Ryan Westley reports on WC1

 

Hi there! Ryan Westley here, the teams FIFA expert and aspiring angler, attempting to give you some insight into my (and the team’s) experience training and competing at the start of the 2018 World Cup series.

After British Canoeing’s most successful European Championships a slightly adjusted Senior Team were at Stansted Airport once again heading towards Liptovsky Mikulas for the first World Cup race.

The main focuses of each season are the two championship races: the Europeans at the start and World Championships at the end. This means that the athletes treat them somewhat differently with some, like Fiona Pennie, choosing to sit out the first race and most other paddlers keeping their training volume a lot higher than they would for any other race. Personally, I like to keep the gym training going and just focus on technically delivering the runs, I find that this is a great way to continue improving and preparing for the World Championships.

Fiona Pennie

 

Another change is that GBR has four spaces for athletes in the K1W and C1W events (earnt through having the 4 highest ranked boats) which means we have welcomed some new members to the team: Sophie Ogilvie competing in the K1 and C1 and Megan Hamer-Evans in the K1. A first World Cup and Senior team experience for Sophie and a great race to help both of them prepare for their upcoming U23 races.

The training leading up to the race was much the same as any other, however it was Mallory Franklin’s birthday during the week and this provided another great excuse for a team activity… bowling. Of course, it had to be made competitive and we quickly divided in to three teams of five and got the action under way! It soon became clear that many of us were much better suited to a career in canoeing. There were however a few who seemed to have a hidden talent - coach Gareth Wilson rising to the top with an impressive score of 156 and my team been dragged to an over all victory by Megan and Chris.

Mallory Franklin

 

Now on to the racing. It was always going to be hard for the team to follow up on the impressive performance at the European Champs. Finalists from this race, such as Chris Bowers and Beth Forrow, made costly mistakes early on in racing, preventing them from progressing through to the semi-finals. Likewise, two young K1W, Megan and Sophie, put up a strong performance but were unable to make the cut in a strong senior field.

The Semi Finals then came around with a much trickier course which caught out plenty of the more experienced athletes, unfortunately there were a few British names amongst them. A two second penalty pushed David Florence just outside the final and an early mistake for Adam Burgess meant he had to push hard further down the course which lead to him picking up some costly penalties. In the K1W class Kimberly Woods delivered a solid run to finish in a respectable 12th place. To add to this, World Cup first-timer and youngster Sophie made an impressive debut in the C1 category by earning a spot in the semi-finals.

Dave Florence (Image: Mike Dawson)

 

Although not everybody had the race they’d hoped for, there was still a strong showing with six Finalists, three of which medalled! Of those missing out on prize positions, Bradley was unable to recreate the form that saw him take the win in the heats and ended up 9th. In C1W finals, Kim gained two touches in quick succession in the tricky middle section, landing her in the infamous 4th position come the end of the race. Mallory Franklin was also caught out on the same stretch of water in her K1, at a tough stagger, but showed great character by paddling back for the missed gate and, despite finishing 10th, added another clean run to her record. If anything, you could say she was spurred on for finals in canoe the following day…

Kim Woods (Image: Mike Dawson)

 

C1W World Champion Mallory, again, delivered a solid top half only to fall victim to the tricky bottom section and picked up two touches, but still, her impressive speed saw her onto the podium with Bronze. Olympic Champion Joe Clarke laid down a storming top half and limbo-ed around a few poles on the bottom to stay clean and pick up a bronze medal. And finally, myself. I managed to recover from an early touch and put together a solid bottom section to sneak on to the bottom step of the podium.

Bradley Forbes-Cryan (Image: Mike Dawson)

 

But the competition didn’t stop there - the excitement continued with the Extreme Slalom. The British Team’s representatives, Gabrielle and Gareth, both had a strong start in time trials to gain a place in the head-to-heat races, with both advancing to semis. This more aggressive form of racing saw Gabi bumped out (quite literally) at this stage, but suited Gareth who went on to finish 3rd in the final. Sadly, disqualification lost him his spot on the podium.

That just about sums up another good weekend of racing for the team, we now move on to Krakow, Poland, for the 2nd world cup where everyone will have another chance to shine!

Article: Ryan Westley

Images: Peak UK unless credited

 

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In international Team Peak UK news, Sebastian Schubert got back to winning ways, taking the top step of the Mens K1 category! Jiri Prskavec showed his talent for speed and tight lines, however 2 penalties left him in 4th. Peter Kauzer, 2018 European Champion, was cruising to a place in the final on his semi final run, but missed the last gate, he’ll be looking for retribution in Krakow.

Sebastian Schubert (Image: Mike Dawson)

 

In the C1M event, local legend Michal Martikan snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. He, like Jiri, was quick enough to win, but a penalty on gate 13 meant a 5th place finish at his home race. Denis Gargaud Chanut will be looking for more speed at WC2 after finishing 6th. Beni Savsek (C1M ) and Boris Neveu (K1M) will sure to be hungry for better results in Poland, after both finishing 11th in their Semi Finals respectively.