racing day two

Another very long and tiring day with lots of disappointment mixed in for good measure. First off this morning were the U23w K1 with Robins first run seeing her struggling with the conditions but she stepped up during her second run and cut almost 30 seconds off her time still leaving her outside of the semis qualification time, Anna's first run was her best of the day with a 50 in her second run and her time not taking her through to the semi final. The field in U23 K1 women is very competitive on a reasonably hard course which many of the paddlers struggled with and there were not very many clean runs all day. 

C1m U23 saw Patrick off first with a good steady run with a couple of mistakes and a couple of touches, he also had a 50 in his second run after capsizing through a gate. Shaun's first run was quick but with 2 touches he needed a good second run to make semis and unfortunately two more touches and a slower run time put him out past the magic 30 boats which progress. Ben had two touches on his first run which was slower than he wanted and he managed to step it up and knock 4 seconds off his second run but two touches left him still just outside of the semis cut off.

Deahna, Haylee and Jess all had a tough day, the competition was fierce and the course demanding of their skills. Again there were lots of 50's in the field and there were some very slow times from other paddlers mixed throughout the runs. Haylee had a faster run in her second run, Jess had a 50 in her second run and Deahna caught an edge and got tipped in a strong eddy and grated against the rocks and came out to be rescued by a handsome frogman. She spent the rest of the afternoon looking for him to thank him and maybe to kiss him and turn him into a prince. 

Finally the C1u18m with Callum, Marcus and Tommy - too many touches in a competitive field put paid to their semi finals hopes although Tommys second run with only one touch was a big improvement. Marcus had a 50 in his first run with only one touch and although he went faster in the second run he hit 5 gates. Callum was consistent with .03 between his two runs.

We are grateful that Callum hasn't inherited his parents sense of direction and can navigate his way down the course. His parents need a GPS to find the coffee cart - not to mention the fact that they travelled from Vienna to Liptovsky Mikulas via Hungary and its capital city of Budapest - which if you look on your maps is actually almost the opposite direction to that they were supposed to be travelling, they had difficulty getting to the course today from their accommodation and last seen were headed for their apartment or maybe Austria? Actually its great to have them around and we have also been joined by Maureen Crompton and Kensa Randle, Agnieszka and family friends of Deahnas - so we are a group almost as big as the noisy Germans with their clackers and whizzers and wonderful horns.

Kellie Bailey at her judging station

 Despite rumours to the contrary, so far the event has been very well managed - there has been the odd minor glitch but its not difficult to get someone to give you an answer to any query we may have. We are grateful to the judges who sit out in the hot sun all day long looking at the same stretch of water - our own Kellie Bailey is at gate 7 ....

Malcolm and Matthew, pausing in their run along the side supporting one of ours

There are three of these big score boards situated along the course and a huge screen with the live footage alongside

top of the course cameraman - 

Ben during his second run this morning

Shaun in the start pool

Callum

Finn on the drop

Finn and Callum are the only ones racing tomorrow in the semi final K1 U18 m after lunch.

Headed home just after 6 this evening for dinner, unfortunately Wendy managed to blow all the fuses in the kitchen so the boys had to have one of the trusty fry pans in their bedroom to cook the chicken drums - all fed and definitely more relaxed this evening with the pressure off most, so out came the cards and the computer games. Going to the course in the morning to watch U23 K1m semi finals, back home for lunch and then back to the course for the U18 semis.

Pavel, Dan, Luke, Martin, Ben and Aaron

Marcus, Finn, Anna, Matthew, Patrick