Blurred Recollections of the Greatest Kayaking Race that Never Was

When Tom suggested a few months ago that we enter the Adidas Sickline World Champs, I assumed he was joking or had gotten all confused with his swanky new PDA / phone / camera / espresso machine and dialled the wrong number. However, the chance to paddle and party with some of the worlds best and to have a crack at racing on the infamous Wellebruke rapids seemed to good a chance to miss and soon ferries were booked and training was being studiously avoided.

“Hmm….” inspecting the Wellebruke rapids

Upon arriving in Oeztal a few days before the event, it was evident that the weather was much warmer than we had anticipated, with shorts and flip flops being preferable over the collection of hats and down jackets that we had packed. A quick drive up to the qualification stretch on the middle Oetz revealed a nice course of grade 4 with a grade 2 sprint at the end, but before jumping on for practice, we had important athlete things to do, namely buying some board shorts and playing a swift round of crazy snooker. Turns out that I rock at crazy snooker.

Tom tries in vain to master the subtleties of crazy snooker

After proving my dominance at crazy snooker it was time to hit the water for some practice runs on the qualification section. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning were spent perfecting lines, watching other paddlers and discussing race strategies. It was interesting to watch how different paddlers tackled the course and how the various lines affected the overall speed. After a few runs down the course, Tom and I were quietly confident of not reaching the final and decided it was time for some well earned ice cream and lager.

Tom, training hard

We’re not athletes, we’re kayakers (photo: Sarah Nash)

Due to an unfortunate combination of unseasonably high waterlevels and issues to do with event insurance and permits, the race itself was postponed and eventually cancelled. This was a great shame as the event organisers had evidently worked to create a great event and showcase for modern competitive whitewater kayaking. It is also a great shame that I didn’t get to claim my inevitable title as world champion (ha!), but I guess with the event being cancelled, we are all world champions. It is testament to the organisation and work put in by the organisers and sponsors that, even with the race being cancelled, all in attendance appeared to have a fantastic time. It was great to get to meet, paddle with, drink with, and dance with a whole bunch of new people from all over the globe and I’m certainly looking forward to next year’s event, and maybe even racing…

Rich Brooks taking the new Everest for a spin on the Finster Munster

On another note, I got a chance to try out the new Pyranha Everest. It was responsive, fast, and fun on the Slalom course on the Oetz and it inspired some interesting conversations and vague plans for future big trips…

Sporting a particuarly colourful kit combo on the Finster Munster (Photo: Lyndsey Evans)

In time honoured tradition, here, in no particular order, are some recollections of the past few days. Between Tuesday morning and Sunday evening, the following happened: drinking, doing the robot, dancing, Austrian paddling with sunshine, ice cream, the middle Oetz, faff, carnage, dancing, a smart chalet, preposterous lies, the Finster Munster, singing, abuse, training, loafing, drinking tea, “I was never really going to hit those Germans”, an epic party, jagermeister, losing my jacket, drinking, a well aimed bucket of water, running around in the rain, traffic jams, driving, apfelstrudel, James Blunt.

There was a sad reminder of the extreme nature of hard whitewater kayaking on the eve of the event when Sickline team member, Tim Weinmann met with a tragic accident that cast a shadow over the whole event. I’m sure that the thoughts of paddlers all over the world are with his family and friends at this time.