PADDLER 36
Words : James ‘ Ibbo ’ Ibbotson Photos : Jeff Bloor & Connor Proud
PADDLER 36
2023 FREESTYLE WORLD
Good Wave , Columbus , Georgia , USA The feature for this event was a wave , unlike anything we have in the UK . The pile comes above your head when you surf to the bottom of the pile .
SQUIRT
Most British paddlers made it through the heats and into the semi-finals , but an unfortunate Becky Green narrowly missed out in 11th place . Alex Edwards missed out on a final place by only 40 points . On his international debut , Laurence Reading placed 10th . The three remaining women all made it to the finals . Ottilie gave a dazzling display of surface tricks , and Tamsyn was hot on her heels too . However , USA ’ s Rose Wall sank her way to victory , with an impressive 31 seconds underwater , with Ottie in second and Tamsyn in third . In the men ’ s , David Rogers put up a good battle ; however , it was a clean sweep of medals for the USA as they showed the local knowledge of the spot .
C1 MEN
A mix of performances from the Brits , with an injured Ibbo coming in 13th , newcomer Ben Higson in 16th and veteran Adam Ramadan squeezing through to the semi-finals in 10th . The finals were a show ! Seth Chapelle of the USA was in third and stoked to be on the podium again . Nevertheless , he threw down the ride of a lifetime , landing all his moves and a couple he looked surprised about . That was enough to take Seth to the top of the podium for the first time in his 20-year career . The 2022 world champion , Landon Miller , came in third , and Dane Jackson settled for second . The grandstand went wild for Seth ’ s victory as he celebrated with his wife and two children .
C1 WOMEN
In the heats , a very unlucky flush saw Becky Green miss out on qualifying for her final spot . Some cool and collective runs from Jak Fantastic , Tamsyn McConchie , and Ottie saw them put enough points on the board to join Poland ’ s Zofia Tula and Canada ’ s Sophie Gilfillan in the final . Jak missed the wave on her final two rides , coming fifth . Tamsyn came out strong , scoring 65 points , enough to take home her second bronze medal of the event . Zofia Tula was making her C1 debut , and her K1 prowess shone through as she showed a range of moves , paddling her way to a silver medal . Ottie showed us why she was defending world champion , landing a run that more than doubled Zofia ’ s and claiming her first gold of the event .
Words : James ‘ Ibbo ’ Ibbotson Photos : Jeff Bloor & Connor Proud