2003 World Freestyle Kayak Championships – Report 24, May 27

Competition Day 2

The early jitters started going away today when the junior men hit the hole for their prelims this morning. The top 10 juniors all had moments of brilliance mixed with epic crashes and dissapointing moments. The best juniors showed their skills, but the big rides they are capable of are still in the bag. Richard Grimes of Great Britain showed that it pays off to go for the entry move. Pat Keller took the conservative approach on his first ride but had a solid one and went for it on his second, putting him in second. Peter Csonka layed the smackdown on the hole showing that Slovakia is one country to be reckoned with.
All of the USA Team Juniors made the next cut, but this is the first time in a while we didn´t start off in first place.

The K1 Women

The women, like the Junior men, had moments where they shined, and some that you just couldn´t watch. Except for a couple of rides, one by Lenka Kucerova from Chech, everybody flushed at least one time. The biggest issue the women had today was missing their first roll and/or going for the wrong eddy when they rolled up. I was impressed by the skill and determination of the women when in the hole, but the fact that they haven´t really practiced for when they flush showed today. Brooke Winger spent much of her time in the hole and got splits, both cartwheels, and some good vertical. Polly Green had a first ride that didn´t want to stop with lots of technical and her super clean spin to wrap up second place. Nikki Kelley went for her entry move and got huge points really fast but didn´t spend much time in the hole. The biggest ride of the day was Lenka Kucerova with lots of vert, and variety, and iron lungs!

Tommorrow will start the Men´s Kayak class, oh yea!

K1 Women’s Results

Junior K1 Men’s Results