Worlds 2015
Going to Heathrow getting ready to depart for my first flight ever, which was to Worlds was a hugely exciting experience. I was meant to be taking an hour break to change planes in Detroit but someone in the airplane industry decided to make my first flight exactly an hour late, allowing me to miss the connection flight by the skin of my teeth! Luckily I was put up in a posh hotel and got to see a small bit of Detroit, as well as have a proper American burger!
Upon my arrival in Ottawa I was told that my boat and bag had somehow been sent back to Heathrow and wouldn't be coming back till the evening. After sorting the baggage situation out I was met by Dusty, one of the Wilderness Tours staff members who was going to take me to WT. He gave me an insight of what to expect on the river and also spoke about all the other things to do in Canada! We made it to WT just in time for dinner which was great as I hadn't eastern all day! I found the other juniors plus Ibbo at quiet camping after their trip to Walmart. Lucky enough Charlie had managed to get into a cabin so didn't need his tent and let me sleep in it till my stuff turned up.
The next day left me without any bags or paddling kit still! Non the less I still went down to the Lawn to watch everyone else and possibly have a paddle! Managed to hitch a ride with Phil (one of the American team supporters). Lucky enough people had spare kit for me to borrow and Charlie was kind enough to lend me his boat for the day. So, I was off to paddle Garb! It is the best wave that I have ever surfed! Your able to pick up so much speed and once you hit the green, the boat just skips across or if you put a little hop in you bounce up so high! The first session was just trying to get used to the wave and comfortable, which was hard without any of my own gear! Back at WT I was still without a boat and bag which was concerning, all I really wanted at that time was a fresh set of
cloths!
The next few days were pretty much the same in terms of off the water fun! We'd play pool, hang out and try to use the slow Wi-Fi. On the water I was starting to have better sessions a throw bigger and better moves, although paddling different boats every day, as my Guigui had to stay at home. Luckily my squirt boat and luggage had arrived so I had my own gear to paddling in!! Paddling everyday on that wave was something that had been a dream for a few years after first seeing it on a video of Nick Troutman's. I was good to not be competing in K1 which allowed me to relax in surface boat sessions and have fun even if moves weren't going to plan!
About a week in and Ben White turned up. Ben was the World Champion for back in 2007 when worlds were last held on smoothie! This was great to be able to paddle with hit on a spot that he already knew so well! Our first session on smoothie we made the 20 minute long paddle across the river to the spot where we found some of the American team as well as a few of the Japanese paddlers! It was interesting to see all of the different styles of boating that were happening around the eddy. After I had a short session to get used to the spot I realised it would take longer than that to fully start getting my mystery down and under! Ben was getting consistently over 10 seconds and sometimes knocking on 15! I also noticed that everyone else had a slip design boat which makes the mystery move slightly easier.
After a few days of paddling smoothie I was starting to get my head under, not for long though, but progress was being made! I was also toying around with my flat water routine, I knew that I would have to put a lot of switch wheels into the run to help push the score up as high as I possibly could. After watching people like Stephan Wright, Clay Wright, Ben, Hitomi Takaku and a few other I was recognising where I needed to put the boat in order for it to go down; although I needed to force my boat down for it to stay down! By the end of the second week I think my longest mystery was around the 8 second mark which is the longest I think that I've ever done. I felt like I could go for longer but it was a case of making it through the boil about 5 meters down from where you enter the seam.
A few more sessions on Garb and I was throwing some of the biggest air screws I have ever done, I was able to land hull to hull and keep them fairly straight but not always. I was also getting the hang of helixes which was great as they are such a fun move to do. As well as starting to get some big pan ams I was also able to work on cleaning my blunts as there was so much time in the air to think about what I was doing with the boat and my paddle. I was also able to learn all most of my right moves from roundhouses (which I could do, just not perfect) blunts and air screws! I was so happy with the amount of progress that I was making, and partly it was all because I was paddling with great friends and the best people in the world!
Down at the Lawn car park, I mean parking lot, we met the Donnelly family and their awesome dogs! We also met Sage, who was teaching Charlie and I all of the American language and I also learn what a Pop tart is, although I didn't eat one. Charlie really started to pick up the accent and even started to talk with it unknowingly!
It was getting close to the start of team training which meant the line up was getting bigger and the atmosphea was starting to change into a serious one. So, Jonas (the German C1), Ibbo (James Ibbotson, our C1), Sophie and I decided that it would be a good idea to try get all of us on the wave at the same time! This worked until we had the 4 of us on the wave and no one could move about. It was only a matter of time before the C1 brethren couldn't keep up with the awesome K1 paddlers and 'flushed' off the wave, totally weren't pushed!! Sophie and I then surfed around each other for a bit before we tried to throw a blunt and knocked each other off the wave!
On rest days we would go swimming and keep our selves amused by playing pool or watching people paddling if we could catch the right shuttle at the right time as to not miss everybody! Down at the river at WT there was a big pontoon with a slide on the end as well as sit on tops and SUP boards. We managed to keep ourselves entertained for a while. A few other rest days Ibbo had found another place to swim further round the campsite by the white water village, they had a nice sandy beach, rope swing and also a slide, but it was higher out of the water!! We were able to have more fun at this swimming venue as there was more to do, we also started to get innovative and swung off the rope and then did backflips when we were as far out as possible.
Once team training had started, as a reserve I couldn't paddle on the first day which allowed me to go for a quick sink session before the surface session started so we could get back to the Lawn just in time for the float session. Throughout the rest of the week I was able to paddle in both the squirt and float session for training which some days left me a bit tight on time where I also then had to find a boat before float sessions! Luckily Guigui arrived and I was able to use the test boat! I found this boat to suit me really well and better than the other boats that I'd been using, although I would have liked to tried the Jed on a big wave! Team training was going well for squirt, everyone was making vast improvements and was getting longer downtime as the week went on, I was also starting to get my flat water routine together which was really good for my mental state before competition, knowing what I was actually going to do. For float sessions it was good to see everyone giving it everything they had!
Emily Ward had arranged a Team meal and boat trip for us all to go on to celebrate us making it to the worlds and to get everyone in the mood for competition! We had our food at River Run before we got onto the boat. Ben failed to keep quiet that I had to exit my boat on the paddle back from smoothie earlier that day as there was defiantly something in my boat, despite people not believing that excuse. Alan then went and acquired a customer bootie from river run and then poured a beer into the boot which I then had to drink. Have to say, the taste of the wet beer, river soaked neoprene still lingers on my tongue to this day. We then went onto the boat where we had a tour of river, or the bit that we were staying on, which was almost like a lake it was that big! Upon our return to WT when then had more food and I tried to wash the horrible taste of the boot from my taste buds.
The opening ceremony was a really awesome event to be apart of! There was lots of decorated vehicles and floats as well as the children who lived in Beachburg decorated their carts and bikes to go in the parade. There was also people from the Brewery handing out some freebies. We then paraded through Beachburg past all of the shops and houses that were decorated just for worlds. We then had a cheeky shopping trip for some drinks as it was really hot. Then we went into a small stadium where all of the formal opening ceremony was completed as well as a few different acts on the stage to showcase the Township Of Whitewater! We then had out pictures taken by Peter Holcombe. Next we were treated to a meal and some chocolate cake which was really nice as I haven't had while in Canada! When we got back to WT we decided it was best to have some extra dinner as it was Steak night, and Steak night was a good night for food!! As my competition was the next day I aimed on getting an early night but of course there was too much happening for that to happen!!
Competition day was upon me but strangely I felt very calm, at least till I woke up late. Luckily I was able to grab breakfast and eat it on the way to Mcoys. Brose was kind enough to give me a ride up to smoothie. We got half way when I realised I'd been an idiot and left my bib at my tent which was a huge disaster; Broose was kind enough to drive back and we picked it up and get back to the river. I was lucky enough to get a speed boat ride with Matt Hamilton. When I got to smoothie they were just about to start the women's heats so I wasn't late! Jacko sent me on a little walk to calm down as I was a bit over the place from my bad start! Once I'd clamed down and relaxed I was then able to visualise my runs and get mentally ready. It got round to my heats quicker than I thought it would. I think I was more excited to just be competing at the World Championships than actually getting the ride that I had been planning on which was a really good thing to not get hung up on. My first flat water ride went really well but the mystery didn't go down, but I had another run to try make it work! The second ride I had good flat water moves and managed to get a mystery, but it wasn't long enough and I knew that I'd probably not be going through to the semi finals, but I was so happy to just be competing with the people I was with I was stoked anyway! When the results went up I'd scored 1428 over my 2 runs which is the highest I've ever scored! I was a bit gutted I didn't make top 10 as that was my target but there's always another year! We stayed at smoothie for the rest of the day to watch the rest of the competition. Stephen Wright was such an inspiration to watch as he was having so much fun while competing, waving at the judges while doing clean split wheels and also his new move, switching around! After women's finals, Claire O'Hara was crowned World Champion yet again which was fantastic news! And to top it off Jezz interviewed her but then got onto his knee, in the river, and the asked for Claire's hand in marriage!! We then had the Men's finals where Stephen and Clay's rides were amazing! Then Ben who had been saying he only wanted to make top 5 for the past 3 weeks came out and threw down a super solid ride and hit a massive mystery! It was great to see him perform and throw out some of the new moves we'd been talking about as well!! At the end of finals Stephen was crowned World Champ, Clay in second and Ben came in a strong 3rd which was amazing! We all then headed back to the other side of the river where I the had no ride back to WT. Charlie and his family offered me a lift into Cobden as they had to do their laundry. Karen, Charlie's mum then brought me an ice cream which was awesome! We then headed back to WT for our dinner.
All of the K1 heats were now in full swing, we first had K1 junior Women where Sophie and Emma did very well, both making it into the semi finals. In the K1 junior Men heats the two Hugo's and Charlie all make it to semi finals which was great, plus Hugo Scott was sitting in first as well! For C1 Ibbo made it into the semi finals. K1 Women's saw Emily Ward in 1st and Claire O'Hara in 4th which was great to have them going through into finals! Men's K1 quarter finals we had Alan Ward in 14th and Bren Orton in 2nd which was great! After semis Bren went on to finals in 5th place!
For all of the finals we had some amazing results! K1 men Bren finished 5th and threw down some truly amazing rides! K1 Women Claire finished 3rd which was wonderful news! C1 unfortunately Ibbo didn't make it to finals but finished 10th with a some what unique ride, as he did an air guitar which if that didn't earn him points, what will? ;) K1 Junior Men we had Hugo Anthony claim the World Champion title which was amazing! Hugo Scott finished 3rd while throwing some of the biggest pan ams I've ever seen! And my best bud Charlie finishing 5th at his first worlds with a injured shoulder was amazing! Complimented by his great wave paddling style! K1 Junior Women we had Sophie finish 3rd at her first worlds which was fantastic!
Worlds was defiantly an experience of a lifetime that I'm defiantly wanting to repeat in the future! So happy with how I performed and what I've learnt while in Canada for both squirt and float. I've made some new friends for life as well and getting to know my existing friends so much better. Defiantly want to go back and revisit Canada, such an awesome place to paddle as well as the best people there too!!
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| My home for a month/paddling gear drying machine |
Upon my arrival in Ottawa I was told that my boat and bag had somehow been sent back to Heathrow and wouldn't be coming back till the evening. After sorting the baggage situation out I was met by Dusty, one of the Wilderness Tours staff members who was going to take me to WT. He gave me an insight of what to expect on the river and also spoke about all the other things to do in Canada! We made it to WT just in time for dinner which was great as I hadn't eastern all day! I found the other juniors plus Ibbo at quiet camping after their trip to Walmart. Lucky enough Charlie had managed to get into a cabin so didn't need his tent and let me sleep in it till my stuff turned up.
The next day left me without any bags or paddling kit still! Non the less I still went down to the Lawn to watch everyone else and possibly have a paddle! Managed to hitch a ride with Phil (one of the American team supporters). Lucky enough people had spare kit for me to borrow and Charlie was kind enough to lend me his boat for the day. So, I was off to paddle Garb! It is the best wave that I have ever surfed! Your able to pick up so much speed and once you hit the green, the boat just skips across or if you put a little hop in you bounce up so high! The first session was just trying to get used to the wave and comfortable, which was hard without any of my own gear! Back at WT I was still without a boat and bag which was concerning, all I really wanted at that time was a fresh set of
cloths!
The next few days were pretty much the same in terms of off the water fun! We'd play pool, hang out and try to use the slow Wi-Fi. On the water I was starting to have better sessions a throw bigger and better moves, although paddling different boats every day, as my Guigui had to stay at home. Luckily my squirt boat and luggage had arrived so I had my own gear to paddling in!! Paddling everyday on that wave was something that had been a dream for a few years after first seeing it on a video of Nick Troutman's. I was good to not be competing in K1 which allowed me to relax in surface boat sessions and have fun even if moves weren't going to plan!
About a week in and Ben White turned up. Ben was the World Champion for back in 2007 when worlds were last held on smoothie! This was great to be able to paddle with hit on a spot that he already knew so well! Our first session on smoothie we made the 20 minute long paddle across the river to the spot where we found some of the American team as well as a few of the Japanese paddlers! It was interesting to see all of the different styles of boating that were happening around the eddy. After I had a short session to get used to the spot I realised it would take longer than that to fully start getting my mystery down and under! Ben was getting consistently over 10 seconds and sometimes knocking on 15! I also noticed that everyone else had a slip design boat which makes the mystery move slightly easier.
 |
| Boats in the morning before going to Smoothie |
After a few days of paddling smoothie I was starting to get my head under, not for long though, but progress was being made! I was also toying around with my flat water routine, I knew that I would have to put a lot of switch wheels into the run to help push the score up as high as I possibly could. After watching people like Stephan Wright, Clay Wright, Ben, Hitomi Takaku and a few other I was recognising where I needed to put the boat in order for it to go down; although I needed to force my boat down for it to stay down! By the end of the second week I think my longest mystery was around the 8 second mark which is the longest I think that I've ever done. I felt like I could go for longer but it was a case of making it through the boil about 5 meters down from where you enter the seam.
 |
| Dan McGaley and his new filming device |
A few more sessions on Garb and I was throwing some of the biggest air screws I have ever done, I was able to land hull to hull and keep them fairly straight but not always. I was also getting the hang of helixes which was great as they are such a fun move to do. As well as starting to get some big pan ams I was also able to work on cleaning my blunts as there was so much time in the air to think about what I was doing with the boat and my paddle. I was also able to learn all most of my right moves from roundhouses (which I could do, just not perfect) blunts and air screws! I was so happy with the amount of progress that I was making, and partly it was all because I was paddling with great friends and the best people in the world!
Down at the Lawn car park, I mean parking lot, we met the Donnelly family and their awesome dogs! We also met Sage, who was teaching Charlie and I all of the American language and I also learn what a Pop tart is, although I didn't eat one. Charlie really started to pick up the accent and even started to talk with it unknowingly!
 |
| Sage's dog Zuva |
It was getting close to the start of team training which meant the line up was getting bigger and the atmosphea was starting to change into a serious one. So, Jonas (the German C1), Ibbo (James Ibbotson, our C1), Sophie and I decided that it would be a good idea to try get all of us on the wave at the same time! This worked until we had the 4 of us on the wave and no one could move about. It was only a matter of time before the C1 brethren couldn't keep up with the awesome K1 paddlers and 'flushed' off the wave, totally weren't pushed!! Sophie and I then surfed around each other for a bit before we tried to throw a blunt and knocked each other off the wave!
On rest days we would go swimming and keep our selves amused by playing pool or watching people paddling if we could catch the right shuttle at the right time as to not miss everybody! Down at the river at WT there was a big pontoon with a slide on the end as well as sit on tops and SUP boards. We managed to keep ourselves entertained for a while. A few other rest days Ibbo had found another place to swim further round the campsite by the white water village, they had a nice sandy beach, rope swing and also a slide, but it was higher out of the water!! We were able to have more fun at this swimming venue as there was more to do, we also started to get innovative and swung off the rope and then did backflips when we were as far out as possible.
Once team training had started, as a reserve I couldn't paddle on the first day which allowed me to go for a quick sink session before the surface session started so we could get back to the Lawn just in time for the float session. Throughout the rest of the week I was able to paddle in both the squirt and float session for training which some days left me a bit tight on time where I also then had to find a boat before float sessions! Luckily Guigui arrived and I was able to use the test boat! I found this boat to suit me really well and better than the other boats that I'd been using, although I would have liked to tried the Jed on a big wave! Team training was going well for squirt, everyone was making vast improvements and was getting longer downtime as the week went on, I was also starting to get my flat water routine together which was really good for my mental state before competition, knowing what I was actually going to do. For float sessions it was good to see everyone giving it everything they had!
Emily Ward had arranged a Team meal and boat trip for us all to go on to celebrate us making it to the worlds and to get everyone in the mood for competition! We had our food at River Run before we got onto the boat. Ben failed to keep quiet that I had to exit my boat on the paddle back from smoothie earlier that day as there was defiantly something in my boat, despite people not believing that excuse. Alan then went and acquired a customer bootie from river run and then poured a beer into the boot which I then had to drink. Have to say, the taste of the wet beer, river soaked neoprene still lingers on my tongue to this day. We then went onto the boat where we had a tour of river, or the bit that we were staying on, which was almost like a lake it was that big! Upon our return to WT when then had more food and I tried to wash the horrible taste of the boot from my taste buds.
The opening ceremony was a really awesome event to be apart of! There was lots of decorated vehicles and floats as well as the children who lived in Beachburg decorated their carts and bikes to go in the parade. There was also people from the Brewery handing out some freebies. We then paraded through Beachburg past all of the shops and houses that were decorated just for worlds. We then had a cheeky shopping trip for some drinks as it was really hot. Then we went into a small stadium where all of the formal opening ceremony was completed as well as a few different acts on the stage to showcase the Township Of Whitewater! We then had out pictures taken by Peter Holcombe. Next we were treated to a meal and some chocolate cake which was really nice as I haven't had while in Canada! When we got back to WT we decided it was best to have some extra dinner as it was Steak night, and Steak night was a good night for food!! As my competition was the next day I aimed on getting an early night but of course there was too much happening for that to happen!!
 |
| Ibbo's excited for competition day! |
Competition day was upon me but strangely I felt very calm, at least till I woke up late. Luckily I was able to grab breakfast and eat it on the way to Mcoys. Brose was kind enough to give me a ride up to smoothie. We got half way when I realised I'd been an idiot and left my bib at my tent which was a huge disaster; Broose was kind enough to drive back and we picked it up and get back to the river. I was lucky enough to get a speed boat ride with Matt Hamilton. When I got to smoothie they were just about to start the women's heats so I wasn't late! Jacko sent me on a little walk to calm down as I was a bit over the place from my bad start! Once I'd clamed down and relaxed I was then able to visualise my runs and get mentally ready. It got round to my heats quicker than I thought it would. I think I was more excited to just be competing at the World Championships than actually getting the ride that I had been planning on which was a really good thing to not get hung up on. My first flat water ride went really well but the mystery didn't go down, but I had another run to try make it work! The second ride I had good flat water moves and managed to get a mystery, but it wasn't long enough and I knew that I'd probably not be going through to the semi finals, but I was so happy to just be competing with the people I was with I was stoked anyway! When the results went up I'd scored 1428 over my 2 runs which is the highest I've ever scored! I was a bit gutted I didn't make top 10 as that was my target but there's always another year! We stayed at smoothie for the rest of the day to watch the rest of the competition. Stephen Wright was such an inspiration to watch as he was having so much fun while competing, waving at the judges while doing clean split wheels and also his new move, switching around! After women's finals, Claire O'Hara was crowned World Champion yet again which was fantastic news! And to top it off Jezz interviewed her but then got onto his knee, in the river, and the asked for Claire's hand in marriage!! We then had the Men's finals where Stephen and Clay's rides were amazing! Then Ben who had been saying he only wanted to make top 5 for the past 3 weeks came out and threw down a super solid ride and hit a massive mystery! It was great to see him perform and throw out some of the new moves we'd been talking about as well!! At the end of finals Stephen was crowned World Champ, Clay in second and Ben came in a strong 3rd which was amazing! We all then headed back to the other side of the river where I the had no ride back to WT. Charlie and his family offered me a lift into Cobden as they had to do their laundry. Karen, Charlie's mum then brought me an ice cream which was awesome! We then headed back to WT for our dinner.
All of the K1 heats were now in full swing, we first had K1 junior Women where Sophie and Emma did very well, both making it into the semi finals. In the K1 junior Men heats the two Hugo's and Charlie all make it to semi finals which was great, plus Hugo Scott was sitting in first as well! For C1 Ibbo made it into the semi finals. K1 Women's saw Emily Ward in 1st and Claire O'Hara in 4th which was great to have them going through into finals! Men's K1 quarter finals we had Alan Ward in 14th and Bren Orton in 2nd which was great! After semis Bren went on to finals in 5th place!
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| Hugo Scott with a massive air screw |
For all of the finals we had some amazing results! K1 men Bren finished 5th and threw down some truly amazing rides! K1 Women Claire finished 3rd which was wonderful news! C1 unfortunately Ibbo didn't make it to finals but finished 10th with a some what unique ride, as he did an air guitar which if that didn't earn him points, what will? ;) K1 Junior Men we had Hugo Anthony claim the World Champion title which was amazing! Hugo Scott finished 3rd while throwing some of the biggest pan ams I've ever seen! And my best bud Charlie finishing 5th at his first worlds with a injured shoulder was amazing! Complimented by his great wave paddling style! K1 Junior Women we had Sophie finish 3rd at her first worlds which was fantastic!
 |
| Sophie McPeak going for the blunt |
Worlds was defiantly an experience of a lifetime that I'm defiantly wanting to repeat in the future! So happy with how I performed and what I've learnt while in Canada for both squirt and float. I've made some new friends for life as well and getting to know my existing friends so much better. Defiantly want to go back and revisit Canada, such an awesome place to paddle as well as the best people there too!!
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| Hugo Anthony throwing a massive pan am |
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| Charlie Brackpool loving the air time |
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