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Australian Youth Olympics
CDU part time staff member Ben Pope competing at the Youth
Olympics last week. Ben came third in the C1 class and 5th
in the K1 class. He has travelled to Sydney about 4 times
in the last 8 weeks to train and compete in different races.
It is a costly business for a West Australian to be selected
for the Australian Team.
Ben Pope in a C1 at the Penrith White Water Course. He came
3rd.
The day of the qualifying race for the Australian
Youth Olympics Festival was held on Sydney's hottest day on
record. In Penrith, where the competition was held, it reached
above 46°C. The course set was a very simple, straight
forward one with no particularly hard moves. All of my runs
were good placing me in 7th for K1 and 5th for C1 for the
Semi Finals.
The course was then changed the next day for the Semis and
Finals. The day was cooler and the course much harder, this
time with a couple of difficult moves. My K1 run was going
well until the end where I rolled over between the last two
gates. Fortunately I rolled back up before the last gate and
still had a fast run, getting me into 4th position for the
finals. My Semi Finals run for C1 wasn't as good. Nothing
went well and I just scraped into 8th place for the Finals,
where only 9 people went through.
There was very little time between the Semi Finals and the
Finals, and even less time between K1 and C1 runs. K1 was
first, and I had a fast run. However I touched two gates adding
4 seconds to my time, which pushed me back into 5th position.
Without those touches I would have placed 2nd. Slightly disappointed
with my run I quickly switched to do my C1 run. As I had placed
8th out of 9 in the Semis, I was the second person to go.
I had quite a good run and was pretty happy with it. Sitting
in the bottom pond I watched as person after person made a
mistake and wasn't able to beat my time. With three people
left to go, I was still sitting in first place. The next person
went and beat my time, but the person after didn't. I realised
then that I would get a medal, either 2nd or 3rd. The last
person did their run and had a faster time as well. I was
ecstatic! I came 3rd place!
Ben Pope at Penrith White
Water Course. Ben came 5th in the K1 Youth Olympics
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At the Penrith Whitewater Stadium, Steven Lowther
and Benjamin Pope finished 4th and 5th respectively in the
K1 Men’s Finals, while Benjamin Pope collected Bronze
with Steven Lowther finishing 4th in the C1 Men’s Finals.
Georgia Rankin was also in action, collecting a 6th place
in the K1 Women’s Final and 4th in the C1 Women’s
Finals.
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DR Buoy Training
Practise Friday Morning 6.00am
Timed Race next Tuesday 5th Feb
The good thing about getting good at a skill you never lose
it. Your skills might get a little rusty over time, if you
don't use them, but they will always be there, waiting and
longing to be used again. So if you want to be a good all-round
paddler take on new challenges, learn new skills and practise
them until they are near perfect. Once you have them, you
will have them forever and you will be a much better paddler.
When I got into the sport seriously back in the 70s, I learnt
the skills. I went over and over them until they were all
second nature. Then, when I knew they were near perfect I
concentrated on my fitness. I have never been a natural, I
have never been an elite paddler, but I have always been able
to look after myself. The skills that I learnt back in the
70s have helped me to get through some hairy moments in rapids
and the ocean. I know if I didn't have them I would have been
swimming a lot and most likely have had some near death experiences.
Skills give you confidence and it makes paddling that much
more enjoyable.
Friday morning DR practice. Picture Jane Liddle
Mark Lawson (front) is an example of a person
becoming a very skilled paddler. He started off in T2s old
Finn kayak on one of our courses about three years ago. Now
he can paddle a K1, go fast in an Epic V12 and has really
good skills and rolling ability in a wavehopper. Although
he isn't a younster he is more skilled than most paddlers
half his age. It doesn't matter how old you are, with practise
you can get a lot better, it just takes a little longer.
Peter Liddle (behind Mark on the right) is another
example of a paddler who is determined to have good skills.
He joined our group last year and I have watched him get better
and better.
Paddling around buoys and having to use body and boat leans
to turn is very important for improving skills.
Picture Jane Liddle
Bruce McWhirter (front left) joined our white
water and flat water training sessions about 8 - 9 years ago.
He hardly misses a Saturday morning and inspires other paddlers
with the speed he can go in his wavehopper. His skills are
very good and leads the way in the wavehopper, but now he
has Mark breathing down his neck. Last Friday morning at the
conclusion of training we had a short race and Bruce beat
Mark by 3 seconds. The race is on.
Next Tuesday we have an official timed buoy race at Sandy
Beach.
Bruce 1.30 WH
Mark 1.33 WH
Sam 1.35 DR
Patrick 1.40 DR
Alaine 1.40 DR
Jason 1.43 WH
Greg 1.46 WH
Richard 1.48 DR
Chris 1.50 WH
Tony 1.58 WH
Ann 2.07 DR
Where: Claughton Reserve, Katanning Street.
Time: 6.00am
When: Friday Mornings 18th Jan, 25th Jan, 1st Feb, 8th Feb
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Last week it was a week of seeing old friends from the 1970s.
I happened to meet up with five old friends in a matter of
5 days.
Thursday: Peter Robinson came into the shop. He was
a very good whitewater and slalom paddler, and a member of
Ascot Kayak Club in the 1970s. He has just got back into paddling.
Friday: Andy Griffith came into the shop. Andy was
one of WAs great paddlers, amazing in whitewater, incredible
at rolling, great at slalom and has paddled the Grand Canyon
at least 3 times, the more recent being last year. Andy is
a big water paddler. Andy moved to the USA in the 1980s and
lives in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado where he enjoys some
good water. He is back in WA to visit his mum.
Saturday: Lindsay Binning I met at the end of the
Doctor Race. Lindsay was one of Australia's greatest slalom
paddlers having won the Australian Slalom Championships 4
times. He also won the Avon Descent at the age of 16 years
old. After a number of years away from paddling he is now
thinking about taking part in multisport races.
Lindsay Binning trying an Epic V12 after years not paddling.
Sunday: Warwick Smith I met at Leighton Beach. Warwick
is more famous for slalom and whitewater paddling although
nowadays he paddles for fun. He represented Australia at a
world championship and has also paddled the Grand Canyon.
Wednesday: Trevor Thompson dropped into the shop.
Trevor was an experienced white water paddler who loved to
paddle big and difficult water. He and Glen Smith were regarded
as gurus of difficult white water. When he was paddling the
Lower Murray, or the Murchison River in flood he was in his
element. In the 70s and early 80s paddlers paddled fiberglass
boats, and it was common for 7 paddlers to start a trip down
the lower Murray and only 4 to finish. On one of my early
sea kayaking trips I paddled with Trevor.
So it was a week of reunions.
I thought the week of 'old friends' reunion had passed when
yet another friend of old came into the shop this afternoon.
Alan Peters was a very active member of the Ascot Kayak Club
in the late 70s early 80s. We had some great times paddling
locally and in Tasmania. He has done little paddling since
then, more hiking, but now he has decided to take up sea kayaking.
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