Asda Athletes

So I left the rain-soaked Borders behind to experience the unaccustomed warm temperatures of the United states of America!

It was a fantastic place to go. Everyone was so welcoming, showing us around and making it very easy to cope with the different setting. On the first day It was 41 degrees Celsius in Wausau, and the coldest midday temperature was around 32, so it was very hot and humid some days. Training and keeping hydrated was quite challenging.

For my first international in the GB team, it was a great experience competing against the world’s best young paddlers from 27 countries. It was a good course, a bit tricky in some spots, but very much like a natural river which is what I train on most of the time. We had training slots once a day leading up to the event and my coach, Neil Caffrey, was pretty happy with my paddling.

The racing was held over 5 days which was a new set up for me. I managed to feel pretty comfortable throughout the competition and just wanted to put some good runs down. Qualification was just putting a solid run down but it was the semi-final run that was make it or break it. Sitting on the start line of the semi-final run was the most nerve racking, I had one run to put me in the top 10 competitors. I was pretty pleased to finish in eighth place.

On the final day I put all my heart into my run to take fifth place. Australian paddler Jessica Fox took the individual Junior World Champion title with Karolina Garuskova (Czech Republic) in second and Victoria Wolffhardt in third.

After a great result, it was time to have a bit of fun with team runs. Together we (me, Mallory Franklin and Kimberley Woods) pulled together a storming run and and won by eight seconds, with the German team in second and the Czechs in third.
All I wanted to do was make the finals, so to come home as fifth junior in the world and with a gold medal in the team event, was amazing.

Next on the agenda is the ICF Junior Canoe Slalom European Championships from September 6-9 in Solkan, Slovenia. I just can’t wait to compete for Great Britain again.

Proud to be Scottish!!! The Scottish Canoe Slalom Squad are now looking the part. Very thankful to be presented with team kit.

From Monday 4th to wednesday 6th June I attended the first of many GB training camps. This camp was to bring the team together and find out the targets for the 2012 season. It was a packed schedule with lots covered both on and off the water, kicking off on monday, meeting, 8am, in kit at top of course. During several meetings we met the whole team, paddlers and support staff. everyone had great team spirit, which I’m sure will help us to be at our best as a Team in Wausau.

From the camp the ‘top 5’ reflections were….

1. Practice your preparation – course planning, warm ups, mental state etc to be robust in competition

2. Train like you race – same focus, same challenge and intensity, practice strategies

3. Qualification/ Semi/ Finals – stages of competition are different, but the processes are the same- get them nailed

4. Respect/Support and Equity within the Team – create a positive Team environment

5. Get familiar with the venue – do your homework prior and maximise learning out there.

Finally a quote from our newly appointed ‘2012 Team Captain’ – Rhys Davies

“work hard, enjoy and expect nothing”

So at the weekend I took my kayak and a few items of equipment into store to show what my sport involves.

In the process we had ‘Guess the weight of the boat’ as a stand to see who could get it right. It is not a very popular sport so a few clues were given out.

I have also done bag packing to raise money for going to the Junior Worlds on the 3rd of July, which I will keep you posted about.

We raised £163 which was great. My friends enjoyed it and so did the wee boy trying out my boat, he was a natural :)

The journey starts here…

Selection for the British Junior Canoe Slalom team is over for another year. I feel I have made a tremendous start to the 2012 competition, and widened my chance of achievement, in canoe slalom by qualifying in top spot for the Great Britain junior team going to the World Championships in the USA.

I achieved two first places and a third in the qualifying competitions and, with the best two scores from the three competitions counting, as a result I have won the number one boat position in the team of three representing GB at two major international events.

These are the European Junior Championships at Solkan in Slovenia, to be held in September, but before that I travel to the USA for the Junior World Championships at Wausau in Wisconsin, the site of many US Championship and World Cup events. The championship runs from July 11-15.

To get to this position, I have taken part on competitions held on artificial courses such as the World Championship site at Holme Pierrepont in Nottinghamshire, where I was third, going on from there to win both events at the newly-built artificial site at Cardiff Bay and taking first place again on the natural rapids at Grandtully on the River Tay in Perthshire.

The competitions often took place in conjunction with ranking races in the ladies’ premier category and consistent good placings in competitions throughout Scotland, England and Wales now see me holding the top spot in the unofficial UK ranking list for the early season. I will hopefully maintain this position as there are no more ranking races until September after the summer’s international events are finished.

All in all, this has been a great start to the competition season and sees me earning the benefit of many years of hard work and training and looking forward to competing against the world’s best.

For me It’s quite a daunting prospect, but a challenge I feel I can face with confidence.