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Freestyle World
Championships
WAs Josh Singleton is competing in the
Men’s Senior K-1.
The ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships
start soon and the Australian team members are excited for
the competition to begin.
Australia is sending its largest team
yet to the ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships and hopes
to be successful in a number of categories against fierce
competition.
Our team of 9 athletes will compete
in the junior and senior men’s K-1 and senior men’s
C-1 and 0C-1
This year’s event is to be held
on the Nantahala River in the US state of North Carolina.
An artificial wave has been constructed especially for this
event and is expected to draw large crowds and help promote
the sport.
With the sport’s top athletes fighting
for the title of “Best in the World” competition
is going to be fierce.
Look out for the big Names such as Nick
Troutman (USA,) Dane Jackson (USA,, James Bebbingtgon (U.K.)
and Claire O’Hara (U.K, ) who spent some time in Australia
training at Penrith White Water Course last summer.
The full Australian team is as follows
-
Jez Jezz (Men’s Senior C-1/0C-1)
also team coach
Liam Corr (Men’s Senior C-1/K-1)
Richard Cass (Men’s Senior K-1)
Josh Singleton (Men’s Senior K-1)
Joseph Dunne (Men’s Senior K-1)
Tim Mann (Men’s Senior K-1)
Rowan Kaar (Junior Men’s K-1)
Brad Elliot-Bool (Junior Men’s K-1)
Gilbert Coombes (Junior Men’s K-1)
What is Freestyle
Freestyle kayakers compete by performing
a variety of moves or tricks on a stationary river feature.
Standing waves, 'holes', or hydraulics, or eddy lines —
areas where the water changes direction — are all potential
freestyle features.
The athletes perform tricks like cartwheels,
loops (full flips), blunts (really fast, near vertical turns
that spew a curtain of water), and such colorfully named moves
as the Roundhouse, the Phonics Monkey, the McNasty and the
Donkey Flip.
There are nearly 30 different moves,
including the 180-pointer Helix (a 360° spin with at least
180° of which the boat must be inverted. The boat must
also be aerial at some point of the inverted part of the move)
and the 10-pointer Spin (a 360° rotation of the boat at
a 0°-45° vertical angle).
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Wallace wins
K1 gold and K4 crew win bronze
Tom Collings, Monday, 2 September 2013
Australia have won two medals on the
final day of the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Duisburg,
Germany.
Currumbin Creek kayaker Ken Wallace
has gone one better than his silver medal performance in the
K1 1000 final on Saturday by winning gold in the gruelling
K1 5000 final today.
It was the first time Wallace had won
the World Championships crown since his victory in 2010.
Wallace controlled the race from start
to finish winning in 19:44.06, 2.08 seconds ahead of Argentinian
Daniel Dal Bo.
British paddler Edward Rutherford held
off K1 1000 World Champion Max Hoff of Germany for the bronze
medal.
Asked if the K1 5000 was his favourite
race Wallace responded “A lot of people would think so
but no I hate it.”
“I was more nervous then, than
what I was before the 1000 metre final just because things
can go pear shaped so fast, you can be in the lead and then
have someone crash straight into you.”
Wallace ran out of puff in the men’s
K1 500 A final following the short turnaround from the 5000
metre event finishing ninth.
London Olympic K4 champions Tate Smith,
David Smith, Murray Stewart and Jacob Clear won bronze in
the K4 1000 A final.
The Australian quad set off at a fierce
pace and lead the field through 750 metre mark, but the Russian’s
managed to reel them in winning in 2:58.69, 0.68 seconds ahead
of the Czech Republic with Australia holding on for bronze
in 2:59.94.
Clear said he felt the Russian’s
coming just after the mid-way point.
“I felt them come at about 200
to go and I said c’mon c’mon keep in time, keep
in time but they just got there.”
K4 skipper Tate Smith was happy with
their performance.
“We were a bit rusty in our first
race and in the second one was a bit better and that was pretty
much on par with what we are capable of”, he said.
“Our goal is just to stay near
the front, keep working as hard as we can and not too far
from the winners and obviously keep building on this each
year.”
The women’s quad of Hannah Davis,
Alana Nicholls, Naomi Flood and Bernadette Wallace finished
seventh in K4 500 final.
The newly formed crew showed encouraging
signs for the future to make the A final at their first World
Championships paddling together.
Western Australian duo Steve Bird and
Jesse Phillips bounced back from a disappointing semifinal
performance to take out the men’s K2 200 B final.
The Olympic pair won in a personal best
time of 32.09, 0.11 seconds ahead of Slovakian duo Miroslav
Zatko and Lubomir Beno.
Their time would have been good enough
for sixth in the A final.
“It was disappointing yesterday,
we didn’t execute a good race”, said Phillips.
“This race is the second race for
us this year at an international level and we had to come
out today and prove what we are worth this year and we knew
we were better than yesterday.”
“It is really comforting to know
that we beat some very solid crews in the B final and we know
we have got more over the next three years leading into Rio.”
Overall the World Championships has
been a successful one for Australia with the team winning
a total of three medals, one of each colour.
Western Australian Alana Nicholls finished
ninth in the women’s K1 500 final.
Western Australian duo Steve Bird and
Jesse Phillips didn’t produce the result that they had
hoped for finishing sixth in their K2 200 semifinal.
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Guinness World
Record
Several years ago we had an attempt
to get as many people as we could on the water to beat the
then current Guinness World Record but although we had a lot
of paddlers out at Ascot we were a few hundred short. I was
thinking about giving it another shot but after seeing this
the record it would be virtually impossible to break.
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Suttons Bay — A Michigan group
hopes it toppled a Guinness world record over the weekend
by forming a flotilla of 2,099 kayaks and canoes in this picturesque
lakeshore community near Traverse City.
Kate Thornhill, one of the organizers
of the “Floatilla2” on Saturday, said response was
“fabulous” and expects it was enough to have bested
the record of 1,902 set in September 2011 by another group
of paddlers at Inlet Lake, N.Y.
“We think we did it (beat the New
York record),” Thornhill said. “Even if a few of
the boats don’t count because they weren’t rafted
and were free-floating, we expect we will have more than enough.”
To qualify, a craft had to be touching
another craft, which in turn had to be touching another craft,
for at least 30 seconds.
From The Detroit News:
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Hi Terry & Alaine,
Been a client of yours for a while and on a recent call you
asked how I was getting on.
Thats myself and 2.5 year old Hannah
first kayaking experience off Gantheume point - leashed to
me of course and in absolute flat perfect conditions....she
loved it!
And a shot of myself on your Kayak up
against Giekie gorge on the mighty Fitzroy at the start of
a 6 day upriver paddle.....awesome
I have paddled next to whales, seen stuff
that is awesome, only been at it since you sold me the Prowler
13 a few years ago and hope to continue till they box me up....
- wanted to thank you lot for the Kayak and especially the
ongoing advice and support for parts bits n pieces...internet
good but people much better!
Gregg JJ Murray aka - The one armed bandit!
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I have done some crazy things (well
that's what other people say) but who in the right mind would
get left on an island in the middle of crocodile country with
only a 2.5m kayak to paddle to the mainland?
Kiwi kayaker 'captured' by Kimberley croc
A NEW Zealand kayaker has told rescuers he spent two weeks
trapped on a remote West Australian island by a massive crocodile
which would not let him leave.
The man, known only as Ryan, was exploring the northern WA
coast near Kalumburu, between Derby and Kununurra.
After hitching a lift with a solo yachtsman
from the Territory to WA, he was dropped on Governor Island
with 160 litres of water, some flour and dry stores. The Kiwi
said he realised he didn't have enough supplies and tried
to paddle the four kilometres or so to the nearest mainland.
He realised he was unprepared for the
Kimberley wilderness, but found his first attempt to reach
the mainland thwarted by the massive crocodile.
On Saturday, local Don McLeod spotted
a light on the island, and when he checked it out, the hatless,
shirtless and desperate visitor approached.
“He said every time he got in his
little kayak, which was only 2.5m long, this crocodile - who
has lived there for many years and is a monster - has chased
him,” Mr McLeod said.
Every time he attempted to leave, the
crocodile would make its presence felt.
“He was relieved and shocked, and
thankful someone had come along because he was running out
of options pretty quickly.
Croc hostage
'prayed for God to save me'
New Zealand tourist Ryan Blair spent
almost three weeks trapped on a remote island in our far north,
stalked by a giant crocodile.
North Kimberley residents have branded
a Victorian man who put himself on a small island in crocodile-infested
waters "an idiot" and "no hero", saying
he could have placed locals' lives in danger.
Drysdale River Station manager Anne
Koeyers said her North Kimberley neighbours have reacted angrily
to Ryan Blair's choice to be placed on West Governor Island,
50 kilometres north of Kalumburu, with 160 litres of water,
food and camping equipment then stalked by a crocodile which
prevented him from leaving the island.
"Everyone's treating him like he's
a hero," Ms Koeyers told Fairfax Media.
"He's not a hero, he's an idiot."
Ms Koeyers, a friend of rescuer Don
MacLeod, said Mr Blair, of Melbourne, was extremely lucky
he was found.
The guy should not have been where he
was in the first place. Any of the locals will tell you.
"It's so bloody dumb.
"You could sit on that island for
a day, a week, a month and not have anyone come along and
see you. I'm surprised Don saw him."
Mr Blair's water began to run low after
two-and-a-half weeks and his attempts to paddle to the mainland
in his kayak were thwarted by a crocodile which, he said,
lurked nearby.
"Four kilometres to the mainland
isn't that far but it is when you have a croc bigger than
your canoe," Ms Koeyers said.
She shared residents' concerns that
Mr Blair's actions could attract other adventure seekers who
were not prepared for the harsh realities of the North Kimberley
environment.
"These people have no consideration
for people out here who are going to have to come and save
their backsides," she said.
"Learn about the area. Learn about
the dangers. Learn about what to do. Know the water. There's
crocs in there. How could anyone not know that?
"Most of the time you're reasonable
safe [in a boat] but in a canoe, you might as well be in the
water.
"Don't come up here in your canoe.
Anyone with quarter of a brain would know there are crocs
up here."
Drysdale River Station sits between
Broome and Wyndham and is approximately 250 kilometres from
Kalumburu where Mr Blair was taken after being rescued by
Mr MacLeod.
Ms Koeyers and other residents expressed
their surprise at how little prepared Mr Blair was and the
quantity of water taken for his stay on the island.
"You can catch a fish or a crab
to eat but you need fresh water [to survive].
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