UPDATE FROM LAST COMPETITIONS

After the European Championships we took a break. Peter needed to recover and I just needed a break to gain new energy. I decided not to participate in the competition in Wildalpen, because it was just a week after Lienz and Peter wasn´t able to paddle. The next weekend a white water festival in Cunovo took place, in our local water course. One part of it was a freestyle event which we organized. Peter didn’t compete so he had time to organize the event. We figured out a special rule for this event to have more fun. It was a small competition but with very good paddlers and good feeling. I scored first place. The winner of the mens category was Honza Spindler. We also did a kayak cross, in which I scored first. The following weekend we attended Czech freestyle kayak championships in Prague. We went there after a longer break. Local kayakers rebuild their playspot in the white water course Troja. We weren´t sure if we should go, because of  Peter´s injury. Then he decided to come with me and help with judging instead of competing. We came in friday evening and I had a short training session to get use to that hole. I was very surprised how good it was. I enjoyed it a lot. It was a good feeling to have something different to paddle after spending almost the whole season in Lienz and Cunovo. The event started slowly. I did my prelim rides and judged mens. Prague is well known for its ZOO. It is just a few meters away from the white water course. We went there for lunch and took a short walk in it. I think our dog Puko liked it most! Mens semifinal was in the afternoon, after it we enjoyed partying with our friends. All the finals were scheduled for the next day. I had good rides and took first place with higher score difference. Peter was sad that he couldn’t compete so he took part in a fun competition on an inflatable duo kayak. The point was to surf the hole with this kayak and do something spectacular to impress the judges. Peter performed a handstand in the kayak, that move guaranteed him the first place. The prize we got was this kayak! I think this is an amazing prize. It is not really for white water but I already took my brother on the lake with it. Now we have just one week left, until we leave to the USA for World Cup. Wish us luck, especially for Peter, because he is still not fit. We will keep you updated.

Cheers,

Nina

Festival divokej vody

Prečo prísť:
Všetci súťažiaci sa možu zúčastniť rôznych aktivít festivalu ako rafting, surfing, jetski, hydrospeed, bodyboarding a veľa ďalších atrakcií.
A to najdôležtejšie, stráviť celý víkend na kajaku.

Tréning
Oficiálne tréningy na playspote sú od piatku 14.7. Predtým je samozrejme možnosť trénovania za poplatok.

Preteky
Sobota 14.
Kajak freestyle - voľné trénovanie od 9-11:30 / 15:00-20:00
Po 20:00 Párty!!!

Kajak cross- qualifikácia 11:30-12:30
Finále 13:00-14:00
Odovzdávanie cien 14:00-14:30
20:00 Párty

Nedeľa
Kajak freestyle - voľné trénovanie od 8:00-10:30 / 17:30-20:00
Preteky 11:00-13:30 session systém

Registrácia a štartovné
Online registrácia je cez facebook (potvrdenie účasti).
Štartovné je len 10 eur!!! Pre obe disciplíny dokopy.

Ceny
Divoká Voda nám poskytla permanentky na kanál+ ceny od Vodák športu SR

Pravidlá freestyle
Pretože pretky máme ako súčasť festivalu, máme menej času na samotný chod preteku a tak nás napadlo spraviť špeciálne pravidlá pre túto súťaž.
Vysvetlenie: session systém 5 kajakárov / heat ( 5 min.)
Top 6 kajakárov do finále hneď po qualifikácii. Rozhodcovia nadiktujú všetkým 5 figúr a každý ma na prevedenie čas len 45 s., kde figúru musí predviesť v danom poradí.
Po každej jazde vypadnú 2 kajakári a poslední dvaja budú súťažiť o prvenstvo.

Pravidlá pre kajak cross
Klasicky 5 kajakárov bojuje pričom 2 postupujú ďalej.

Ubytovanie
Kemp na Divokej vode, možnosti sú aj izba prípadne chatky.
Bude fungovať catering a aj reštaurácia v areály.

WC, sprchy, voľné parkovanie.

V spolupráci s
Divoka voda https://www.facebook.com/DivokaVodaCunovo

NINA CLAIMS SILVER IN LIENZ

Nina Csonková's report from the 2012 European Freestyle Championship in Lienz, Austria

Right now I am sitting in our car on the way home from Lienz. The European Championships are over and I am full of emotions. It is funny how long you prepare yourself for it and how quickly things fly by.

This year we came to Lienz with big goals. Peter wanted to defend his title as European Champion and I wanted to improve my result of the previous Euros. We spent about three weeks in Lienz before the event started to prepare ourselves for it. The Drau hole is a very difficult playspot to train and to get used to. I was struggling with it for a long time before I saw some improvement. I can say Peter was doing well all the time until he got injured. I believe he trained too much and after he thought he had healed all his old injures this one came up. We went home for while to rest but when we got back Peter's injury got even worse. He spent the last five days of our training just coaching me.

When the competition started I was quite nervous. In my mind I saw my failure from last year and I was afraid to fail again. However, after prelims I finally calmed down, because I was in. Peter did well in the men's prelims despite his weak bleeding belly muscle. I was worried about him. He is very strong-minded and stubborn. Next step was to get trough quarter and semifinals (for me only semifinal). My first ride was very bad and I started to be nervous, but Peter helped me to concentrate on the next run and I did a nice one and got into the top 5.

With Peter it wasn't so easy. They had the quarterfinal and the semifinal on the same day. That meant the men had to do 5 runs in one day, which is very exhausting. After Peter's last ride in the semifinal, I wasn't sure if this was a good idea. He was in big pain. Despite this he scored second place and got to the top five. We were both happy to be in the final.

The final day was the hottest day of the entire comp. It wasn't helping us a lot and I could see Peter's muscle got even worse as it was before. The woman's final was scheduled before the men's. My first ride was the best of all of my three rides. I wasn't really satisfied with it, but I scored second with it, which was great. I took the silver medal, my first ever silver medal at a European Championship. Peter was trying very hard, but he couldn't do his best because of his injury. In the end he placed fifth. But I can say I am very proud of his achievement. This cost him lot if power, energy and health. I know how he paddled and I can say if he was all right he would have had a good chance to claim gold. I think he did a great job! I would like to thank to all the people who helped us, especially Thomas Zimmerman who took Peter to Gunter, a perfect physiotherapist and to xrays. We got a perfect medical service for Peter in Lienz! Thank you for all.

Now we are heading home. Peter cannot paddle for few weeks, but I think this break will help him a lot. Beginning of August we are leaving for the USA to take a part in the World Cup. So wish us good luck there and fast recovery for Peter.

Check out this TV report on ORF Austria about the European Champs, which also features Peter as defending champion.

http://tvthek.orf.at/programs/70023-Tirol-heute/episodes/4247321-Tirol-heute/4249627-Beruechtigte-Drauwalze

See you.

Nina