PADDLER
With the sixth driest spring since the 1880s, the Isar River in Plattling, Germany, was looking thirsty. Rocks that usually hid beneath the waves were exposed, and the world-class feature that was hosting the world championships was looking shallow. But that didn’ t stop over 250 paddlers from all around the world from flocking to the feature to try and win themselves some medals.
In the build-up to the event, river levels were the hot topic. With worries of breaking boats, hitting heads, or snapping paddles, the organisers had a tough job. It was decided that if the river were flowing below 160cm, the event would move to the feature at the far side of the river, as it posed a lower risk to paddlers and their kit. This would be assessed before each heat, and adjustments would be made as needed. It was also understood that if the river levels dropped to a certain level, the event might be cancelled, with the last round’ s results being final. So paddle like it’ s your final!
MONDAY
After some much-needed rain upstream, day one had a good amount of water, so the women’ s K1 kicked the event off. Forty-four women took to the water, aiming to make the top 20 who would progress to the quarter finals. Standout performances came from the legendary Ottilie Robinson-Shaw, who posted a score that was almost double that of Anne Sommeraur, who was in second place behind her. Ottilie’ s teammates, Becky Green, Emma Witherford, and Sienna Edwards, also made the cut for the quarter finals.
Next up was the men’ s squirt class. The river level didn’ t affect these guys too much as they were paddling in the eddy, only using the flow for their mystery moves. It was Britain’ s Sam Wilson who stormed into an early lead, showing his determination to make this his event. He broke the ICF record with an incredible 2793-point ride, cementing himself in the top spot, 1100 points ahead of Alex Edwards in second place. It is also worth noting that Noah Pedersen of Norway made it through to the semi-finals in 10th place, no mean feat at only 14 and the event’ s youngest paddler!
Women’ s squirt followed them up. India’ s firstever squirt boat competitor was grinning ear to ear throughout her two runs, spinning round to get some points on the board. But once again, Ottilie stepped up, looking to show exactly what she was capable of. Delivering an amazing 2380- point ride, she claimed the first-place position, moving into the semi-finals.
Rounding the day off were the OC1 prelims. These big boats, which have to hold up to 40 litres of water with the paddler, are still capable of throwing some big moves. Two solid rides from Ireland’ s Eoghan Kelly saw him cruise into the lead, just ahead of Jordan Poffenberger, who is no stranger to world championship success in this event.
PADDLER
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