions. It was quite big and gnarly to start with and then as the tide rose it got a bit friendlier. I was in the Men’s IC and the Junior IC and I won both my heats despite having a swim in the Men’s heat! It was my first unintentional swim in years! I was borrowing someone’s boat and I was a very lose fit in it. I was on a big wave and then as I bottom turned I went straight down and got completely sucked out of the boat. At least there wasn’t much I could do about it… The team final was very tight. Coming in to the last couple of heats the Australians were not really in a position to win but between us (the English) and the Basque it was pretty tight. It went down right to the last heat but the Basque had one of their best paddlers in it and in the end we had to settle for another 2nd place with the Basque winning for a 2nd time in a row. Well done to the Australians for getting 3rd as it was the first time they had entered a team.
It had been a great event, well organized and it was in a great place so I’m glad it was allowed to be run in Australia. I was heading back home the day after it all finished which was a shame as I would have loved to stay longer but my budget controlled how long I could stay for! My flight back was from Brisbane to London Gatwick via Dubai and my flight from Brisbane to Dubai was 14 hours long! By the time the flight had finished I was getting pretty fed up of sitting down and of flying in general! I had a bit of a wait before my next flight so I had time to stretch my legs which was good. After another 6 hour flight I was back in the UK. I arrived to nicer weather than that which I had left in Australia! I’m sure that it’s not supposed to be that way around! Anyway, it was a great trip with great results both for the team and for me individually. Roll on the next worlds! It hasn’t been decided yet where it’ll be held but I hope it goes to Spain which is one of the possibilities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people/organisations who made my trip to Australia and consequently me winning the Junior IC World Championship possible. Thanks to the Penzance Canoe Club and the Lords Lieutenant Fund for help funding the trip, Palm for providing me with the kit to win in (!) and a special thanks to Andy McColough for sharing his transport with me, spending a lot of his time with me making sure I could get to the surf to get enough practice in and in general being a great friend. I’m not sure if I would have done quite so well if he hadn’t been there.
For this year that is all the competitions done. Till the next surfing season then! See you!
Photo’s courtesy of Pete Blenkinsop, John Gibson, David Priddis, Rachel Wall & Myself!
The 2013 Worlds has come to a close and I’ve never seen such closely fought finals or whole event actually. It was one of the best spectacle’s freestyle kayaking has ever seen. From the atmosphere, to the crowd support & the calibre of athlete, everyone involved can be proud to have been a part of this event.
In the Junior men we saw a glimpse into the future top men of Kayaking, and it’s not going to be much a jump up for the top 3.
Max Karlson SWE surely a future World Champion with such huge snappy moves.
In 3rd place we had Alec Voorhees, a paddler that really impressed me, I saw him paddle last year and he was good but then this year he’s managed to learn all moves, and manages to throw them on demand, a very nice style and good attitude too, if he add’s a bit of speed in there this coming year he’s going to really cause some trouble.
Alec displaying his incredible control.
2nd spot went to my French friend Thomas Richard, a paddler so smooth, precise and stylish that you can’t help but stop and watch him when he starts ripping, he threatened to finish the finals on his first ride with a 1006 point ride almost sealing 1st place for himself, but Hunter stepped up to the mark. Thomas though is a big star in the making and I’m really happy for him!
Thomas the flying frenchman steadying himself before laying it down.
A deserved 1st place went to Hunter Katich from the USA with a whopping 1200 points (a score that puts him 4th in the men, just 40points of winning men’s). He was simply the best through the whole event, and he’s making senior men very scared already Well done Hunter, a spectacular win!
Junior women’s was the best fight i’ve ever seen in this class, the standard was awesome. It was a true battle for first between Nuria Fontane Maso of Spain and Rowan Stewart of USA. Nuria has the consistency, but Rowan had the bigger moves.
In the end Rowan pulled it out of the bag with her Phonic’s & Mc’Nasties, the first time these moves have been shown in a Junior Women’s final which just shows how the standard is growing to incredible levels. She won with a score of 423 a fantastic display!
Nuria Fontane Maso ended up 2nd with a very valiant fight, she was a fierce competitior and came very close to snatching the title with her 380 point ride. She performed brilliantly and can be proud of herself, with a big move thrown in next time the title would be hers, I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of her in the future.
Kim Aldred of GB rounded out the top 3 giving a solid performance to score 200 points! I think she will be please with this and know that with a another 2 years work she will be a contender for Gold!
The C1 it was one of the best fights ever seen. It was between USA’s Tad Dennis, Jordan Poffenberger & Dane Jackson all were worthy of the win. I’ve never seen such high scoring rides from C1.
1st place was commandingly sealed by Jordan Poffenberger with a huge 1068 point ride. He was the most deserving of the 3 and rightfully took his Gold medal home. The best C1 paddler over the last few years it’s only correct he was rewarded for his incredible skills and huge snappy, spectacular moves.
Jordan with a huge entry loop to start his winning ride.
2nd went to the new star of C1 Tad Dennis, only recently switching to Freestyle from Slalom, if he keeps at it, he’ll be unbeatable! His semi’s performance was heat stoppingly good.
3rd went to Dane Jackson, no surprises that he made top 3, but now it looks like he has some stiff competition in C1, he had some spectacular rides and some of the biggest moves.
In the Women’s I first want to mention my wife Katya, it was the first finals ever made by a Russian and her best result ever, she was the star of the show in semi’s and deserved a medal place. Finals day came and the tiredness of the week and the late night semi’s caught up with her. She threw her hardest, almost getting her Nasty or Fonix 3 times then just flushing a bit too far to score, she ended up 5th. Watching her get a spectacular 2nd place in the semi’s was one of the best days of my life, I’d actually rate the feelings above winning 2011 Worlds for myself. For her this is just the beginning of things to come…
4th went to Palm’s Anne Hubner, she is such a good competitor and has made such good progress in her freestyle this last year, it’s a shame she missed the podium but I can already see the new stars that are rising up. I was very impressed with you Anne, You and Katya are going to be killing it in the years to come!
3rd place went to a very surprised Adrienne Levknecht, a result I think she’s ecstatic about, normally rated as the top creek racer she’s now proved herself as a top Freestyle contender too, incredible!
Now the battle for the top spot was immense, Hitomi Takatu of Japan looked like she had it in the bag with her 1st ride score of 650, it was such a great performance by her and she really deserved the win too. Hitomi is an amazing talent and surely a Champion of the future!
It’s lovely to watch Hitomi paddle and enjoy herself so thoroughly in the process – the spirit of competition
Claire looked under pressure and everyone thought Hitomi was going to take the Gold but then in her last ride, Claire O’hara of GBR showed the true qualities of a champion and rose to the occasion snatching her 2nd World title and the Gold medal with a 705 point ride, such a good performance under that kind of pressure! I think Claire has really pushed on the level of women’s kayaking with many now doing the bigger moves and not putting limits in their heads. Claire just managed to win this time and I think next time the other girls inspired by Claire’s success will be there to really take the battle to the next level.
The men’s final was so so close you can’t believe, the top 3 were separated by just 32 points basically 1 cartwheel and the top 2 by 8 points (less than a spin). It seems a shame they don’t all get a Gold when it’s that close as that really isn’t anything between them, it all comes down to judging when it’s that close.
Top place went to Dane Jackson of the USA with 1240. It wasn’t his best display ever, but if you look at how he paddled through the whole event he deserved this win. He just goes so big & clean the bonus’s he racks up make him very hard to beat (as shown Congrats Dane!
I thought Slovakia’s Peter Csonka had the win with his first ride, but he must have not scored something as he ended up 2nd for the third time in his life. With a score of 1233…8 points from winning…
I’m sorry for Peter he was the paddler who first inspired me to train and learn all my moves both ways in 2007 then together with Katya’s influence in 2009 they motivated me to get out of Uganda, stop wasting my life and begin training properly, he along with Katya are the main two reason’s I won Worlds in 2011. He is such a good competitor, paddler and generally nice guy. I’m sure it’s heart breaking for him to come so so close yet again, but in my eyes he’s a real World Champion even if he hasn’t got the medal to prove it (yet…) For the record I scored you 1300 minimum, which would have been 1st.
It’s been a pleasure competing with you this last few years Peter and I wish we can be in a Worlds final together again next time both of us at our best!
3rd spot went to my good friend & fellow Dagger paddler Tomasz Czaplicki of Poland. He showed how big and snappy he & the Jitsu are and was the surprise star of this Worlds. He came 3rd with 1208! He was also deserving of the win.
Tomasz is a paddler i’ve admired for years and I’m so pleased things finally came together for him this year. I think he’s going to be getting plenty more medals in the coming years and am stoked to paddle on the same team as him! His moves were the most spectacular of the whole event.
5th spot deserves a mention too. Alan Ward or GBR returned to glory and put on a valiant display, the only paddler in the final with a full-time job, I can only imagine what he would do with his full attention! I was really proud of him and how he focused this time, I hope we can both be in a finals together one day! It’s brilliant we have such talent in the UK!
Final Comments
Well that’s it for now, a huge thanks to the organisers, the judges, the people of North Carolina, all my personal sponsors and my family & friends for supporting me.
We had a great time at the event. I know that I had the potential to win here based on my practice rides but not the consistency as it turns out. I just never really got going this time. I’m not disappointed at all though, coming short is a part of winning, being a top athlete you have to accept that in order to win, sometimes you have to fall short. I trained my hardest, did everything I could and am the best kayaker i’ve ever been. I have the best boat, kit and coach (Dennis Newton) so it’s just a matter of time before I’m back up there on the podium again. I know exactly what I need to do to be unbeatable so that’s my target for the next 2 years.
What I did learn here was that coming 11th didn’t touch my happiness or enjoyment of being at the event. I love my competitors for being so damn good, having such a calibre of paddler to compete against is what makes it so fun, if it would be easy, life would be a bore, but its such an exciting challenge! I think what I learnt from this trip is how to be a happier better person…to me at least more valuable than if I would have won, maybe that’s the lesson I had to learn before I can get to the top again.
The true purpose of Worlds – Uniting paddlers from around the World, and through competition bringing the best qualities out in each other!
Well done to all competitors, I wish everyone could be a winner, and they all are in my eyes!
Yesterday was a packed day of semi finals, often times semi’s end up being the biggest fight of all the rounds, everyone wants to make the final so badly you can’t imagine.
We arrived just in time to watch the C1 semi’s and boy was I glad we did, I’ve never seen such a high standard of paddling in C1, everyone flew but the real star for me was USA’s Tad Dennis with a score of 1086 which would have qualified him 4th in the mens semi’s!!! It was so beautiful to watch one move dynamically into the next flawlessly. In his hands C1 looked like an advantage if anything. All the more impressive is that he’s a slalom paddler only recently into freestyle. I was blown away.
Then for the main classes of Women’s & Men’s K1. Both held under floodlights at 9 & 10pm with a packed stadium. It felt like a scene where Gladiators would come to do battle not a freestyle event, and this describe’s it pretty well, the atmosphere was electric!
Women’s Semi Final
In the Women’s one of the first to go was my lovely wife & Palm paddler Katya Kulkova. Her first ride didn’t go as she hoped getting 96 but then she put her self together and kicked ass with a spectacular 2nd ride of huge moves scoring 546!!! A personal best ride for her in competition and the result of a year of working incredibly hard on her paddling and competing. I was so proud and happy with her! The score was so good that it landed her 2nd place, just a handful of points behind GB’s Claire O’Hara.
Claire was under intense pressure after not making enough points in her first ride to make the cut, it was all down to her last ride. You could definitely see the tension on her face, it wasn’t her usual style of ride but she methodically ticked off the moves with a nice flourish of her usual character at the end to take the top spot.
Palm’s Anne Hubner also made the finals in 4th, with a very calm & collected display. Adrienne from the USA who I’m sure is over the moon from took the last position.
The other paddler that made it, that made my day was Hitomi from Japan, who’s been doing some great rides in practice but I feared might not be able to show it in comp with all the nerves etc, but she did and she shined in the process!!!
I wish congratulations to all the girls who made it!! Especially though I’m pleased such talented paddlers as Katya & Hitomi finally showed what they’re capable of in competition. One of the hardest battles with competition, especially if you haven’t competed that long is mastering how to bring your best out everytime, (something that I still struggle with) and I’m just so happy that Hitomi & Katya shined and wish that they continue shining. The best final in my eyes is one where everyone does their absolute best and is ranked accordingly.
Mens Semi Final
Now the men’s was intense!!! Everyone looked a little nervous. The rides were a little lower scoring than Quarters for most but a few paddlers really excelled themselves.
Notably GB/ Palm’s Alan Ward the 2005 Junior Champion threw down as hard as he could and made his way to the biggest finals in the sport, knocking one of the favourites Mathieu Dumoulin out in the process. I’m sorry for Mathieu as I would have loved to see his beautiful style and rides in Finals and I think he will be missed in that line up, but at the same time i’m really pleased Alan has got there, he’s a great paddler, he really focused this year and he deserves this. Well done Wardy!! I’ll be cheering you on!!!
Next paddler that really excelled in my opinion was my Dagger team mate Tomasz Czaplicki from Poland, he is a beautiful paddler to watch and has been one of the best in Europe for years just somehow always dropped under the radar in the big events but now paired with the killing machine of the Carbon Jitsu, he threw huge, fast & clean to get 2nd spot behind Dane with 1203 points just 27 shy of Dane. For him he has no pressure now and I really believe he can win here, and i’ll be the first to congratulate him if he does. There is nothing better than watching a friend show their potential and be the best they can be!
Dane took the win again and is one of the best paddlers to watch although this time he did it without with his usual panache, I think he needs to be careful in the final as they’ll all be gunning for him and their is some serious talent there.
Peter Csonka took 3rd place, he looked tense and it showed but he’s my favourite still. He’s the best competitor there. He was my inspiration to start training seriously that resulted in my 2011 win, he’s come so close so many times and I really hope he shows his best rides here as he deserves it!
Last spot went to the powerful frenchman Sebastien Devred!
Palm’s Katya going huge to take her semi finals place!
Yesterday was a long day of competition we had the Women’s Prelims & Mens Quarters. The standard was fierce, the battle was on and inevitably it was the first day that we suffered some unexpected casualties from the main contenders in both classes…
Women’s Prelims – Cut to 10
For the women’s Palm’s Katya Kulkova & Anne Huebner both made the cut. Katya faltered a little bit at the start of her ride but then pit her self together beautifully to comfortably take her place in the next round, I feel she’s right on the verge of being able to take a medal this time if she shows anywhere near what I know she can do.
The biggest star though of the women’s was GB’s current World Champion Claire O’hara, she placed first and her 2nd ride of 800+ was spectacular and I think her best competition ride ever so she’s definitely a hot favourite for the win here if she can keep it up.
Also making it was Ruth Gordon Ebens in 2nd, Japanese girl Hitomi, SVK’s Nina Csonkova, Adrienne from the USA, Elaine Campbbell from the USA, NZ’s Courtney Kerin and finally Islay Crosbie from GB (not in the correct order see results below).
But the first unexpected casualty was Marlene Devillez from France, the double European champion, she’d had some great practice rides but competition is a fickle beast and sometimes no matter how good you are or how hard you try things just don’t go your way.
Mens Quarters – Cut to 10
The men’s quarters was insane, some of the best freestyle paddling ever seen in competition.
Dane Jackson went huge and Clean to get 3106, Mathieu Dumoulin with his beautiful linked sequences really stole the show to get 2616 and Peter Csonka powered his way to a huge score of 2369! Needless to say they all killed it and finished top 3
Palm & GB’s Bren Orton & Alan Ward also made the cut, performing what they needed to under intense competition. Please cheer them on and give them all the support you can in the next round. They’re both capable of making finals but with this standard of competition it’s going to be tough even at your best.
I do promise to get some better photos of them today though since i’m not competing now
My friend and recent Dagger paddler Tomasz Czaplicki from Poland easily made it, he’s a paddler who has been so good for years and somehow always misses out in the big events. With the Jitsu though it looks like he’s in his element and going for glory!
For myself it just wasn’t to be this time, I’d been getting rides over 1700 in practice and almost every time over 1000, I didn’t feel nervous or pressure, I’m the strongest and fittest I’ve ever been, my skills are by far the best they’ve ever been, I have the best boat and the best kit available but for some reason I didn’t show anywhere near my best this event. I came 11th just missing the semi’s by 13 points… I’m not really upset at all, I know what to do to make myself unbeatable again and this just makes me more determined.
I have had some great help from Dennis Newton my coach who has really pushed my kayaking to a new level this year, and with such great sponsors as Palm, Dagger & Teva supporting me I’m using the best of the best in all areas of equipment. I’m enjoying myself kayaking and competing more than ever, even this event I really enjoyed. I just feel like this event was to teach me how to lose properly and now it’s my chance to take my skills to a new level and be the best I can be.
Anyhow follow the semi’s live tonight! Please cheer on anyone who looks to be flying as they deserve your support, the GB paddlers & my lovely wife Katya!
Yesterdays Recap Video:
Big thanks to my sponsors for supporting me and to Dennis my coach! Sorry it didn’t work out this time
Bren and all the GB men safely through to the next round!
The long day of Men’s Prelims has come to a close. Prelims are always a bit of a weird one, you have no throw away rides (2 rides – combined score counts) and everyone is usually a bit tense, you get some paddlers saving themselves and others going all out to show what they can do. Some people got lucky, some didn’t but now its over, those that are through can settle down a bit and start showing what they can really do without the nerves and pressure of the first round.
For myself I was eager to get started, first ride was going great until I got a bit hung up on my Lunar, then 2nd ride went all a little bit off my usual style, but it was enough to put me in 9th with 1829 points (cut is to 20), not my best by a long way but good to get the nerves out of the system. I like not being too high up the placings until the later rounds but also don’t want to cut it too close. Last Worlds I think I started similarly so lets hope I follow that Worlds trend
All GB men made the cut! So we’re super stoked! Palm’s Bren Orton safely took 8th with 1859 and Alan Ward took 16th with 1610.
All the favourites safely made it through with no major upsets, and now people will be more settled and I expect the top positions will be switching every round until finals with things so close.
Overall win for the day went to Dane Jackson, he did two very consistent rides with many huge moves to take the top spot. Mathieu Dumoulin linked it up to take 2nd followed by a powerful showing by Peter Csonka to take 3rd, Nicholas Troutman was 4th, Jason Craig 5th and fellow Dagger paddler Tomasz Czaplicki in 6th. (full results below).
Tomorrow we have Women’s Prelims in the morning then Mens quarters in the afternoon. So please cheer us all on as we’ll need all the support we can get! Tune into the live stream on http://www.freestylekayaking2013.com/
Greg Daspher drives 50 km each way from Squamish almost every day in the high water season to kayak the Callaghan creek. This river is at immediate threat for a hydro dam.
Calling European Alps my home left me stunned by the amount of unpopulated nature and free-flowing rivers in British Columbia. European kayakers can only imagine how much of our good white-water has been lost to the dams. Yes, I know I use electrical power every day and I’m aware that there’s a need to compromise in contemporary world, but who can blame me for loving the untouched nature? BC still has plenty of it and I feel serenity and amazement every time I find myself far away from anything reminding me of human civilization, except for maybe an old deserted logging road, which often tends to present the only access to the rivers here.
While big dams’ impacts are quite evident, from big populations of people having to be relocated, huge changes to the environment and even effects on climate, there seems to be much less general public concern regarding small dams and diversions. Why should we care about a small creek in a middle of nowhere, right?
Me on a renowned Ashlu rapid 50/50. A diversion dam has been built on Ashlu creek in 2009. Being a kayakers’ classic, kayakers (or somebody aware of the issue) managed to negotiate flow release dates for recreational kayaking.
Ashlu creek sees many kayakers on the dam release dates.
Hydro dams and diversions do not fit best into the wild environment and they tend to make river sections unrunnable for kayakers. Those are good enough arguments to have me opposing them, but they aren’t the only cons there are. Just from environmental point of view, small dams also fiercely affect fragile river ecosystems and can have devastating effects on fish populations. Most of them being hidden from our sight of view doesn’t change that fact. Read THIS report for a reference of incidents just around Squamish. It is also notable, that many of these projects produce most of their power at a time of spring run-off, time when there is no shortage of power generated by existing facilities. Finding a right balance between satisfying power needs while trying not to leave major ecological impact is challenging enough, but there are some deeper concerns involved with the trends of hydro power plant development, not only in BC, but anywhere in the world.
But let’s go back to a beautiful July morning, when me and a few kayaker buddies decided to go run a small creek named Skookum, located just a few kilometers outside of Squamish. We knew that not too long ago Run of River Power inc., a private energy company, started building a diversion dam far above the classic kayaking section of this very small creek. Having experience with European construction workers and security procedures involving such projects I expected being rejected before even asking about letting us kayak the section, on what would probably be a last attempt before they dam it. Instead we were welcomed by very nice workers, who were all trying to help us get to the river. I remember one of them saying “we are locals too and we are trying to work in the best interest of land and our community.” At the end we didn’t get to kayak, because we couldn’t find a put-in, after the landscape has been changed so much by construction work, that we couldn’t match it to the old river descriptions. It was my only day off for a while so sadly we didn’t make it back before the water level dropped too much.
Looking for a Skookum creek put-in. The old beta said drive to the end of the road. New road was built in a matter of months and is far longer than the old one.
Unrecognisable hill top at the Skookum creek. This was all forest just half a year ago.
Interesting is a story of Ashlu creek. Innergex is a company that owns the controversial Ashlu diversion. After strong opposition from kayak community, a compromise agreement has been made, which granted kayakers flow release dates. At the end kayakers were left with even more days with runnable water levels than before. It seems that a great battle has been won and a case example set for better relations between kayakers and any energy corporation.
It almost seems like we should applaud these corporations for their concerns for the local communities and kayakers, but who especially needs applauding are their PR departments. This situation inherently reminds me of how “philanthropic” financial institutions, like Rockefeller foundation, supported anthropological researches to better understand and communicate with indigenous people in faraway lands. Of course the agenda there was to avoid any resistance and to optimize conditions of exploitation of these lands.
After asking what do local communities, local environment and society in general gain with these interventions in nature, it is clear that something smells fishy. Quoting Hydropower Reform Coalition on a case of Washington State, about twice as much energy could be made just by improving efficiency of existing dams, than as building dams on potentially exploitable rivers. Energy corporations’ major argument pro building these is also providing jobs to locals. The fact is that most of workers on these projects aren’t locals and the jobs are available only for a time of construction. I believe that local communities can lose a lot more in long term by scaring their beautiful untouched nature and making it less attractive for tourism. Do locals get cheaper power after construction is done? Who is making profit here? If energy corporations are making profit, they are making it by selling power to faraway lands (because BC has enough power in time of spring run-off LINK and that’s the time when most excess energy is produced by small hydro dams) – and nobody but they seems to be making profit of it. Learning all that makes it clear that somebody did a really good job in “educating” locals, fishermen, environmentalists and us kayakers that in fact we are scoring a good deal.
Should we really let ourselves be silenced for getting some treats? The big question is where does this trend lead to? Maybe today these companies aren’t making much profit of it. But imagine the world decades from now. Who knows what can happen. Northern countries have plenty of water now, but the climate is changing and the glaciers are melting fast. What does privatization of water sources lead to in times when water can’t be taken for granted any more?
I’m happy to see there is more and more concern and awareness about this issue. I love a short educational video Hydro Power Reform has published on vimeo: Small Hydro Power. There has also been a noticeable revolt from the local kayaking community in the Southeast BC, though it has been largely limited to the rivers that are often used for recreational purposes. Cheers especially to the efforts of Steve Arns, Ric Moxon and other local kayakers for their swift and strong opposition to Innergex’s consideration of diverting one of Southeastern BC’s most kayaked and overall most impressive runs around, the Callaghan creek. If they can divert a river with such importance to us, kayakers will be shown to have no real power at all. Join a facebook page Save the Callaghan and educate yourself to help with the cause. The Callaghan race saw the most racers in its 4-year history so far. 52 competitors showed up, not just to compete, but to show tribute to this amazing creek and help support the efforts to leave this creek free-flowing. We can’t do much if we are few, but these numbers and the efforts of some people leave space for optimism.
My Callaghan Race team buddy Marlow McGregor enjoying the Callaghan rapids.
Callaghan creek. As good as it gets!
Crowd at a new Callaghan put-in before the race.
A group shot after the Callaghan Race.
Free flowing, remote and extremely beautiful. Tatlow creek is pure heaven for kayakers. Photo credit Jordan Bastin.
Me on a Tatlow creek 40 foot Slide. Photo credit Jordan Bastin.
On Monday evening the 2013 World Freestyle Kayak Championships opened with the official ceremony in Bryson City. Bryson City is actually a little town but it seemed like every person who lives here came out to greet the athletes as we paraded down the main street.
The local Cherokee tribe took part in the ceremony with a show of their traditional singing & dancing even grabbing athletes and members of the crowd to join the dancing. It was a really nice touch to welcome all nations, become friends and get to see the culture of the people who originally lived on this land and are luckily still keeping their traditional ways and culture going. Straight afterwards Kayakers took to the big air ramp to kick off the show and the event until musicians took over the entertainment with a big concert along the street.
This opening ceremony definitely gave us a distinct taste of America and some of it’s unique characters who came to greet us, some of them that you could definitely only see here. It was really nice though that so many people came to welcome us, see our sport and have a good time socialising with the athletes.
Competition
Today (Tuesday) the competition finally started with Junior Mens & OC1 prelims. Rides were as we were expecting of a very high standard.
Junior Men’s prelims was stormed by the USA’s Hunter Katich, we hadn’t seen him in training so hadn’t counted him as a favourite, turns out he’d been sick so had been away, now back on the water it looks like the rest has paid off as he is now definitely THE favourite, scoring 1979, with his best ride getting 1100+, a score that would likely put him in the senior mens semi’s. But not far behind was Max Karlson of SWE in 2nd with 1206, Thomas Richard of FRA was 3rd with 1138 & in 4th was USA’s Alec Vorhees. (Alec I should have mentioned as another favourite in my last blog as he’s been flying, just somehow slipped my mind. Sorry Alec).
Hunter Katich - USA
Max Karlson – SWE
Alec Vorhees – USA
Click the above results to see full size.
Even with Hunter’s impressive win today it’s hard to know if everyone was going all out or saving something for later, in my eye’s the event is still wide open, I think between them a huge fight for Gold is brewing. My personal pick is still that Max of Sweden will take the win.
Regarding the GBR boys they’d been doing great in practice and am sorry to report none of them made the cut to 10. Brandurn Hepburn just missed out in 11th. A hard thing to take for him, he is a great paddler and one who i was sure to see in finals, but often when you miss your target like this, when the sadness fades it’ll really spur you on, so I think he’ll come back even better and deadlier in thge future for sure!
A great performance though came from GBR’s 14 year old Jake Norman, at his first international event came in 12th! He’d really impressed me in training with his never give up attitude, focused approach and big moves. I know he wanted to go further but this was a great first showing for him and he’ll be one to watch in the coming years, i’d tip him to be a Junior Champion next time and if he keeps going the way he is will be a at the very top very quickly.
Open Canoe has usually been considered a bit of a joke but this Worlds I’ve seen moves being thrown I never thought would be seen in OC1. In practice I’ve been forced to take back my previous criticisms of the discipline as Jordan and Dane of the USA have been regularly getting Fonix’s, Mc’Nasties, Loops, Lunar Orbits and much more!!! No surprises that Jordan Poffenburger took the top spot with Dane Jackson just behind. It’s actually going to be a good battle to watch between them!!!
Well that’s it for today, tomorrow is squirt events then Mens Prelims are on Thursday, Women’s Prelims on Friday so please watch online & cheer us on!!!
I view kayaking as a convenient way to sample KFC around the globe. I must have sampled eleven secret herbs and spices in four continents. Easily over twenty countries. Despite my best efforts, I have struggled to find KFC which can match ours. In the USA, I am presented with watery mash; in Pakistan, with chicken so dry that I’d be pretty miffed with America too.
For reasons which I will explain, this practise has recently led me to question myself: If I am never more than a long drive a way from a Zinger Tower, have I ever really been on an expedition? Well, I suppose that depends on your definition. There was a recent thread on UKRGB which discussed, at length, the difference between an expedition and a holiday. It’s amusing that in our minds, the two ideas are incomparably different yet there is no functional way of telling them apart.
When I woke up at 3.30am, I thought to myself that the next three hours before my alarm was supposed to ring were going to be hilarious, later. This could only mean that they were going to be horrible. My down sleeping bag, zip broken and now completely saturated clung to me like a bin-bag full of cod. My clothes, which were already wet, lay in a puddle beside me. A wet dog sprawled on my feet, snoring. Vango festival tents, it appears, are not suitable for Icelandic storms. For the next three hours I would sit, wait and think. I also cried a bit.
Before we set off. Ignorance is bliss.
Friðrik ‘Frikki’ Garðarsson, Chris Griffiths, Dan Rea-Dickins and I had hiked for over 6 hours along the banks of Hamersá, a river which doesn’t waste very much time between a glacier and the eastern fjords of Iceland. We followed sheep trails which were the only discernible tracks once the off-road trail had ended. An agile 4×4 of the animal kingdom, sheep seem to favour scree slopes and overhangs. Humans, who are generally more suited to Segways and travelators, tend to struggle. Skúli, an experienced local reindeer guide who was still somehow alive after five or more decades, had earlier reminded us that we would most likely only be evacuated in body bags.
Even before the fog had set in, we had seen enough waterfalls to know that we were somewhere special; a kayaking paradise. Having already assured countless people that this was the case, Frikki was impressed. When we did get round to paddling it, the Hamersá was a phenomenal day out and we didn’t even nearly complete it. Countless waterfalls hid behind the colossal walls above our put in.
Dan on the Hamersá.
But was this an expedition? Well, it depends on your definition. It didn’t involve any frostbite, shipwrecks, missing fingers or quiet walks into the night. If we would have really needed it, we could have had a KFC. In Iceland, KFC is of an excellent standard. But in those three hours, the worst night’s sleep of my life, I came up with my own definition:
“An expedition is much more fun once it’s finished.”
James
x
I again would like to thank Frikki: Expedition kayaker, doctor and somehow still a kayak bum, for an unforgettable adventure. Also thanks to Dan Rea-Dickins for organising us and carrying an excessively large camera.
Frikki on Fossá. They should call it ‘waterfall river’ or something.
It’s now just 2 more days of training left before the 2013 Freestyle Kayak World Championships kicks off here at NOC.
Everyone is here now and has had a chance to get used to the hole and various paddlers are really looking good. I actually think this will be the most hard fought Worlds ever, there has never been so many paddlers training full or almost full time with such good equipment: carbon boats, cagdecks, lightweight plastic. Most teams even have 1 or 2 coaches working with them.
It’s hard to really pick one favourite not just in men’s but in all categories. The problem is that the standard is so high. On their good days upto 10 paddlers in the men’s could realistically win here. I think the key will be who manages to keep a good attitude, enjoy themselves and not get too caught up on the idea of winning.
Personally, I had a breakthrough in my paddling a week or so ago when GB team coach Dennis Newton arrived and ever since I’ve felt on fire. I’ve had 3 rides I think would stand a very good chance of winning so am feeling confidant. That said it’s going to be hard for sure. Having won last time I feel no pressure to win here I just want to do my personal best rides and enjoy the event.
Katya has been looking really good, she had a rest day yesterday and today she totally ripped, if she keeps paddling like she is doing she will be a very strong contender for the Gold.
Also from the GB team & Palm team Bren Orton has been getting some top rides, I haven’t watched him too closely as we paddle at the same times but he is easily capable of a medal here and can throw some of the nicest moves of anyone. Then there is Alan Ward the 2005 Junior World Champion, who is getting better and better here, I’ve actually always admired how he paddles and he seems focused this year so I reckon we could see him right up there too.
Here is a video Alan threw together of our 2nd team training:
BUT if I was forced to choose some possible favourites beside myself, Bren & Alan here are my top tips on who to look out for.
Senior Men
Peter Csonka: 2012 World Cup winner and twice World Championships silver medallist I think Peter wants this one more than anyone. He won the World Cup event here last year and if he’s at his best will be the most difficult paddler to beat.
Dane Jackson: Dane is in his first year competing as a senior at a World Championships and he is going constantly huge on at least 2 or 3 moves a ride, he will be one of the most impressive to watch regardless of score but we’ll see if he’ll be able to fit in enough moves in the 45 seconds to take the win. In my eyes he’ll be on the podium for sure, just which place is a mystery.
Mathieu Dumoulin: Mathieu the double European champion loves smooth flowing sequences of linked moves, it’s very beautiful to watch. Sometimes he might miss the angles on a few things but I’ve seen him hit some winning rides in practice and if he is careful with making sure he scores everything he can possibly do the highest scoring ride of anyone.
Sebastien Devred: former Junior World Cup winner, he is a very powerful methodical paddler and looks very in control. His rides seem to be coming together and he’ll go for every move possible. It lacks a bit of the flair of some of the others but he is very consistent whereas everyone else is more up and down.
Nick Troutman: the 2009 Men’s World Champion, he’s a great competitor and very strong, fast and snappy. You can really tell he has done a lot of work this last two years as his hole paddling is right up there now. I’d say Nick could really fly if it all comes together in one ride.
Jason Craig: the 2009 Junior Men’s World Champion, he has one of the snappiest styles of anyone and loves going big, in my opinion if he focus’s and really concentrates on a smart ride he will be in the medals.
Tomasz Czaplicki: Tomasz from Poland is one of my favourite paddlers to watch, I’ve admired his style for years and has had some good results in Europe and I think this year might be the time for him to finally show his potential internationally. He’s just started using the carbon Dagger Jitsu and is literally flying in it. If he can show in the comp what I’ve seen of him so far he’s going to cause some big upsets
Senior Women
In women’s it looks like the battle for the medals is wide open. Every girl would sell her soul for some consistency. No one seems to paddle the same level every day, but I will at least pick the ones who’ve showed some potential during this couple of weeks:
Claire O’Hara: the current World Champion from GB is still the toughest one to beat but the other girls are really biting her heels.
Katya Kulkova: she is my wife so I’m biased, but for years I’ve seen how good she is in practice and this year she’s really started to flourish in competition. (She was on the podium in every event this year). Here she can really thrown Mc’Nasties, Fonix’s, Godzilla’s all very nice and big. She has had a few rides I think would win but its still not every ride like this. She’s my top pick for the one who will cause some big surprises.
Marlene Devillez: the double European champion showed the other day a couple of potentially winning rides; mc’nastys both ways, Loops & Godzillas all nice, big and aerial, but it’s hard to tell if she will be able to pull it off in competition here. (the spot is hard).
Japanese Girls: Two Japanese girls especially Hitomi have been showing themselves as the most consistent when they’re fresh. It’s very nice to see them doing so good and I very hope to see at least one of them in the final.
Ruth Gordon: the 2007 World Champion, she’s doing some top scoring moves occasionally and of course you can never discount a competitor as experienced as her but we’ll see if she maintains the focus she used to have with the distractions of having a real job and slower lifestyle now.
Nina Csonkova: she is capable of high scoring rides if things come together for her. Knowing how good a competitor she is we expect her to get to the finals at least.
American Girls: This year US women’s team is not as strong as usually with Emily Jackson absent but their is potential for new stars like Adrienne to get their hands on a medal, but in general they start to look a bit tired after a week straight of team training.
Juniors
In the Junior men’s I haven’t watched everyone but the stand out paddler for me it’s between Frances Thomas Richard who looks very good at his best but a bit inconsistent and Max Karlson of Sweden, he’s my fellow team Dagger paddler using the carbon Jitsu and simply he looks incredible, every move is huge and so snappy, I think win or not win he’s going to leave a fantastic impression on everyone who sees him. He is going to be a top paddler on the freestyle world for years if he keeps paddling how he is.
For the Junior Women’s USA’s Rowan Stewart is throwing some perfect Fonix’s and Mc’Nasties and really looks good, I’m just not sure if her consistency is good enough to topple Nuria Fontane of Spain who will be formidable for the other Junior’s to beat.
Now it’s time to get rested, have a last few easy sessions and prepare for World War 3 to kick off
Pushing your self to paddle harder rivers and rapids is not always easy. Before you make that decision to put on, there are so many different pressures and questions; Will I make all the necessary moves? Am I ready for this? Where will that water push me? Why do I even want to paddle this? Is that stopper flushing enough? Will I get hurt? What if I go over?
Most of the time when I’m confronted with a harder rapid, these kind of questions start to race through my head. To be honest I would be worried if they didn’t. After all, fear is mainly formed by the unknown or negative past experiences. To paddle a rapid well I find my mind needs to be 100% clear, focused and committed. But with all those questions whizzing around, it can be hard to achieve.
Somewhere between scouting that rapid, and dropping in I usually manage to settle the nerves and get myself into that clear state of mind. Over the past few years, I have developed a technique that helps me to do this. So I thought I would share & discuss it, in the hope that it may be useful to others. It’s very possible its something you already do, if this is the case perhaps this article will draw some attention to the skill, and help you develop it.
To get us started the skill I’m going to be talking about is commonly known as visualization; put in simple terms, imagining. Think back to a rapid that you have paddled multiple times. I’m guessing the more times you paddle it, the better you get at it (excluding the odd unlucky mess up) There are many reason we usually paddle stuff better after a few attempts but in essence the main reasons are because we start to get a feeling for what the water is going to do to us and when we need to place our strokes to get us down in good style. Provided you can agree with the above sentence, you will hopefully kind of agree with the next one. If we can get good enough at visualizing our selves paddling a rapid, then we have effectively paddled it, and have therefore already practiced it. So when we ‘actually’ paddle said rapid, we should be better off than if we had not visualized it.
An exercise for you; Imagine you are at the top of one of the more challenging rapids you have ever undertaken. You have scouted the rapid, safety is all set up and your boat is waiting at the top, now it’s all up to you. Can you imagine yourself paddling the line? If so, how vividly? Is your image in colour? Are you imagining your self in first person or third person? Can you make out every single move? Are you styling the line or do you see yourself messing up? Can you hear the water? Is it in real time, slow motion or fast forward? Can you sense what it feels like?
If you can answer some of these questions then you already possess the skill’s to visualize. Which I’m fairly sure everyone can do to some extent or another? However like all skills, they can be improved with good practice.
Unwrapping the skill of visualizing our selves paddle a rapid also expose’s other skills which we need to master. One of which is reading the terrain (white water/rapids). If we cant read the terrain, then we are not going to be able to work out where we need to go and if we cant do that, then we cant visualize our route through the rapid. If your new to white water, try to ask better paddlers about rapids, find out about the different features and how the river works. Reading the river is a skill and I think we can always improve it throughout our kayaking careers.
Once you are able to read the terrain and pick a path, you need to have a good idea of how you are going to get your boat to follow that route. Here is where we need to understand both the tactics (e.g lateral momentum etc) and the hard skills (e.g paddle waggling, edging etc) of white water kayaking.
With these two major components in place we are free to see the best route though a rapid, and know how to command the boat to follow that path. From that point on successful visualization becomes a lot easier. The reason it becomes successful visualization is because we are now creating an image of what should in theory be a positive out come e.g we style the rapid because we have picked a good line and rehearsed the correct moves.
I think it’s important to point out that picking a line, is not the same as actually imagining your self paddle it.
Going back to that first exercise, you can hopefully see that there is a sliding scale of creating an imaginary event. At the simplest end we might just be able to see ourselves from a third person point of view, but the images is hazzy and we cant work out how every move might look. And at the other end, we can create an image so intense it feels real.
My theory is that the more realistic an image (or perhaps brain video?) We can create, the more useful it’s going to be to us.
Second Exercise: Look at the photos bellow of the same rapid. Your challenge is to pick a line, and then to see if you can visualize yourself paddle it. Can you create these pictures into a brain video of yourself paddling the rapid?
Top view
Bottom stopper
Bottom View
Side View
If you can, it’s probably because you have paddled a similar rapid before. If you have never paddled anything like this, then it may be very difficult to picture. The reason behind this is because of Engrams.
When learning a new paddle stroke, our motion is often inaccurate and jerky. This is because all of our muscles are having to be monitored through various kinesthetic sensors that are then analyzed by the brain, which in turn sends signals back to our muscles. If we continue to try to learn that stroke, our brain starts to write an Engram. This is a file stored by our brain, with an instruction manual on how to do that movement. Not only is it an instructional file on how to do that skill, it is also an effective short cut which allows us to reproduce the skill with a lot less effort. With an Engram in place our brain in no longer having to monitor thousands of conscious signals, which allows it to concentrate on other things.
To put this in context, the larger the range of rapids we paddle, the bigger the selection of engrams available to us. When we arrive at a rapid that looks/feels similar to something we have done in the past, our brain is able to access old engrams and use it to help us. Hence the masters of visualization will be the people who are very experienced in their sport. They will have an engram for almost any situation, so like a jig saw puzzle they’re able to put the pieces together to create an image for every part of the rapid. Whereas a less experience paddler may be able to look at a rapid, visualize breaking in, paddling over the waves, but then get stuck when it comes to getting over/around the final stopper, this is because they have never been over a drop and as such do not know how it looks or feels. But the more experienced paddler would have an engram for that drop and as such would be able to picture it and know how to apply the skill.
So the type of Visualization we have talked about so far is all aimed at creating a vision of yourself paddling a chosen rapid. This is very useful for learning where to go, and what moves to put in. In fact it has been shown by research (scanners) that by visualizing a task, your brain is firing all same signals as if it were when doing the actual task.
For the purpose of this article I would like to call this ‘factual visualization’. You are trying to create what will hopefully become an event. You are using the visualization technique to help you perform better.
To a large extent ‘Factual Visualization’ will only help us control our anxieties if we believe that in doing it, it will make our upcoming performance better. There is also one other type of Visualization technique that I would like to talk about. For the sake of the article I will call it ‘Motivational Visualization’ this is where we perhaps need to boost our confidence and get ourselves all fired up and ready to go. How to go about this? Well, I think its simple, picture some of the more positive moments you have had down challenging white water in the past. Remind your self of what you have done in the past, and how capable you are of doing it. It will be most useful if you can picture a similar style of rapid. But if not, don’t worry, just keep the positive flow’s coming, picture your self as strong and capable and ready to style!
Think of a game of tennis, so much of it is mental, when one player gets on a high the other may be on a low. Now think about how there performances differ. All we are trying to create with Motivational Visualization is the mind set of the winning tennis player.
Some top tips for practicing:
The great thing about visualization is that it can be practiced in most day to day tasks. Try simple exercises like putting an object on the floor (such as a ball) then stand back a few meters, visualize picking up the object, then shut your eyes and see if you can do it.
Like all new skills in kayaking, try it out on terrain you already feel quite confident in before trying it out on bigger rapids.
Try closing your eyes, to help you focus.
Use your hand to draw the shape of your chosen line, this could be a helpful prop and allow you to learn the line in a learning style perhaps more suited to you.
Do some air paddling. It may look a little odd, but by practicing the sequence of stroke’s on the river bank you will start to build up an idea as to how it should feel. To do this in the most effective way visualize your route down the rapid whilst doing the strokes.
The next time your out on the river, have a go at visualizing some lines (factual visualization), as well as conjuring up some strong positive images (Motivational visualization). Once you can see yourself getting all the way down, and hitting every move, see if you feel calmer. If you cant see it or you can only see your self not making the line, then perhaps your not ready for that rapid?
I hope its been a helpful read, its mainly my own thoughts on the matter, combined with some previous reading on the subject.
Well done Hunter, a spectacular win!
