World Championships - Sprint, Women

Big Brother is watching, all the head to head runs were filmed from all sorts of funny angles!

Memoirs of a lady champion by Georgie P.

In the ladies event, our first race was with Latvia and we went in very confident taking the win. Netherlands who had the fastest time trial were up against Japan (the only professional team) so we hoped that Japan would win meaning we wouldn’t have to race the sprint winners. Sadly they didn’t, but as with all our races, we secured the fastest time meaning we had lane choice for every race! We chose our favoured start position safe in the knowledge that we have a very strong start. We also had an old score to settle from last year’s European Championships in Austria where we pushed the Netherlands over the finish line securing their win. After a battle at the top of the rapid we managed to hold our line where others had previously been pushed into an eddy and we raced on to an elated win.

The girls ready to destroy Latvia in the first head to head round

The girls prepare for the next round of head to head carnage

Up next in the semi finals, we were pitted against Canada who had also beaten us in the sprint time trial. This race was for a potential bronze medal position. As it ended up we had silver by the time we won this race! A top result from our disappointing start in the time trial positioning 5th. So we headed up for our last run in the final against Slovakia. The Slovaks are well known for their focus, brute strength, competiveness and their lack of friendly banter. We had beaten them once before in the European Champs so knew we were in with a chance by staying positive. Floating down to the start line we were surprised to find that we had pole position once again, as we were expecting to take second choice and were weighing up our options for a battle. Our main fighting tool were all the supporters who came over from Britain with us. The amount of cheering on the start line was a real confidence booster, followed by Ruth’s ruthless recruitment of a whole stand to chant “UK UK” as we came down the rapid into the nasty boily section all the way to the finish line.


The girls charging hard infront of the chanting crowd

Winning the final was incredible, topped only by then cheering our boys into the same position. As both teams walked back up to our supporters’ camp we were mobbed by reporters, TV crews, other team’s congratulations and a surprise firm handshake from the British ambassador no less. An incredible day for both British teams who refused to be outdone by each other!!


Champions, champions!!

World Championships - Sprint, men

The World At Our Feet….

After an incredible opening ceremony last night consisting of 45,000 spectators and a parade through Baja Luka, today (Tuesday 19th) was the start of our World Championship Campaign. The championships began with the sprint head to head competition. After an initial time trial teams are seeded then race each other head to head down a fast stretch of challenging white water. After finishing 8th in the time trial we were pitted against the Germans who had a poor time trial and finished 24th. The Germans went off the start line on the less favourable left side very hard to push level with us going into the main rapid. We stuck to our line on the rapid still neck and neck but emerged from the rapid on faster water to take an emphatic win over world class competitors.





The Strong first round opposition of the Germans and the tussle all the way to the bottom of the rapid


For our next round we were drawn against the Cost Ricans, still pumped from our big win against the Germans we shot off the line from taking priority on the right to leave them standing off the start, from which they never recovered. We were now down to the last eight an incredible feat for the team and in a position we had never been in before. Our next pairing was against the Bulgarians, these chaps are quite literally enormous, I glanced across on the start line to my opposite number and immediately wished I hadn’t due to the imposing size of his arms! However the British determination shone through once more as we flew out of the start to put ourselves a slither ahead of the Bulgarians, a position we once again managed to hold until the line. We were in the top four and one race from a medal!!



The beefy Bulgarians getting schooled off the line


Our semi final put us against the Austrian team but due to our battle with the Bulgarians we had lost valuable time and the Austrians were given lane choice off the start. They took the faster right lane from which no team had been beaten from so far in the competition. We had one choice, go hard off the start and push them right as the Germans had done to us, take the hit through the big rapid and hope for the best in the final straight to the line. Our boat shot off the line with a super human effort from all the team to go level with the Austrian team, we executed our plan with military precision to push them right on the rapid so much so that they hit the rock and eddied out. We took on a lot of water through the rapid but powered on through to the finish line to re-write what was possible coming from the less fortunate left side, we had just won our first World Championship medal, but the question now was what colour! We had made it to the final of the Rafting World Championships against the strong and powerful team from the USA. Since our first epic battle with the Germans there had been a mood of excitement and positivity simmering on the raft, there was no way we were going to lose. As we went all guns blazing off the start line in the final in front of a grand stand packed with supporters and 2 million Bosnians watching on television the boat flew through the water to pass the Americans with only the smallest of contact. We went out harder than ever and there was no way we were going to fall behind, as the finish line neared the crowd roared and we paddled our way to a Gold medal in the World Rafting Championships, get in!

Words by The Zach Man.

Opening Ceremony

After the final few days of training, returning from Montenegro and the Tara Canyon, to the Vrbas river to make the last few tweaks to the lines on the sprint and slalom courses, the teams prepared for the opening ceremony to be held in the host city of Banja Luka. All 55 teams lined the main road through the town to be greeted by thousands of locals watching local Bosnian sports demonstrated by local school children. We then marched through the street to the opening party followed by a tradional Bosnian welcoming.

Bosnia 2009 Worlds - Training Days

Both the Mens and Ladies teams have made it safe and sound to Bosnia in preparation for the World Championships 2009. The base for the event is Banja Luka in the North of Bosnia at the Kanjon Rafting Centre. The teams have already paddled the sprint and slalom sections held in the local valley trying to key into the right lines and quickest routes down the rapids. On Wednesday the teams headed down to Montenegro on a 7 hour bus ride to paddle the endurance river, the Tara which runs through a beautiful gorge headed with tree lined limestone outcrops, some reaching 1000 meters. After two runs down the 17km section, both teams boarded the bus for the 7 hour journey back. The remaining days will be spent around the rafting centre training hard and resting up ready for the event to start on Tuesday the 19th. Stay tuned for more pictures and updates.

All the following pictures are taken from the sprint rapid, a lovely run in to a big wave train