This weekend kicked off the 2013
international freestyle kayaking circuit with the Plattling, European
Cup event in Germany. The European Cup is a 3 part series that runs
the same year as every World Championships. Unlike the European and
World Championships it is not a national team only entry event so as
well as the usual big team paddlers it also attracts a wide variety
of new names. This years event coincided with the German
Championships and the national team selections so it was a largely
German dominated in every field. That said there was also a very
international representation with paddlers coming from as far a field
as New Zealand, Korea, Russia and the USA to take part.
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Reunited with friends from across the globe |
The weather in the lead up to the event
was amazing, beautiful blue skies, warm weather and sunshine. But as
the event drew closer the weather took a turn for the worse and with
the exception of the finals the entire event took place in bitter
cold winds and pouring rain. Despite the weather the atmosphere was
positive and everyone went out and threw down hard. With the
excessive amount of rain Plattling, the normally friendly feature
became a very difficult flushy hole. Scores were significantly lower
across all fields compared to past events and it was a relief for
paddlers (myself and Pringle included) to make it through each round
with some well known top level paddlers not making the cut to finals.
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All cameras on Pringle
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Arriving only a few days before the
event with a serious case of jet lag I got in as many training
sessions as possible before the event started. It was great to be
back in a boat and transitioning back to Plattling style paddling
with all the memory’s from the last world championships still fresh
in my mind. By the time the competition started I was back to full
energy and ready to throw down. With the change in water levels came
a change in strategy. My first rides in every round became a gauge
from which I could adjust and build on my routine to best suit the
feature at the time. The quality of paddlers combined with changing
water levels made it one of the most challenging events I have
competed in for a while.
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Throwing a big clean air loop
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Loading up for a Space Godzilla
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The squirt event saw my first return to
my tiny 'slip' squirt boat since December 2012. Squirt boating is
such an incredible sport it felt amazing being back on the water
throwing such a smooth flowing boat around. During my first run my
mystery took me by surprise, as I disappeared under water I remember
thinking to myself that after six years in the sport I should really
know better. I had forgotten to take a breath before my decent and
was rapidly shooting back to the surface gasping for air.
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Reunited with my squirt boat this time in the rain
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Overall the paddlers from Great Britain
had a great start to the series with James 'Pringle' Bebbington
winning bronze in the open Mens K1 followed closely by James Weight
and Ryan Liquorish with George Younger not far behind. Josh
Wedgewood claimed 5th place in the C1 finals and Sam
Stevenson was crowned king of the wave.
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James Weight Dropping in for his first ride
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Pringle loading up a sweet entry move
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Bartosh (POL) and Jason (NZL) celebrate |
In the end the Germans dominated the
podium taking gold in all but two fields, squirt and K1 women’s.
Reliving the dream of my 2011 World Championships I had a great
finals day bringing home gold in both disciplines.
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Celebrating with Max (SWE) and Jeong (KOR) from Korea |
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Winning the freestyle keg
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Thanks to the organiser for putting on
another great event and kick starting the 2013 international
freestyle circuit in style.
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Winners Podium (GBR & GER) |