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European Raft Champs 
Peak UK Raft Teams arrived in Mezzana, Italy last week for the R4 and R6 European Raft Championships. We were glad for the support from Peak UK with our sweet brand new Multisport Hoodies and a couple of pairs of very special pink shorts!
It was a beautiful setting high in the Dolomites with great weather, meaning local rivers were slowly coming up after a delayed start to the river season. The Noce is dam release which meant we had guaranteed water levels for the event. We had 2 days of training before the competition got underway, with the time trial sprints followed by head to head racing. In our now legendary style, both Men's and Ladies R4 teams ripped it up and secured medals in the head to heads, Gold for the women and Silver for the men. The men also stomped their way into Silver position in the time trial sprint, gaining them 2 Silver medals that day and a huge lead in the overall table. The boys' final head to head against Russia for the Gold medal got off to an exciting start when front man Adam had his paddle sliced in half by the Russian's push for glory. This cost the boys dearly, but having reviewed the video evidence, it appeared clear the the Russians had fought hard but fair. The newly formed men's R4 'B' team, and the ladies R6 team also got off to great starts in these races and battled through a few rounds before being unfortunately knocked out of the medal positions.
Next up was the slalom event which got off to a steady start, but ended tragically early after an accident involving a member of the Serbian ladies team. As far as we know, she remains in a coma and for this reason, we decided to withdraw from the race. This was a tough decision but one that we all felt very passionate about. The race continued without us and a few other teams, and our congratulations go out to Czech Republic men and women R4, Czech men R6 and Slovakia womens R6. Our thoughts remain with Branka, her family and friends.
Words by Georgie. Photos by Gaz Wilson.
(Posted on the 10th Jun 2010 by timb) |
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