Tuesday 28 June 2011

2ND AT WORLD CHAMPS


You probably know that we were preparing a lot (the whole season) for the World Championships which took place last week on the famous Plattling wave.

This year I spent almost all the time I could in Plattling. Still, I think there were few people living there for half year, which was, I think, a little tot crazy. Funny is also that for the most time there were very low water levels. Nina and I decided not to be there at too low water levels , not just because the composite boats are suffering then, but also because the hole is really horrible and almost unstickable.

It was funny, we were hoping that at the Worlds we would have great levels so all the time when it was low we were training at home or in other similar holes. It was definitely worthwhile, because in the end we almost had flood.

After the competition in Lienz we went strait to Plattling to train, because we knew that sooner or later it would start to get crowded. Then just about one week before the competition started, we went home for a few days. Nina had to take her final exam in the school - by the way she passed her state exam with excellence. Unfortunately straight after she finished she lost the “student” status so now she will be able just to focus for kayaking. I used this free time between the training for regeneration like massages, sauna and so on. After her exams we went back to competition mood. We still had few days of team trainings.


Then there was the first day “D” of the competition. Nina had some great rides and took the 5th place. My qualification rides were little more funny, I came 25th, which was the last position before the cut to the quarterfinals. I actually wanted to be somewhere in towards the bottom, but not the last one. Ufff it was really close. Gerd had the 12th position and Nick took 4th place. Markus Hummel came in 10th in the C1 category.

We also had the quarterfinals on the same day, which was a bit stressful, but in the end the whole adidas team made it easy. Me 1st , Nina 6th , Nick 4th, Gerd 8th.

In the semifinals, Markus didn't had his day and ended up on 6th place, which is still awesome between whole the C1 paddlers. Nina became 4th, I finished 1st, Nick was 2nd and Gerd 4th.

Friday was a rest day! We spent almost all day in the apartment where we stayed during the entire event. It was nice to have a proper accommodation during the event, because you can rest much better, not just physically but also mentally.

Saturday was the final day!
3 rides with the best counting. The top 5 kayakers were really strong. It was more about who will have the perfect day! I had 2 good runs, but was only on 4th position, so I was really focused on my last one. It needed to be the winning one! I made my ride really good and I was so surprised that I made so many moves! When I was leaving the hole I was sure that this was the one. Unfortunately I didn't get the score I should :( I mean it is definitely the subjective sport art, but after watching the other runs I still believe that it had the winning ride....

You can watch the best rides of each of us at this linkhttp://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15612139<http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15612139>

Nina was also competing very strong and came in 4th which is really awesome!

So here are the final results :

K1 MEN
1st James Bebbington GBR
2nd Peter Csonka SVK
3rd Stephen Wright USA
4th Nick Troutman CAN
5th Gerd Serrasolses ESP

K1woman
1st Claire O Hara GBR
2nd Emily Jackson USA
3rd Ruth Ebens CAN
4th Nina Halašová SVK
5th Haley Mils USA

All other results please follow this linkhttp://kanufestival.de/results.php5

So the peak of the season is over, thanks to everybody for supporting us!
Next big event are the European Champs 2012 in Vienna.

Thanks a lot to adidas for all the support and making our dreams come true and also to the Slovakian adidas subsidiary for supporting our Slovakian team with team outfits.

See you
Peter






Pictures by Tomaš Andrassy and Vladimir Cako

Monday 27 June 2011

Tuesday 14 June 2011

FREESTYLE KAYAK COMPETITION, LIENZ

Last weekend the Austrian Championships in freestyle kayaking were held in Lienz. This is our favourite freestyle event in which we participate every year. Last year they organized the European Championships there as well.

We came Wednesday evening. Two days training were enough for us because we know this play spot quite well. It is not that easy and especially beginners face problems. Peter and I were doing well during the competition and ended up on 1st place taking home the prize money. We were also working as judges so it was quite a tough day.

I don’t know what is easier to judge your boyfriend or paddle the final. The men’s had a very exciting final and all of them did well. I was very happy that Peter won of course. I was also very satisfied with my final ride. Last year during the European Championships I had really bad rides so I wanted to do much better this time. With my first final ride I scored the phonics monkey air loop and cartwheel, which was very good for that hole.

We were very happy to be both winners. This event was considered as preparation for the “big event”, the World Championships. Now we are in the Platting training for it.

Keep your fingers cross. I pray, that we will be as successful as we were in Lienz.

Check out the video.

See you in Plattling.


Nina


Sunday 12 June 2011

Nina Halasova in Lienz- movie clip

Hi I made small movie clip from Lienz before the competition.