|
WA SLALOM KAYAKING
The Beginning
Slalom paddling has been
going in Western Australia for over 40 years and in the 70s
when Bevan Dashwood was only a lad they held the Australian
Slalom Championships at Championships Rapid on the Avon River.
A few years later we set up a course on Syds Rapid to get
in some white water training. The easy part was the training
as it was one hell of a job and hard work getting all the
gear up to Syds Rapid in an open canoe and then have to set
up the course. A few years later the slalom committee got
permission to put a course up at Walyunga which is still there
today.
Some of the top slalom
paddlers in the late 70s early 80s were Andy Griffith, Lindsay
Binning, Mark Vucak, and Ian Vincent. They were our best team
at the 1979 Australian Championships in Tasmania.
When the Harvey White Water
course came on-line in 1977 it was the best thing that happened
to WA paddling. Harvey was a very good course and we could
paddle there nearly every weekend in summer if we wanted to.
The skills of the paddlers using the course sharply improved
and that led to WAs Lindsay Binning becoming the Australian
Slalom Champion four times. Ian Vincent, Mark Vucak, Matt
Delziel, Rod Fry, Darryl Long, Piers Goodman, Ken Vidler,
Warwick Smith, Dave Worthy are just a few of our top paddlers
that benefited from Harvey whitewater. Many of our junior
paddlers were also ranked the best in Australian but unfortunately
many stopped paddling when they started going out with girls.
The course benefited not just the top paddlers but all the
paddlers who loved white water. This world class course also
attracted world class paddlers to come over to paddle and
coach like world champion Richard Fox.
The natural environment,
the clean cold water water and the bush surroundings were
just brilliant and helped lure paddlers to Harvey. It was
the venue for 4 Australian Slalom Championships and for about
15 years Bevan Dashwood and I used to run the slalom and wild
water events there. It was certainly a time that I will never
forget and it helped me to become a better paddler in K1 and
C1. Colin Thorpe later became involved and took on an important
role of improving the course but unfortunately the course
was closed down about 20 years after it opened in 1998. It
is probably the worst thing that has happened to WA canoeing.
WAs Ian Vincent and Mark
Vucak at Brady's Lake Tasmania in 1979
WAs Lindsay Binning was
the paddler to beat. He was crowned Australian Slalom Champion
4 times in the 80s
The beautiful white water
at Harvey. It's me competing in a slalom at Harvey and going
for gold!
Bevan Dashwood and I
spent many hours organising events at Harvey
**********************************
International
Inspiration
The good water at Harvey
attracted world champions like Richard Fox
Richard Fox won eleven medals at the
ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with ten golds (K-1:
1981, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1993; and in a K-1 team: 1979, 1981,
1983, 1987, 1993) and a bronze (K-1: 1979). Fox also won the
overall World Cup title three times (1988, 1989, 1991) and
the Euro Cup four times.
Richard also finished fourth in the
K-1 event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Richard moved to Australia in 1998
to take up a position as the National Head Coach for the Sydney
Olympics. He is now the National Performance Director by Australian
Canoeing and serves as second vice president of the ICF. He
is also the father of gold medal winner Jessica Fox and the
husband of Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi who represented France and
competed at two Olympics. Myriam won a bronze medal in the
K-1 event in Atlanta in 1996 Olympics and ten medals at the
ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, eight being gold.
Jon Lugbill is widely considered
to be the greatest whitewater canoe slalom racer ever. During
the 1980s, he dominated international racing in Men's Individual
C-1. He revolutionized the sport while producing innovations
in paddling technique and boat design.
Jon won gold in the C-1 men's individual
World Championship in canoe slalom five times, 79, 81, 83,
87, 89
John Lugbill, David Hearn
and Kent Ford competeing as team
Jon also won seven consecutive world
championship gold medals in the C-1 team event (1979-1991).
He also won three consecutive overall world cup titles in
the C-1 category
Unfortunately during the peak of Jon
Lugbill's and Richard Fox's career, whitewater canoeing was
not included on the competition program of the Summer Olympic
Games so they probably didn't get the recognition that they
both deserved.
I was at the Bala World
Championships in 1981 to see Richard Fox (K1) and Jon Lugbill
(C1) win gold medals in their individual events as well as
gold in their team events. It was just amazing watching these
two incredible athletes and their team members paddle the
course with so much precision and skill.
Richard Fox and Jon Lugbill
will be remembered as the best in the sport of slalom.
**********************************
WAs Olympians
WA morned the loss of the
Harvey White Water course in 1998. It was a big hit for WA
slalom and white water paddlers but he didn't stopped Robin
Bell, Kynan Maley and Robbie Jeffreys from representing Australia
at the Olympics in C1. Unfortunately to be the best they all
had to move to Sydney to train on the Penrith White Water
course. Over the past 10 or so years Canoe WA have been trying
to get a mad-made white water park at Champion Lakes but governments
and private investors don't seem to want to know.
Robin Bell World Champion
and Olympic Bronze medallist
Competing in three Summer Olympics,
Robin won a bronze medal in the C-1 event in Beijing in 2008.
Robin also won a complete set of medals in the C-1 event at
the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with a gold in 2005,
a silver in 1999, and a bronze in 2007. He won the overall
World Cup title in C-1 in 2005 and 2008.
He was named Western Australian Sports
Star of the Year in 2005, and became world number one in 2006.
Robin Bell & Kynan
Maley with Mike Druce the AIS/National Head Coach for Canoe
Slalom Australia
Kynan and Robbie 10th
in the London Olympics
By Aleisha Orr, Comment
News
KYNAN Maley and Robin Jeffery
were teenagers when they decided to leave WA to follow their
dreams of becoming Olympic athletes.
Despite the challenges the two had to
face, they have both qualified to compete in slalom at the
London Olympics in July. They will compete together in the
two-person section and Maley will also compete in the individual
section of the slalom events in which competitors navigate
a canoe through a course on river rapids.
The pair visited Champion
Lakes Regatta Centre last week and spoke to a Community Newspaper
Group reporter. Jeffery is originally from Gooseberry Hill
and Maley from North Fremantle.
Maley said it was do-or-die in terms
of their sporting aspirations; they had to move to the eastern
states if they were to have a realistic chance at getting
to the Olympics. “There used to be white water at Harvey
Dam, unfortunately they shut it down in 2000,” Maley
said. “You can get to a certain level in WA; there’s
a good clubs culture and really good juniors can survive to
a certain level. “But when it comes to pushing for the
Olympics, there’s only so much travelling you can do.”
He said having a whitewater park in WA would make a huge difference
to paddlers here.
Maley supports the idea of creating
a whitewater park at Champion Lakes Regatta Centre. “It’d
be nice to see WA retain its WA paddling community,”
he said. Maley said it would be a huge benefit to athletes’
performances to be able to stay in Perth and train. “It’s
quite hard to move out so young and not have your family around
to support you,” he said.
The pair has been training as a team
for two years and it is paying off. “We’ve learnt
to predict each other’s actions,” Maley said. He
said making it to the Olympics had been a culmination of a
lot of effort and he hoped to perform well.
**********************************
Australia's
Future
It looks as if Australia
has a very good future in slalom especially in the ladies
events who are now out performing the men. Leading the charge
is Jessica Fox.
It seems that the women's
C1 event won't be introduced in Brazil despite all the lobbying.
15th September 2013 and Jessica Fox
wins C1 gold and and then grabs a second gold medal with Ali
Borrows and Ros Lawrence in the C1 women's team competition.
In the individual event Ros finished fifth, and Ali, finished
eighth.
In the end it wasn’t that Jessica Fox became champion
of the world that was amazing, it was the way she did it.
The Penrith 19-year-old showed maturity beyond her years to
withstand the pressure that goes with pre-event favouritism
and hype to claim the C1 World Title in Prague by nearly 13
seconds.
It was an incredible performance by
the Olympic K1 silver medalist.
Going into this weekend Fox had already
stamped her name all over the C1. She had won four World Cups
and the Under 23 World Title all added to her brilliant achievements
during the course of a European summer
*****************************
So What's Happening
Today In WA
Meanwhile, despite the
lack of training facilities the young WA paddlers continue
to do well at Australian Championships and many of them have
been selected for national and world teams and have competeted
overseas. To get to this level, like any other sport paddlers
have to be committed and with the help of good coaches and
especially parents the young paddlers are able to excell.
So to make sure slalom
paddling keeps going in WA we need to continue to attract
young paddlers to the sport.
Young slalom paddlers
at Ascot Kayak Club
Having world class paddlers
and role models like Robin Bell, Robbie Jeffries and Kynan
Maley come from WA has helped to inspire our young paddlers
to chase their own goal.
Coaching course at Ascot
Kayak Club
But our young paddlers
do need help so as to keep them motivated and improve their
technique. Without our coaches, Bevan Dashwood, Josh Kippin,
Ben Pope, Cody Pope, Robin Saunders, Robbie Jeffries and Zlatan
Ibrahimbegovic and others, slalom would probably not exist
in WA like it is today. And without the help of parent volunteers
and other organisers to organise the racing calendar we wouldn't
have a chance to see them excell. So it is these people who
are helping the next generation of young paddlers to reach
their goal, which for some is the Olympic games.
Slalom is conducted at 3 flatwater venues in Perth, Ascot
Kayak Club, Hester Park and Swan Canoe Club, with Hester Park
being the best site for flat water competitions. The white
water venue is at Walyunga National Park and can only be used
in the winter when the water is flowing. Coaching courses
are also run on the Collie River in summer but it is very
narrow and rocky river and not very suitable. Slalom kayaking
in WA need a good summer white water venue. We need another
Harvey or an artificial white water park.
Athens 2004 Olympic slalom
course
Perth needs a white water
venue - another Harvey or an artificial white water course
like the above
**********************************
The Coaches
WA has several dedicated
coaches including Bevan Dashwood, Ben Pope, Cody Pope, Robin
Saunders, Robbie Jeffries and Zlatan Ibrahimbegovic and although
Josh has moved on to marathon paddling he still found time
to coach on at Ascot on a Wednesday night.
Josh came third at the
Australian National Championships in the Open Men's K1. Josh
also came third in the 2009 Slalom Youth Olympics.
Wawick Draper setting
a course at Ascot
In 2009 Olympian Warwick Draper who
is head coach for the National Talent Squad and National Slalom
Coach, Mike Druce visited WA. Their visit to Perth was Australian
Canoeing's way of bringing the NTS to Perth and thereby being
able to assess and coach a greater number of young slalom
paddlers.
Paddler & coach Warwick
Draper in action.
18th K1 - 2012 Olympic Games (London, GBR)
5th K1 - 2008 Olympic Games (Beijing, CHN)
9th K1 - 2004 Olympic Games (Athens, GRE)
In May 2013, Australia Head Canoe Slalom
Coach Mike Druce visited Perth. Over four days Mike ran coaching
clinics for WA's junior slalom paddlers, their parents and
local coaches. The clinics took place at Hester Park, Swan
Canoe Club and Ascot Kayak Club.
Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLDkPaNB3-4
Zlatan Ibrahimbegovic
Western Australia's top coach
Zlatan has been a big influence
in the high standard of WA slalom paddlers. We are lucky to
have such a experienced coach in WA.
**********************************
Local Competitions
Throughout the summer season competitions
are held at the flatwater venues but come winter they are
staged on the white water in the Walyunga National Park. Unlike
a marathon race a slalom race not only needs the usual officials
and timers but they also need a course designer, gate judges
and rescuers. Parents play an important part on competition
days.
On Sunday 15th September 2013 on the
Avon River, at Walyunga National Park organisers and paddlers
were gearing up to take part in the Brevis Choate Memorial
Race which is held in memory of Brevis, who was a keen supporter
of slalom and past President of Canoeing WA.
Shirley Go, Brevis's
partner ready to take part in the slalom. Three of her children,
Isabella, Alexandria and Jack were also paddling
The water at the park
is 1.3m so the current is strong allowing for no error.
Steven Lowther does the
demonstration run for all paddlers to see
Demonstration
Run
When the course is set
up and in position one of the good paddlers will do a practise
run down the course to show all the other paddlers how it
is done and that it is possible.
Practise Run
Once upon-a-time every
paddler got a practise run before their two main runs but
now-a-days only the juniors and the old paddlers are allowed
to have a practise. Paddlers in the open category have to
look at the course and work out their moves from the bank
before doing their first run.
Rules
The Slalom Racing Competition
is won by the competitor who scores the shortest time while
navigating the turbulent 200- 400 metre course. There are
a series of 18-25 gates suspended above the river and situated
throughout the whitewater rapids. Each gate consists of one
or two poles hanging from a wire. The gates are labeled with
either red and white stripes or green and white stripes. The
green and white striped gates must be paddled through while
going downstream, while the red and white gates must be gone
through while paddling upstream. There has to be 6-7 upstream
gates on the course. Upstream gates are usually placed in
eddies where the water is flat or moving slightly upstream
so the paddler has to eddie out from the main current and
paddle upstream through the gate. The gates are placed in
such a way that the paddler must utilize the various river
features surrounding the gates to get through them. Downstream
gates are mainly placed in the turbulent current but they
may also be placed in eddies, to increase the difficulty.
The downstream gates situated in the current can be offset
to alternating sides of the current, requiring rapid turns
in fast-moving water.
A two second penalty is
assessed for touching each gate as it is gone through. A fifty
second penalty is added to the paddler’s time for missing
the gate altogether.
If the competitor's boat,
paddle or body touches either pole of the gate, a time penalty
of two seconds is added. If the competitor misses a gate completely,
displaces it by more than 45 degrees, goes through the gate
upside-down, or goes through it in the wrong order, a 50 second
penalty is given. Only one penalty can be incurred on each
gate, and this will be taken as the highest one.
Gate judges are placed
down the course recording any touches. Each judge has a sheet
with kayak and paddler drawings so they can indicate on the
drawings where the gate was touched.
Steven Lowther stops
his demo run to allow the paddlers on the bank to catch up
and watch the next section.
Coach Zlatan Ibrahimbegovic watches on.
Zlatan Ibrahimbegovic
watching as Steven does the second part of the demo run
The young group of paddlers
watching the demonstration run
WAs slalom champion Ben
Pope and Shirley Go getting ready for their run
13 year old Cameron Vogel
doing his practise run. Mitchell, Cameron's twin and sister
Alexandra were also paddling
Veteran Andrew Pope gliding
out of the up-stream gate like a true professional. Andrew
is father to Ben & Cody who were also paddling
10 year old Jack Choate
just loves white water paddling
Gate judges Lucy Williams
and slalom secretary and gate judge Jenny Vogel are very important
volunteers. Without them it would be hard to run a slalom
competition.
Radio's are used to keep
in contact with the people in the control tent. Gate judges
are placed down the course recording any touches. Each judge
has a sheet with kayak and paddler drawings so they can indicate
on the drawings where the gate was touched.
**********************************
WA Slalom Committee
Kate Vyvyan - Chairperson
Cindy Coward - Race Director
Jenny Vogel - Secretary
Charlie Collin
and lots of other helpers and judges
Coaches
Zlatan Ibrahimbegovic, Bevan Dashwood,
Josh Kippin, Ben Pope, Cody Pope, Robin Saunders, Robbie Jeffries,
Isaac Sealey and Jeremy Cullen.
If anyone is interested
in getting information they can contact the committee at slalomwa@gmail.com.
**********************************
History
Canoe Slalom on whitewater
started on 11 September 1932 in Switzerland. The sport’s
inventor proclaimed “Slalom is a whitewater test”
and his idea came from skiing, where the key terms change
from “winter, snow and Ski Slalom” to “summer,
water and Canoe Slalom.”
Unfortunately World War Two began just
six years after the first Canoe Slalom competition was held
in Switzerland and the development of the sport was set back,
especially from an Olympic point of view. Once the war was
over, the first Canoe Slalom World Championships under the
patronage of the ICF were organised in 1949 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Slalom canoeing made its
Olympic debut in 1972 in Augsburg, W. Germany. It was not
seen again until 1992 in Seu d'Urgell as part of the Barcelona
games. Since then, slalom paddling has been a regular at the
Olympics.
List of Olympic locations:
1972: Augsburg, W. Germany
1992: La Seu d'Urgell, Spain
1996: Ocoee River, U.S.A.
2000: Penrith, Australia
2004: Athens, Greece
2008: Shunyi, China
2012: Lee Valley, England
2016: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2020: Tokyo, Japan
The 1972 Olympics in Augsburg were held
on an artificial whitewater course. The Augsburg Eiskanal
set the stage for the future of artificial course creation.
With the exception of the altered river bed of the Ocoee River
(US) in 1996, every Olympic venue has been a man-made concrete
channel.
**********************************
Boat Specifications
Recently, the minimum length of these
boats were reduced from 4 meters down to 3.5 meters, causing
a flurry of new, faster boat designs which are able to navigate
courses with more speed and precision. The shorter length
also allows for easier navigation and less boat damage in
the smaller man made river beds that are prevalent in current
elite competitions.
Boat design progression is rather limited
year to year.
7.1.1 Measurements
All types of K1 Minimum length 3.50
m minimum width 0.60 m
All types of C1 Minimum length 3.50 m minimum width 0.65 m
All types of C2 Minimum length 4.10 m minimum width 0.75 m
7.1.2 Minimum Weight of Boats
(The minimum weight of the boat is
determined when the boat is dry)
All types of K1 8 kg.
All types of C1 8 kg.
All types of C2 13 kg.
7.1.3 All boats must have a minimum
radius at each end of 2 cm horizontally and 1 cm vertically.
7.1.4 Rudders are prohibited on all boats
7.1.5 Boats must be designed to, and remain within, the required
dimensions.
7.1.6 Kayaks are decked boats, which must be propelled by
double bladed paddles and inside which the competitors sit.
Canadian canoes are decked boats that must be propelled by
single-bladed paddles and inside which the competitors kneel.
|
