Heats
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| The competition begins |
Training quickly comes to an end and
the competition begins. Up first its the mans heats, Jnr M, Jnr W,
OC1 and squirt. Its strange not having my freestyle heats on the
first day but gives me a good rest, or so I think. Early evening I
jump onto compete in Squirt. Its only two, 1 minute, rides but here
at this feature its super hard. I lay down some good runs getting a
nice mystery 2 - 4 secs in each run and putting me through in first
place. Islay competing but unfortunately doesn't make the cut. She’s
in Stephens Kor but didn't get chance to practice before the event.
She’s happy though as she still got some pretty good rides and had
chance to test the venue out for next year.
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Claire O throwing down some flat water squirt tricks
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Saturday quickly comes and i'm up
early, i'm on 2nd in the first heat and we are first on.
I'm really enjoying this feature so am excited to go as I am
beginning to figure out the spot. I know its super tricky so some
moves go relatively easily (loops, felixs, ctwls) but others are
super hard (phoenix, mcnastys, spaces). Its a cut to top 10 so I know
its really important to get just 2 decent rides with the base moves.
I hit an entry move and the loops and felixs in both rides and
possibly one mcnasty. Its plenty to get me through. In fact the holes
so tricky its enough to get me through in 1st place.
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Claire O Freestyle heats
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The rest of the heats go and then i'm
back on. Today not only do we have the K1W heats but we also have the
K1W semi finals. Its 2 rides again but this time only 1 ride counts.
I'm up last so watch the others go. Again scores are super low. I
nail my base moves and go for the Mcnasty right. With a huge!?! score
of 360 I make the final cut again in 1st place. Emily,
Ruth, Nina and Islay also make it through.
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| Claire O going for a huge air loop |
Team GB's having a great event. Brandon
Bren, Me, Islay and Chris Noble are all through to the finals and
Pring and David also had great results.
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Bren Orton secures his place in the finals
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The party really kicks off saturday
night and the whole place comes alive with music. Kokatat are putting
on the evening activities so we get some great food, free drinks and
a raffle.
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Party rolls on into the night at NOC
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As the party really starts to liven up I call it a day and
head to bed, its another very busy day tomorrow.
Finals
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Judges, Officials and Announcers ready for another day of freestyle action
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The music is set... let the finals begin
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I wake up early.
Its finals day and once more I am in one of the first heats. I head
to the river with all my squirt boating kit ready to go. It turns out
they forgot to do the OC1 semi finals yesterday so I have a bit of
time to chill. Its another beautiful day on the Nantahala and as a
result loads of people have come out to watch us perform. Chris Nobles in
the OC1 semi finals and has some great rides but unfortunately its
not enough to take him through. Jez (AUS) also paddles really well
but also just misses the cut.
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Chris Nobles throws down hard in the OC1 event
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Then its the Cadet class. Loads of
U14's have entered and put on a great display. Paddling tiny Jackson
Shooting Stars and Fun 1's (not all of them of course) they have a
great time competing on the same feature and at the same event as
their boating heros.
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Cady Kellog waits for her turn in the Cadet competition
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Cadet Class World Cup 2012
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Next its the squirt
boat finals time. Its me and Motoko in squirt boats and then Nuria,
Zophia and Isabella in freestyle boats. Motoko goes first and puts
down a great ride but just misses her mystery. I'm up next I get my
mystery and throw down some moves but get flushed downstream into the
shallows under the bridge. Next ride goes loads better and I get a
great combination of freestyle tricks and a big mystery.
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Claire O squirt boating in the freestyle feature
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Motoko gets
her mystery in her final ride but its not quite enough to top my
score so I take the win. So its Me (1st), Motoko (2nd)
and then Nuria (3rd). We also all take the same positions
in the overall series. Its a great display of squirt boating. I am
excited for next years Worlds as although this is not a site we would
typically choose to squirt, it works and its fun.
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Claire O super cleans a split wheel during the victory lap
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| Squirt Boating podium Claire O, Motoko and Nuria |
The finals quickly
roll on. Dane Jackson (USA) wins the mens squirt and C1, Nuria
Fontane-Maso (SPN) wins the JnrW, Bren Orton (GBR) wins the Jnr M and
Seth Chappel (USA) wins the OC1.
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Nuria secures her 3rd win to take the series titles in the Jnr W class
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| Bren takes his 2nd Gold of the series with Hunter in 2nd and Brandon in 3rd place |
Before I know it
its time to jump back on. Jez and Hobbie are calling our names, its
time for the K1W finals to begin. Its exciting sharing the eddy with
Ruth, Emily and Nina its once again a World Championship finals line
up but even better is the fact that my team mate Islay is there too.
Shes made her first international senior womens K1 final. Islay’s
up first and throws down a great ride hitting all her moves. Then the
rest of us go. Once again scores are low as we find it a challenge
getting the boat to release to throw the big moves. End of run 1 and
i'm in the lead but the scores are so low I know I am not safe yet.
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Claire O brings round a Mcnasty
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2nd rides and everyone steps it up. Islay’s currently in
4th beating Ruth but then Ruth throws an incredible run,
Mcnastys, Phoneix, Loops and Ctwls, its sweet and puts her to the top
of the leader board. Me, Emily and Nina raise our game but can't
match Ruths 495 point score.
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Claire O mid routine in the finals
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Final runs = last
chance. Emily moves up to 2nd place. Ruth keeps 1st,
Nina is 4th and Islay is in 5th. I'm last and
know what I need to do. Normally I have to hit at least 1 big move on
top of my base moves but here today I need to not miss any of my big
moves! The pressures on. Hobbie and Jez are giving me words of
support over the Mic and Islay gives me a quick prep talk in the
eddy. The thumbs up from Head Judge Sneaky Pete and I go. The next 45
seconds are a blur. I know I hit my Mcnasty right and a switch
mcnasty left. I got a huge air loop, a felix and a ctwl – split –
split – phoneix attempt. The run finishes and I hear everyone
cheer. The other girls all come over and congratulate me on my run.
It felt like a great run and from the response it must have looked
pretty good too. Was it enough though?
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| K1W congratulate each other on a great finals competition |
The scores are
in... 633 points... I've done it. I got my second win of the series
and I won the first international event to be held at the site of
next year World Championships. But not only that i'm super happy as I
laid down a super complex, impressive, fun run! What a finals!!!
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Results in :o)
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K1W podium. Claire O, Ruth and Emily
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The excitement
doesn't stop there. Next up its the senior mens. The battles and
displays continue. Chonka lays down a huge first run that the others
just can't reach.
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Peter Chonka makes it look effortless
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That is until Danes final run. Dane heads into the
feature and lays down a smooth controlled run of the hardest tricks
on the score board with loads of height and huge bonuses. The scores
in and at the last second Dane moves up into 1st place
with 1316 points, a huge score. Theres now only 1
paddler left, Chonka. Chonka sets off super strong and lays down
every move at the hardest end of the score sheet, effortlessly, left
and right! As he paddles the whole crowd goes wild. We all know we
are watching something very special begin performed, live, right in
front of our eyes. Peter throws Loops, McNastys L & R, Phoneixs L
& R, Tricky Wu's L & R, Orbits L & R, Backloops... the
list goes on. This runs insane!!!
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Chonka claims the win after a very impressive final ride
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Celebrations all around
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Chonka wins his
3rd World Cup event, securing the World Cup title with a
ride that will see him remembered in the minds of those watching and
in the history of freestyle. Unbelievable!
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| Peter takes his title after 3 consecutive wins |
The day ends, the
World Cup series ends but for over 200 athletes, with less than 12
month until the 2013 World Championships back here at the NOC,
training begins.
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NOC site of the 2013 World Championships
Sept 6th - 9th 2013
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What an incredible
experience and event. Thank you to everyone involved in making this
happen. Its was a fantastic experience a great World Cup series.
Thank you.
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| Claire O World Cup Series winner SqW |
The overall World
Cup Freestyle Kayaking 2012 series winners are...
K1M – Peter
Chonka (SVK)
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| Peter Chonka World Cup Series K1M |
K1W – Emily
Jackson (USA)
SqM – Dane
Jackson (USA)
SqW – Claire
O'Hara (GBR)
C1 – Dane
Jackson (USA)
OC1 – Seth
Chappelle (USA)
Jnr M – Hunter
Katich (USA)
Jnr W – Nuria
Fontane-Maso (SPN)
For me its...
5 wins out of 6
events.
World Cup Series 1st place Squirt Boating & World Cup Series 2nd place Freestyle Kayaking
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| What an event |
I would like to
say a personal special thanks to PeakUK, Jackson Kayak, TEVA, Murky
Waters, VW Van Centre West Yorkshire, Mitchell Blades, Maui Jim, G
Form, Alpkit, Robie Robes, Clay Wright, Dennis Newton my coach (Sweet
Water Coaching) and everyone involved in helping run, organise and
support this event; for making this whole experience possible.
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| Thank you |
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