World Cup, Event 1 Prague, Czech Republic

August 13, 2008

Update on Monday AM, August 11, 2008

First Day of Team Training Slots for all Teams. This means that because there are 35 teams competing and only 24 hours in a day, each team only gets official training one hour, every other day! The time slots begin at 8am and end at 7pm. This means that before 8am is open and after 7pm. That is always a good time to go. Jay Kincaid and I would train at 4:45am every morning in Graz, Austria, trying to get in before anyone else to assure that we got in some quality training. So far, over the past four days that I have been training here, I have put-on the water a 6:45am and been the first. Today, I was the 8th person on the water! There were 5 Russians, a Spanish guy, Swedish, and an American ready to rock, and Nick, Emily, Clay, me, and others are all getting in at the same time.

It was a typical, “OK, here we go training session”. There were too many people that we didn’t know, all jumping in and bumping around in the eddies. The eddies that we stage up in to go into the hole are like sitting on the side of a wave pool, with weird currents. The sides of my boat are worn more than the hull from rubbing up and down and all around against the sides of the concrete. I am developing a callous on my forearms from holding onto the wall while sitting in the eddy! While we have been training already, today was the first session where it was, OK, the relaxed, do your normal thing type of training is done, and now it is, see what is happening, who is doing what, and jump into a situation that is different every time.

It started raining at 7:45am this morning and I slept under the stars last night and left my sleeping bag wide open and outside. I wanted to do one more ride but knew my bag was getting soaked as I sat in the eddy upstream of the hole waiting to try a Macho Move into the hole. It was to be my last ride and I was torn between getting a last ride and sleeping in a dry bag tonight. I split the difference and did a short ride and split. It was too late, of course, as my bag was already soaked. No worries, because the sun is trying to poke out and perhaps it will dry before nightfall.

Nick just stopped by to talk about training and we both agree that we must have a better plan going into the session from now on. Perhaps it is time to rally the team and create a team plan for coaching each other. Video, Timing, feedback, etc. This will assure that nobody is overwhelmed. It is one thing to show up to an event where you know the best paddlers. It is another thing to show up to an event and have no idea who is the best paddler, and be surprised at how many great paddlers there are and wonder just how good they are. It is stressful for anyone, but especially for paddlers competing at the World level for the first time.

Dane has never one the World Championships or World Cup. That is OK by me as not many people do and he is only 15 now. However, he must really want to win as I have never seen a kid know the competition so well. He can tell you in both C1 and Junior Kayak what each of the competitors he has seen so far can do well and what they can’t.

Emily is in a league of her own for the most part and just tries to get the hard moves down. While every competition is “anything can happen day”, if you want to win a competition, the best name to have is Emily Jackson. I try to push her to do more than she does already, as she would attest to, but it is unbelievable to watch her and see just what she can do.

Stephen Wright and Ruth Gordon should arrive today as well. These are two boaters that are likely to set the World Cup on fire. Stephen got 2nd in the last world cup but for all practical purposes was tied with me. He is on fire and should rock the Czech spot. I am anxious to train with him.

Well, Emily Wall just walked by (British K1W), and a great paddler, and friend and I haven’t said hi yet. That means that Jon Best is here from England as well. Whoa, there is the French coach too, and that means the top French guys are here. Sweet! The Slovakian National Championships are over and the world has arrived!

Time to make my rounds.

See you on the river!

🙂