The 2009 Season : It's a wrap!

Tim and I did our last competitive run of the 2009 season at the British Open in Llangollen. We were the last boat down the course, having won the semi-final. It was fun to be on our own at the top of the course and to be able to see everyone standing on the town bridge.

We did a quick run, I rubbed a gate on my back so a 2second penalty had to be added to our time, but it was enough to win the British Open title and the Premier Division rankings too. We retained the Andy Nicoll memorial Trophy as well as the hefty Streamlyte Trophy. As a bonus we got to go on a spending spree in the Eddylines shop, courtesy of the event sponsor, Whitewater Active.

The race in Llangollen was, as usual, shrouded with uncertainty as to the water levels in the Dee. In the end, the event ran, but on Saturday the river was only just navigable and we only did the one run required to qualify to save damaging our boat. On Sunday, a bit of rain helped matters, but it was still shallow and we were concerned for our equipment. The effort that goes into running this particular event is huge (and hugely appreciated), but the quality of the river and course leave it a bit down the list in terms of popularity with the racers. We'll see what develops next year as there will be a new course in Cardiff bay as well as (hopefully) a rejuvenated Teeside.

The event capped off an excellent year's racing for us; Bronze at the European Championships with a Silver in Teams, 4th at the World Championships with a Bronze in Teams, 4th in the Overall World Cup rankings, UK Champions, National Ranking Champions and British Open Champions. It's been good, but now the mission starts to make next season even better!

We have completed our annual review with our coaches and staff and now we are in the process of creating a detailed Athlete Develpoment Plan (ADP), which will set the training schedule and targets for next year. It should be a good winter of hard training, we'll keep you up to date with the exciting stuff! Before then, we'll go and dig out our winter cags and pogies to get stuck in! Bye for now!

(Posted on the 26th Oct 2009)