Race Photos

Thanks to Peter Ewing and Odette and Max Webster for taking photos of NZ team.

Team nearly home

We made the most of the final day and drove to Barcelona via Perpignan and a French village , Collioure, on the med. Had a final team lunch at a cute place on the beach.Watched  all sorts enjoying the stinking hot day and saw all sites from topless to an army group learning to kayak with camo gear and face paint. Kids all swam in the med and we wandered around before getting back in the car for the drive to Barcelona.  Arrived by 6.30pm and were on the bus into the city from the hotel by just after 7 to make the most of the last hours. Wandered up the famous La Rambla and absorbed the sites of thousands of tourists, street theatre, shops etc.  Had pizza dinner near the Placa Catalunya and then found the night bus home ( different to the one we caught in )  was 1.40 euro each so a much better idea than battling the traffic in the team van with kayaks on.  Up again early to get everyone sorted for airport-  brand new terminal , huge but not on GPS so took a wrong turn, so thought we might have cut it a bit fine. Anyway dropped kids and boats, parked , they got VAT forms stamped for gear , checked in, had breakfast with them then waved farewell. Felt a bit sad to see them go as it is always a great journey seeing everyone's first wide eyed impressions  to a few weeks later when everyone heads for home with a plethora of memories to treasure for a lifetime. Will update some photos, signing out for juniors 2010......

Finals Day

It was hard to believe that the last day had arrived.  The course was set, with not too many changes- same to gate 7,  then changes 8-14, the same move as the heats course from 14-15 (now 15-16)  then double up then a stagger . With semis racing there are lots of mistakes as the paddlers have to really go for it to make the cut of finals ( top 10). It was amazing to watch some of the top athletes make a silly mistake and their finals chances were over.eg  the Italian girl Clara Gai Pron number one qualifier in K1W rolled at gate 14  and that was it!!...
anyway to the NZ team-   first up C1W  and Jane ... paddled a great race and walked along with a happy smile and hadn't realised she had a 50 on downstream gate 12. We looked at the  video and then paid the 75 euro protest fee but it was upheld. - they said it was "half head" , flat time 155.74 + 54  .....  Pretty disappointing as that time medalled in finals.
Kelly did really well with a not so attacking run, and safely got all the moves to gain a 7th place and a finals spot.  Her finals run was similiar, keeping steady and not being overawed by the occasion she did really well.  -finishing 6th in the inaugural C1W junior world championships- a great achievement for Kelly and something to tell the grandkids. Time 179.08 clean.
Jessica Fox took the gold in 133.51 + 4
C1W is a developing class and the ICF had a training camp for developing this group for the future. At the moment not many countries are taking it seriously, with not many of the powerful slalom nations paddling  eg no Germans, Slovenians, Slovakians or Czechs in juniors. Am sure that will change especially if it becomes an Olympic class in 2016.
The K1 men-  Up first was Callum. Knowing how tight the K1 mens final would be the boys had to lay down a special run without errors and nailing every move.. Unfortunately this wasn't to be on the day. Callum had some trouble at gate 7 and then mucked up gate 14 . His time 115.97 +2  Carl had to recirc for 7 and his time ended up 140.30 + 4. Tight racing with 10 seconds from 1st-21st in K1M.
Callum, who was pretty disappointed ended up 23rd and Carl 37th.

Jessica Fox made it two gold medals and won K1 W ahead of Karolina Galuska ( Vlada from Galasports daughter).

Kids all safely home after the party last night and just about to get up and start the clean up. Driving to Barcelona ( approx 4 hours)  for the night then will put them all on the plane.
I will update in the next few days with some fantastic race photos taken by Peter Ewing and Max and Odette Webster from Australia- keep looking....

I am staying in Europe until after senior worlds so if you want to follow my travels  www.sjctravels.blogspot.com

Day 3 and Teams

Disappointing for K1 men  time was great but too many touches denied them a finals place. Exciting racing in finals.  At course now for C1W semis this morning- Jane and Kelly , followed by K1Men- Callum and Carl in semis. Course hasnt changed much but a couple of tricky moves added in.

Photos from yesterday...

Race Day 2

With the scorching hot day turning into a crazy electrical storm overnight we wondered what race day two would bring. Well cooler temps and threatening rain which didn't eventuate meant more comfortable racing. First up Jane and Kelly in C1W. As all go through it was great experience and standing on the river bank talking to Jean Michel Prono from the ICF, he expressed how pleased he was at the level. Kelly paddled a solid first run and a great second run to finish in 7th while Jane improved her overall performance in run two except for one move that didn't quite work leaving her in 12th. Jess Fox was 26 seconds ahead in the heats, but the real test will be on Sunday in semis with Jess as favourite. One of the Chinese looks strong as well as a Canadian girl and a British girl.
 Haven Bellamy was up next in C1M- he started well with some solid paddling but a roll at gate 13th caused some issues , however he recovered to finish well. Sitting in 40th with  30 going through he had his work cut out to make semis in his second run and unfortunately he couldn't quite pull it off.
The K1 was a tight race with 10 seconds from 1-40th, with 40 going through from the field of 72. Malcolm Gibson was off first and posted a good run with 1 touch to be in 36th after run 1. Carl Whitehead attacked the course from gate one and had  a great performance to be 16th after run1. Callum unfortunately got a 50 in the gate that caught many out- gate 15. It was a nervous wait in second runs to see who would make it and for Callum a slick, penalty free run saw his final placing at 26 or 27. Carl on 23rd  and sadly for Malcolm he missed out - that small touch in run 1 costing him a semis place.
Just had  the team leaders dinner and was surrounded at the table by many nationalities- Iran, Sth Africa, Swiss, Italy, Australia and French. Interesting and I was reluctant to go but is was good. The French guy was on the committee and said they had 250 volunteers and 30 of those were down at the course at 3am rescuing tents etc that were victims of the storm that went through. I am amazed they could get 30 people out of bed to help out at that hour.
Everything is running so smoothly and this is the best run junior worlds I have been too. The French know how to do things well. Teams races tommorrow and we have high hopes for the kiwis boys, and the girls to have a good performance.

Race Day 1

In 42 degrees the Junior World Champs kicked off today. The competition in the women's K1 was intense with a course designed by Jean Michel Prono and Matilde Pichery. General consensus was that it was a good course but 15 of the 62 K1W had a 50 second penalty in run 1 ,and most on gate 15, a tight line through a hole that was unforgiving if you misjudged it.
The NZ girls all got through run one without incurring major penalties and were 30th,31st and 40th, however many of the girls who incurred 50's had it sorted in run two.  Of the New Zealand girls ,first up Alana Wood paddled well and was pleased with her result which reflected her improvement in her Europe trip.  Kelly Travers had a solid run with no major errors. Jane Nicholas nailed the top section but had some trouble in the hole and lost her line, rolling in gate 19.This left her in 30th and the prospect of a better result in run two, giving her the chance of a semi final.
Going into second runs the girls had to pull out something special to make top 30 and secure a place in the semis on Sunday.
Alana improved her result and she was happy, Kelly couldn't quite make the time required and Jane dropped too low in the double ups 11 and 12 ,wasting precious time, something that she could ill afford. With many who 50'd in run one, having cleaner runs in their second run the kiwi girls were pushed down the rankings.Only the top 30 go through to semis in the women so the girls now have teams on Saturday and for Kelly and Jane C1W on Friday.
The final  placings - Jane Nicholas 40th, Kelly Travers 45th and Alana Wood 54th.
Tommorrow is C1W ( 20 - all go through), C1M ( 30 go though) and K1M ( 40 go through)and the NZ team is hoping for cooler temps, although the same is forecast.

Racing Tommorrow

 A very hot Foix today, hit 38 so the pool was used heaps.  Boat scrutineering was a long hot process but eventually got all the paperwork done and all boats sorted.
Home from course for all the team and I had managers meeting. Not much that we hadn't already heard but good to be able to ask a couple of questions. Back down to the course to check out the course setting, all quite happy as we have practised most of the moves.
The opening ceremony was great- all lined up and marched through the town. Lots of French called out "All Blacks"  then after opening and national anthems of France and ICF anthem and flag raising the athletes were invited to drinks and nibbles with the mayor of Foix in the town hall. We were just about to leave when the town band started up and dancing and frivolity. Kids starting to meet with others from all over the world- 233 athletes from 37 nations.  Photos will tell the story..
Came back for a swim at and dinner - still 31 st 9pm.
Race times approx  for tommorrow  Alana 13.59 and 15.59  ( NZ 11.39 and 1.59am)
Kelly 14.20 and 16.20   and Jane 14.31 and 16.31.
Live streaming www.foixcanoe2010.com  and wwwcanoeicf.com