The definition of freestyle : frustrating, challenging, addictive, awesome, fun!

Now I have noticed over the last 16 years of freestyle kayaking that freestyle is an exceptionally hard sport. The tricks are not easy to learn - they take months, if not years to learn, and years, if not a lifetime, to master! When you paddle you train for hour after hour, spending most of that time falling on your face as you begin to just start to figure each trick out. Then as you begin to get it, the water levels change, you move to a different river, change to a new kayak or simply forget one key part, and its like you're a beginner again and the learning process restarts. In essence the truth is that as a freestyle kayaker you have to commit to the fact that no matter how much you train, no matter how good you get, there is always more to learn, you will never truly be at the top.

6 years on from winning my first freestyle Worlds I'm back in Plattling and back to square one... or at least thats how I felt when I first arrived at Plattling 2 weeks ago! After 4 years of massively advancing my freestyle hole boating and then 2 years with a lot of focus on wave boating I was super excited for this years European Championships. A major international event back in an awesome hole that I know well and have had a lot of success at in the past. On the plane on the way over I had images in my head of flying high over the Isar river in my shiny new 2016 carbon Rock Star throwing clean Mcnastys, Lunar Loops, Split Split Tricky Wus, combos and more.

I arrived late with Den super excited for our Easter holiday training camp. We got up early and drove straight to the feature. The level was low and the eddy was packed. Spanish, German and Finish paddlers all over to get some early Easter holiday training in. The wind blew, there was a crisp snowy bite in the air and not a single glimpse of sun. At a mere 8 degrees it was officially 30 degrees lower than my now normal training temperatures in Australia! However that didn't put us off! Den (injured) set up cameras and got ready to coach.

I jumped on, did a quick warm up and got ready to drop down for my first run. Still super excited, I dropped in for an entry Mcnasty. I hit the wave, ready to throw and 'boom' I power flipped on my face and flushed. As I hit the river, the ice cold water smacked me hard in the face, instantly waking me up, clearing out every sinus possible (even through my nose clip and ear plugs). Shaking it off I paddled into the eddy and joined the back of the queue.

It felt super familiar being back in this eddy and fun to be surrounded by so many paddlers. My turn came pretty quickly and I set off into the hole still super excited to fly. Loading up, I went for a standard McNasty, I went for the push into a back blast, and missed. I tried again and again and again and then it worked. I was in the perfect back blast ready to go, then 'boom' I power flipped.

It is hard to describe how it feels when your go-to moves don't work, when you're so excited to fly and instead you just wipe out. So, slightly deflated, I decided to change tactics and go back to the very basics looking for a nice big loop, a move I have been able to throw almost effortlessly for over 14 years.

I surfed out to the shoulder to set up and surfed back in to the perfect spot. I stomped forward and went for the plug and 'swoosh' I found myself not in a massive air loop but in a perfect front blast. Trick after trick the trend continued and I found myself either in a blast, power flip or flushed.

Several rides later and I found myself contemplating if I could actually paddle and wether in fact I had dreamt every trick I have ever done in the past. Then almost 40 minutes after getting on the water... Boom!... I finally got my first trick. A sweet right Phonix Monnkey and it felt so great. Every question of doubt disappeared as I got the rush of adrenaline and freedom as I flew through the air and land smack onto the green face.

 

The next 10 days I worked intensely with Den paddling 2-3 times most days - all short, focused, high powered sessions. Slowly I began to figure the intricate changes required for each move to work at this spot. The set ups, the timings, the power and tempo changes, the recovery's and the sequences. It wasn't easy. At times it was challenging and frustrating beyond belief. But, every time it worked each spin, cartwheel, Mcnasty. Phonix Monkey, Tricky Wu and Lunar felt so great. So good in fact that every time each moved worked it reminded me why I love this sport so much.

 

I wasn't fully realising in the moment how much the standard and level I'm aiming for this year has dramatically increased since the Worlds here in 2011, and how many of the moves I am already throwing now I would have been totally stoked to have thrown 6 years ago but now don't fully cut it yet. It is highly likely that the score that I won the last Worlds here with might not even get me into the finals in this event. So the challenge is bigger than ever, as is the drive to keep pushing forwards and learning the big technical moves whilst still staying consistent with the base moves to ensure a full ride with a good depth of tricks.

What's even more exciting is it's not just me. Everyone is pushing the limits in every single discipline and age category. It's great seeing junior girls throwing Mcnastys, other senior women throwing Phonixes, Lunars and Tricky Wus and the men throwing crazy combinations of tricks. It's going to be another exciting year for freestyle kayaking and in only 6 weeks time the best of the best in Europe will be here to battle it out and put this feature to the test.

Here is my wrap up video from the week. We shot it as training video so the qualities not amazing but its great to see the moves working here once again. Enjoy!

 

 

Thanks to Den for an awesome trip and everyone who paddled out here with me over the last 2 weeks.

Thanks also to all my sponsors with special shout outs to Jackson Kayak, Kellys White Water Park, Peak UK, Sweetwater Coaching, 6 Degrees Fit, Murky Water and Mitchell Blades for making this training opportunity possible and providing me with the fitness, technical expertise and an awesome boat and brilliant new kit. Also massive thanks to Rosi and Seb once again for opening up their home for us to stay very comfortably in their apartment only a matter of minutes away from the wave.

Now I head home to recover and reset and keep training ready for my next trip to Plattling in May for the big event.

 

Article and images: Claire O'Hara