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Sunday, 6th June
Hi All
Have come a fair distance since the last email.
The World Champs in Garmisch was an awesome experience. We marched
in an opening ceremony and then raced for a few days before a
large closing party. My runs down the course were only just
coming together before the competition and I used my
practice boat to race. I was really happy how I paddled
in the Classic (long course) race but the gear let
me down a bit by taking on a fair bit of water. I think
the boat would have looked like a sub coming down the course
towards the end ! Atleast my new boat was in good
condition for the later races. The paddlers were very strong
at the top end and the classic was won by an Italian...
their team and supporters were very emotional and there
were plenty of tears at the finish line ! The culture in
the White Water is to really go nuts if you get on the podium
so celebrations were great fun.
We moved straight on to Bovec in Slovenia for the first
World Cup on the Soca River. The drive into Slovenia from
Italy along the Passo do Predil was amazing. Bovec is a small
town situated in a very steep valley and the river was like
the Losaich but blown up ten times... bigger boulders and much
more water ! The course finished with a slalom course that was
very challenging and saw quite a few swims for the week from
many paddlers trying to push it. The thought
when you go down this part is always that it continues straight
into a grade 5/6 gorge where some haven't returned ! Mistakes
were costly... and I lost my good race paddles down the
gorge, not to be seen again. So I learn the hard way that
keeping your gear together on these trips is VERY important as
I have been chasing new gear and then rolling up on start lines
with unused paddles and boats... challenging !
Moving on again we have come to Karlovy Vary in the
Czech Republic and a World Cup that is renowned for its long
flat course, beautiful girls and big parties ! The
major sponsor is Mattoni mineral water and they have really
brought it on ! The racing was more to my liking at present
with a very manageable course that let you really go hard at
it. The race ends by paddling into the centre of town in
the canal and going through a series of bridges and weirs with
the crowd watching from above. It was a cool experience and
I would hope to race here again. The very strong Czech team
obviously did well and each night after racing there are large
presentation ceremonies with as much food and drink as you could
possible want. Then the bands and karaoke start
up and to finish last night the party at Loket Castle had a big
fireworks display.
We now travel back to Switzerland for the last World
Cup races at Moutathal and then the Swiss National Champs the
next week.
Having a great time and learning heaps. Hope everyone is
well.
Cheers
Ben
Ben Mercer
mercer_ben@yahoo.com.au
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