New Zealand Junior Canoe Slalom Team 2009

World Cup TV

2009-07-17T10:07:00.006+12:00

Looks like Sunday 18th should actually be Saturday 18th- if you get SkyWatch the times and dates are there.
6pm Saturday looks like WC Slalom highlights, the morning one ,8.30am) may be Sprint( Hungary).
Monday 20th 3pm and then Wednesday 22nd looks like 7pm on SS2 and 7.30pm SS3.

last night

2009-07-15T01:35:00.002+12:00

Bangkok been great, flying home tommorrow
ICF Rankings out on ICF website http://www.canoeicf.com/default.asp?Page=2480
Also.... coverage of the Slalom World Cups so get to somewhere with sky and watch the following:

Sky sport 2 or 3 Channels 31 or 32

Wed 15th Jul 7pm SS2
Thurs 16 Jul 2.30 pm SS3
Sun 18 Jul 8.30 am SS2
Sun 18 Jul 6pm SS3
Mon 20 Jul 3pm SS3
Wed 22 Jul 7pm SS2

2009-07-11T22:16:00.005+12:00

The juniors did so well yesterday.... C2 two solid runs and finished 25th, no 50's

Callum had a great first run and just 2 couple of seconds off the seniors. Jane also a solid first run and she was happy. The results sheet show her incorrect placing so that is being sorted but she was ahead of the Nz seniors.

Some photos of the opening and all the Olympic medallists racing here were presented their race bibs.

Augsberg

2009-07-09T19:22:00.002+12:00

Team loving Augsberg and our apartment in the old city. Gives the flexibility to wander through the old cobbled streets to shops, bakeries or just meander.
Had a sobering visit to Dachau. It inspired lots of conversation and makes it quite real as most of the team had recently read "the boy in striped pyjamas' set in Auschwitz.
Last training and boat scrutineering before demos and opening ceremony this evening.
Results can be found www.swidata.com
Race website www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de

2009-07-09T19:12:00.002+12:00

Augsberg

2009-07-08T20:12:00.002+12:00

We left Avignon after an explore of the old city. Really interesting castle- Palace de Papes and the orginal home to the Popes and Catholic Church before moving to Rome. Jane and I did a tour which was great.
We left about 1ish for the second of the 500km drives, past some typical Provence scenes, with grapes in orderly rows, fields of sunflowers and the occasional mass plantings of lavender, to arrive in Biel/Bienne about 6.30pm. Nathalie was all ready for us and cooked pizzas then took us out to a cafe on the lake for dessert (very generous of her). We had a drive up to the Swiss national sports centre and admired the view down over the valley and Lake, being serenaded by cows with bells around their necks. We all stayed at Nathalie’s new house, which was very generous of her ( she even gave up her bed for me) We had breakfast and then a trip into the shops for souvenirs and Swiss chocolate.
After lunch with Nathalie we set off on the last of the big drives, to Augsberg. ( 1500km total over the 3 days) We made good time and got to the course as planned at 6pm with plenty of time to get on the water for an open training slot. Checked into our apartment after 8 and set off for dinner at a very German restaurant recommended by Peter Micheler who owns the apartment and a rafting business at the course . The apartment is right in the old city so great location with access to lot of shops and sites. Dinner ended up being late so a short sleep before up and back to the course at 7am . Good session and then all day free to explore shops etc.
We decided to go back to the course for another open session at 6pm as we had organized a young German coach to help the juniors for the week. All went well and video review and dinner over with time to watch a movie. We have Johnny from England/Nigeria and Jane’s friend Dannielle who is doing a school exchange in Sicily staying with us, so couple of extras in the mix, which is working well.
Now Wednesday and just finished another sessions with Jurgen our German coach. The weather is a bit chilly and have had heavy rain. We are heading to Dachau, a concentration camp this arvo. Internet only at course so will post some photos tommorrow.

Avignon

2009-07-05T08:41:00.002+12:00

We left St pe and had a training session at Pau before we hit the road to Avignon. Drove back the road we had travelled to Foix , sunflowers were now in full bloom. We stopped in Toulouse for a picnic lunch and a wander around. Jane and I got lost and arrived bak to the boys waiting for us... makes a change!
Carried on to Avignon and lots of vineyards dotting the country side. The total drive was 5 hours , mostly at 130km on motorways so not too bad. Found our hotel and very nice people and secure gated car park which is a must with kayaks on the roof.
Headed out for dinner and a wander around filled with stories of 11 and 12 years old gypsys stealing stuff. Had a gorgeous( read expensive dinner) in a small enclosed square with a massive church. Then walked down to the Palace de Papes and Pont Neuf ( Sur le pont d'avignon) if you remeber the nursery rythme. Icecreams and then to bed ready for another 5 hour drive tmoro.

massive paella for dinner last night and toffee apples tonight and teaching French the haka

2009-07-04T08:41:00.005+12:00

Jane and I went to Lourdes today for an hour as it is just 10 mins down the road from St Pe. the boys not keen so we left after lunch be back for the 3.30 full runs second session of the day. It was quite disconcerting.... lots of old and sick people in wheelchairs hoping for a miracle cure, supermarkets of tacky momentos of Catholism to the extent that images of Mary with flashing lights around her were able to be bought.

They say 7 million people per year visit so a booming tourist industry. We both felt sad when we left.

After dinner we visited the little town of St Pe, it always looks desserted but there were posters for a fete starting today. Unfortunatley the music didnt start until 10.30 so we had a ride on dodgems, toffee apples and came home.

There were a big group of youngish people from Paris who were on their last night of a week of activities and they cajoled the boys into teachy the haka... Callum was a star...

Thursday-Orthez in the morning Pau in the afternoon

2009-07-03T05:12:00.005+12:00

The week has gone quickly immersed in rural France at the Sport Nature complex. There are a mixture of people doing all sorts of activities .This morning we were talking to policemen who were there on a course to learn to teach outdoor activities. We are really being exposed to some basic French customs- types of food, language etc. My French has improved heaps as have been trying to practice with basic conversations. We drive along through lots of small villages and some that look very desserted. Many fantastic old stonehouses with creepers, all manner of shutters and pots of geraniums. As we are driving I talk to Jonathan, who wants to practice English and then I get him to correct my French. He was supposed to take an English class at Uni but that time was devoted to kayaking instead.His English is much better than my French and it will take a long time but some basic sentences seem reasonably engrained.
Last night dinner included moules (mussels) and salmon steaks as well as quiche, salad and frites, which went down well with the boys. The mussels were cooked in a creamy garlic sauce and were tres petite compared to NZ, but kids said sweet and delicious, and a Bretagne speciality- the region Jonathan is from. After dinner we talked training plans with Jonathan and received an insight into the French programme and the different training blocks they do. All of the canoe clubs in France follow the same plan but adjust the aerobic sessions to suit their lifestyles eg in winter they do cross country skiing for 3 hours as a club.
We woke up to rain and then travelled about an hour to a new course – Orthez. It took awhile to find but when we arrived it was really nice and the rain had subsided. Orthez course is a narrow chanel off a bigger river with lots of trees around and has some good features at the beginning, with a flat patch in the middle before a tricky feature- a curl off the wall at the bottom. There were two groups of Spanish training also. Some were really young, ten and eleven and paddling all manner of slalom boats from old 4m boats to Galaport, Dinos , specially built for young kids and had traveled from San Sebastian down the coast from Biarritz. The other group were the Spanish junior team who are in training for European U23’s and Spanish championships. Bradyn was not feeling great so he took the day off and Ben paddled Jonathan’s C1.
We had a picnic lunch provided- pretty substantial by NZ standards- bread, ham, cheese- 3 types, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs all wrapped, chips, muesli bars, fruit bars, packet prunes, chocolate mousse dessert. Even the starving boys couldn’t eat it all…

Back at accommodation now after a drive through gorgeous countryside with fields of sunflowers all nodding to the sun. Another session in Pau and kids now in sauna to recover.

Some racing photos from World Cup

2009-07-01T00:41:00.003+12:00

Photos at Sport Nature St Pe d Bigorre

2009-06-30T23:58:00.003+12:00

Our home at Sport Nature, Hautes Pyrenees. There is kayaking memorabilia all around us here and on the wall are old photos of French teams from many World Cups and World Champs, with autographs from some famous French paddlers. They had a world cup here in 2002. It is a great place for training as several courses are within 40 mins. Tmoro we go back into the natural course at Pau and also going to Orthez for a session.

Above are photos of the lunch when we eat here... today was another great meal . Think it will be hard for the boys to get used to a ham roll when we are self catering again. The awning intrigues ue all as it is extended for sun and rain. In this photo it is only half out, but last night there was some drizzle and we sat outside as warm and humid but staying dry.

There are many buildings, lots of trees and the river just beside us. There are other groups here caving, rafting, kayaking (sit ons) as it seems it is an adventure playground for young and old. We have seen signs that say ' St Pe de Bigorre Fete Juillet 3/4/5' so maybe we will experience a small French town fete on Friday night before we leave.

Some kids having a siesta, Callum doing homework and a couple are watching a movie before our afternoon session at 3.30pm. Still 30-35 and very warm and sunny.

BOP Times

2009-06-30T06:44:00.001+12:00

Link to BOP times article http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/sport/news/jones-opens-euro-campaign-with-first-top-20-finish/3900764/

Monday

2009-06-30T00:15:00.005+12:00

We farewelled Kidda this morning as he drove with Sandra and Malcolm to catch a plane from Carcassone to near Nottingham.
We now start on a 6 day training block with Jonathan Marc a C1 paddler who was recommended to us by John Michel Prono from the ICF.
He can speak some English and we all need to speak slower, but it is really good for our French.

The World Cup finals yesterday were very exciting and a great opportunity to see some great racing, The atmosphere was electric on the water and carnival like for the spectators. We gestimated that 10,000 plus people were watching, and probably more as some just came for the semis. It was plus 35 and no wind so we all felt the intense heat.
They had a band, entertainment, big TV screens, food stalls, beer for sale... quite an occasion.

On the racing front Luuka was well prepared but caught some bad water at gate 3-4 and then knew she had to try and catch up time, forcing a couple of errors. She finished 19th and still her best ever World Cup result.

There were lots of finals dramas...Martikan missing the finals cut, Hochshorners messing up and wrapping themslves around a rock , it almost looked like they might have to bail. Estanguet got 4th much to the diasppontment of the French crowd- their voices made hearing anything impossible while their French heroes were racing... Le fevre and Dejan Krahl tied for 3rd on 102.77, exact same flat times, 1 penalty each on the same gate.

Lefevre had a great day really as 2nd in C2. the other double medallist David Florence of Great Britain who was 3rd in C1 and in C2. Skantars the only straight C2 in the medals. The c2s were exciting and fast and clean. The K1W won by French favourite Mathilde Pichery who won easily even with a touch, Melanie Peiffer (germany), who had a low world ranking as she followed Jane down the course, 2nd and Jana Dukatova Slovakia in 3rd.

C1 W had its dramas too as leader Leanne Guinea AUSTRALIA top qualifier but got a 50 on the second to last gate ruining her chances of the first ever WC C1 womens medal. The Chinese girl took the honours.
The course was tough for the semis and finals and many paddlers made major errors.

Team had first session with Jonathon and all was good, we are now driving into Pau to try the moves from the finals. We have booked water for 4pm cost 140 Euro for 1 hour but sharing with thers to keep costs down.

We experienced our first sit down lunch at the place we are staying as previously had picnics while racing was on. The French close shops, supermarkets, garages, esp in smaller towns and take a 1 1/2 to 2 hour lunch break. We had the full catered lunch, hot meal, with salad, bread , cheese platter, dessert and fruit. At the course the officials and volunteers all sat down at long tables and drank wine and enjoyed the occassion. No such thing as a snatched sandwich on the run for them. Not sure how they stay so slim.

Photos later heading off now into Pau- 30 minute drive.

Live video finals

2009-06-28T20:01:00.001+12:00

Link for live video should be 2.20pm- 2.30pm in France so 12.20pm NZ ?
http://www.paucanoe2009.com/en/?p=186

Racing over in Pau for all except Luuka

2009-06-28T04:09:00.003+12:00

Tauranga's Canoe Slalom Olympian Luuka Jones has produced a stunning performance at the brand new Stade D'Eaux Vives Pau, white water centre in Pau, Southern France.
Posting a flat time of 109.25 with a 2 second penalty to finish in 10th place on 111.25.
With only 20 boats making it through to semis Jones was in a comfortable position of 6th after first runs. With a place in semis virtually guaranteed the pressure was off for the second run.
Her career best performance has been a 28th place at one of last years world cups.
After first runs Jones said ' I can't believe it, this has never happened to me'
Jones who is in the kayak squad at Waiariki Institute of Technology has been training hard over the NZ summer and is thrilled that the hard yards are paying off.
Mike Dawson, was fast enough in first runs, in fact would have been 7th, but a 50 second penalty dashed his semis chances, Aaron Osborne also had a 50, while Louise Jull was outside the pace, however had a better second run.
The NZ junior team who were also competing at this World Cup,finished near the end of their respective classes.They all did parts of this big pushy course well, but it is a huge step up.They represented themselves well and benefitted hugely from the experience. It is tough to race in your first World Cup as a junior with all the hype of TV cameras and lining up by Olympic stars. It was all about experience for the juniors and will be a long term benefit for them.
Janer had an unfortunate lesson to learn as was pulled over for random boat control. She failed as was disqualified even though she had done all the right things and had the paperwork signed off. They said her boat weighed 8.98kg at the end of her run, and it weighed 9.03kg when scrutineered. the moral of the story- 'add a bit extra to make sure'
It didnt change any results as she had a roll and got a 50. Lot's of 50's given to even the best paddlers.

After semis and finals ( cut down to 10 boats) tommorrow the NZ seniors face a gruelling 24 hour drive to be ready to race World Cup 2 at Bratislava next weekend, while the junior team has a training camp with a French coach before meeting up with their fellow compatriots in Augsberg, Germany for WC 3 on 10th July.

Good first runs

2009-06-27T20:21:00.004+12:00

C2 team posted a solid run of 124 plus 4 in 21st, and run included a roll so all sitting well for next runs and a top 20 place. Jane up next also represented herself well, 127 flat time , but given a 50 on an upstream "half head" flat time good for her on this pushy course. Louise 130 plus 2
Great news for luuka really did well and qualified in 6th
Emilie Fer 106 clean leading
DUKATOVA Jana SVK 105.62 2 107.62
JONES Luuka NZL 109.25 plus 2 111.25
Callum has just had his run great time 104 but given a 50.
Aaron 103.79 clean
Mike 94.91 plus 50 his flat time would have put him in 7th so a great run marred by a 50.

Results WC 1 Pau

2009-06-27T18:58:00.001+12:00

Live results here
http://www.paucanoe2009.com/en/?p=18

Friday

2009-06-27T07:44:00.004+12:00

Racing tommorrow and things hotted up at the course today. We had an 8.30am, half hour last slot. I stayed at the course and went into Pau while team went back for lunch and some boat repairs. Managers meeting at 1pm then demos at 4pm and there is a live video feed so I spent some time getting the tech stuff sorted. Demos at 4pm then on a bus to the opening ceremony. Back for dinner at 9pm and then video review of the demos.

My two hours in Pau was fun, nice shops and old buildings and big trees frame public squares. It really is a nice area.

The newspaper I bought today was full of the story of the French rugby guy who feigned being attacked to save face, right above the story about the WC at Pau. We got a pretty good reception walking through the square to the opening ceremony with cheering for us. There seems a bond because of the rugby. Lots of speeches and flag raising and French national anthem, followed by some girls dancing in the fountain, doing something supposedly creative with paddles.

2009-06-26T04:49:00.002+12:00

Thursday

2009-06-25T19:56:00.003+12:00

I am sitting in the athletes village in our tent that we share with Belgium and Poland. The heavens have opened up and we have heavy rain, thunder and lightening. Our session has been postponed until 7 pm tonight which totally stuffs our day up however we are feeling very smug as we went to the beach yesterday. Originally we were going today but as we needed to move from one place to another and get scutineering etc done so we changed plans.
It was lovely. We left Pau about 2.30 and were on the Atlantic coast swimming just after 4pm. There wasnt a cloud to be seen, the water was warm and lying in the sun very relaxing. About 6.30 we wandered down the beach from Anglet to the Grande Plage ( big beach which was actually small) near the old part of Biarritz and found a cute Pizzeria overlooking the coast. The Gibbs seniors and Kidda eventually found us and we had a fab dinner overlooking the beach. We splashed out and had drinks and yum dessert and it was all very pleasant. The sun was a giant fireball, setting and we stayed to watch the last rays diasppear before we headed back to Pau. Unfortunately I have left the cable for my camera behind so will update photos later.
This morning a 7am start to pack up from our lovely cottage at Clos Mirabel and headed to the course by 9am for the 10am session of full runs to find the postponement due to the bad weather. I guess the organisers dont want anyone taken out by lightening.
I dropped off the team and Kidda early and backtracked to a boulangerie I had spotted near the course,for the six baguettes to keep the troups fed after the session. Dedided to be like the locals and had une pain au chocolat et un cafe. Had the smallest cup of coffee ever and sat at the eating bar like the locals... seems an early morning ritual in France.
Currently kids gone for a speedy flat water session in the rain while I stay dry in the tent. No sign of the rain abating so possibly a day for school work. Yeah right!

Tuesday

2009-06-24T02:23:00.004+12:00

Another sunny day, hot at the course. Good training session, Malcolm and Sandra Gibb have arrived and they are staying in the manor house on our property. ( we in gate house).

Kids paddled from new course to old course in Pau. Photos attached to show how we could make some eddies at Kawerau.

2009-06-23T19:25:00.002+12:00

I guess most have heard that the Manukau City council has turned down the funding request for the new course. All is not lost and they will not be giving up, it may just take longer.

Check out this link to the new course in Wales http://www.cardiffcanoeslalom.com/page-1.html

Fingers crossed that it will happen in NZ as we have seen some amazing courses and well used with flatwater canoeing options as well as the rafting.

Monday

2009-06-23T07:58:00.007+12:00

Today while all the team went and had rhythm session on the old course at Pau I walked into the town of Jurancon. Bought the six baguettes and back home up the steep hill to our wee house. from there we all went into the centre of Pau and did a 45 min tour of the castle complete with old tapestries, draped canopied beds, massive dining table that seated 100 and more. From there to the course for the first of the nations trainings and to find that our session had been changed and we missed it. We argued the point and jumped on anyway and the juniors loved it. To quote Callum "i reckon it's mean". Paddling with us GBR and TOGO and after us Slovakia, were heaps of amazing paddlers. All the Olympic medallists are here and it is great for our guys to be in amongst them all. The workers at the course are still laying ready lawn and adding artworks to the old concrete wall as you arrive at the course. After a scorching session where everyone got sunburnt we headed home via the supermarket. we had been invited to a bbq around our shared pool with the other guests. A couple from Salsbury and the wifes sister in law from Oregon. We shared salads and all took delicious tasty french sausages , and it worked out perfectly. The guy had been in the army and kept the kids enthralled with army tales and adventures around the world, complete with stories of fellow compatriots who had lost limbs in Iraq etc Hope all well in NZ

Sunday

2009-06-22T08:39:00.005+12:00

A lovely sunny day in the pyrenees . We could see the mountains from the course and some still had a smattering of snow. The race was a reasonably low key affair for us kiwis as invitees in this French race. We arrived and it was more like an NZ race with them still putting out the course. When in Europe you think that all races are big affairs and it was reassuring to the team to see that the French have races like ours, but with a large number of paddlers of all ages. ( 100 plus entries), hand held timing and fairly manual results. They have a system to get their rankings up and this was one of the lower ranked events. (n3 OR 4) N1 being like the French championships. There were still French team paddlers like Mathilde Pichery there and she was doing safety as well as racing. Our guys and kidda, in some borrowed kit did demos, Callum also did foreruns and then were first up to race, one after another. They did really well in demos but the C boaters got some 50's between them in their first runs . The race was a festive affair with French music, a woman making crepes and we needed to bring out our best French as we really didnt find anyone who spoke English. The French, in their relaxed style, took 90 minutes for lunch and second runs started at 2pm. Everyone had a good second race and performed well. We didnt get the full final times before we left but Callum was within a couple of seconds of a top French guy, the C2 after taking the first run a bit lightly were within 5 seconds of a good French crew, Jane and Shaun also putting good runs together and performing well. Everyone enjoyed the day and on the way home found the seniors accommodation and had a cup of tea with them. Luuka and Lou have composed a NZ slalom song which we hope makes it to U tube so we can post for all. Cooked dinner, watched a movie from Bradyns hard drive ( Defiance) and now bed is calling. Have a speed session on the natural course at Pau, early in the morning, then the first of the nation trainings at 3pm on the World Cup course.

Saturday

2009-06-21T06:34:00.004+12:00

Today we had a bit of a sleep in and left the house at 10ish. Drove through St Pe and Lourdes to Argeles Gazost for a practice for the race tommorrow.At Lourdes there were massive snaking queues of people in wheelchairs waiting to be blessed we guessed. Argeles is about 10km from Lourdes. We arrived there and checked things out- small course like Reids Farm and our team is doing the demos as well as racing. they were having DR, Freestyle and polo today as well. We had a training and while troups were on the river I walked to supermarket to get goodies for a picnic. Once fed we headed back to Pau and arrived at the new (read, very flash) artificial course to see the seniors training. All were very impressed and it sure looks like heaps of money spent and they all loved the water. We left there to have a session on the 'old" natural river course which was good fun for the team. I headed to the supermarket again and got diverted in a traffic jam , cos of the women's 'tour de france' going thru Pau. Thank goodness for Tomtom as I had plotted the location and managed to get back there to find all team patiently waiting. Home for dinner, internet catch ups and think the kids going to watch a movie before early start tommorrow.