The small, picturesque township of Lipno nestled in southern Czech between soaring mountains and fast -flowing ice melt rivers attracts tourists from all over the world to experience the wild water. Lipno was the setting for the 2010 Czech Nationals, an unseasonal cold and wintry winter snap had temperatures plummeting under 10 degrees during competition. Olympian Vavra Hradilek and current Czech title holder pulled a few strings to allow a few top international paddlers to race at this race normally closed to foreign competitors. Mike Dawson was the only Kiwi on the start list. The Lipno slalom course only flows twice a year and training time on the course is limited to 2 hours leaving little preparation and familiarization for internationals on this, a home course for the CZE team.
The Lipno course is no easy slalom river with tough moves and tougher lines quickly narrowing down the field heading into the semis and finals. In slalom every qualification, semi and final is from scratch a new race and competitors need nerves of steel, technical ability and peak fitness to competitively achieve at this top international level
Day One 28th August
After a stunning qualification race , Dawson (NZL) 113.69s in the semi-finals qualified 2nd for the finals behind Lukas Kubrican (CZE) 110.69s. The course was set with gates repositioned allowing for greater difficulty on this demanding course. Vít Prinidis (CZE) 110.88s took out the finals with Dawson moving to 8th position overall. One of Dawson's training partners Heurteau (IRL) feel foul of the course and moved into 22nd position with a 50s penalty.
Day Two 29th August
Fresh from medaling at the 2010 European canoe slalom championship Olympian Vavřinec Hradilek (CZE) 110.59s took out the title with CZE team mates Michal Buchtel 2nd and Lubos Hilgert (CZE)112.16s 3rd allowing an all Czech podium finish. Ciaran Heurteau (IRL) 5th 113.36s put down solid runs during every round day two of competition. Canadian Paul Manning-Hunter experienced a few difficulties on the course pushing him into 10th position. Michael Dawson (NZL) 4th fastest into the final in 115.61s felt the force of the water causing him to lose precious seconds, collecting penalties and leaving him in 12th. overall.
Dawson relished the opportunity and challenge of another race at top level and now with two solid weekends of racing behind him heads back to Ljubljana joining up with the rest of the Kiwi team readying for final training and preparation before the 2010 Canoe Slalom World Championships begin 7-13th September
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Slovak Open ICF World Ranking Race August 20-21st
The Kiwi slalom team raced the ICF WR Slovak Open over the weekend which served as a pre world competition for the Olympic Qualifier 2011 in Bratislava ahead of slalom world championships in Slovenia
With 121 K1M lining up the competition was fierce with only the top 40 going through to the semifinals. Aaron Osborne was the best of the Kiwis from qualification leading into the K1M semi- finals. Mike DAWSON recovering from injury put down an excellent semi -final run which without an unfortunate touch would have seen him easily in the finals but with the 2s penalty pushed him from 4th to 12th overall 3.34s behind world cup medalist Grzegorz POLACZYK (POL) who put down a clean run . In 26th Aaron OSBORNE was 5.87s behind the winner POLACZYK.
Mike Dawson
Johann ROOZENBURG failed to make the cut leaving him in 58th position 107.52, 9.06 s off the qualification leader.
In C1 M Nicolas PESCHIER (FRA) 102.02s took out the qualification ahead of Matej BEŇUŠ (SVK) 103.86s. Young Kiwi Brent BASTIN the best of the NZL C1M put down a clean run 120.82s leaving him in 37th position and just out of the semi-finals. Other NZL athletes on the course were Shaun HIGGINS 46th 138.69s and Ben GIBB 48th 146.78s.
In K1 W Olympians Štepánka HILGERTOVÁ (CZE) took out the qualifications with a clean run 112.60s with Luuka Jones (NZL) 125.22s in 14th position securing her place in the semi-finals. The semis showed the technical difficulty of the course with Corinna KUHNLE (AUT) 101.93s taking out first spot in the finals ahead of fellow AUT Vio Oblinger. Luuka Jones (NZL) moved into 19th position after encountering some troubles and incurring three penalties on the course with a time of 135.65s
Luuka Jones
Following their recent training in Bratislava, many of the senior slalom team members have been training in Tacen, Ljubljana, on the course which will host the World Champs next month in Slovenia.
"We love Tacen" is the verdict of the Kiwis who have made the Slovenian capital home for the past eight weeks
The bad news on the slalom front is the withdrawal of Louise Jull from the Slovak Open through injury, the Kiwi contingency are hoping she will be back on track in time for the World Championships. Louise is the top NZL C1 W paddler, 2nd ranked NZL K1W and a key member of the NZL K1 W team for the world championship where performance goals had been looking promising .
NZL Results
K1M (121 competitors)
Michael Dawson 12th
Aaron Osborne 26th
Johann Roozenburg 58th
K1W (45 competitors)
Luuka Jones 19th
Louise Jull DNS injured
C1M (53 competitors)
Brent Bastin 37th
Shaun Higgins 46th
Ben Gibb 48th
The NZL team now travels to Ljubljana for their final preparation before the World Championships September 7-12th
With 121 K1M lining up the competition was fierce with only the top 40 going through to the semifinals. Aaron Osborne was the best of the Kiwis from qualification leading into the K1M semi- finals. Mike DAWSON recovering from injury put down an excellent semi -final run which without an unfortunate touch would have seen him easily in the finals but with the 2s penalty pushed him from 4th to 12th overall 3.34s behind world cup medalist Grzegorz POLACZYK (POL) who put down a clean run . In 26th Aaron OSBORNE was 5.87s behind the winner POLACZYK.
Mike DawsonJohann ROOZENBURG failed to make the cut leaving him in 58th position 107.52, 9.06 s off the qualification leader.
In C1 M Nicolas PESCHIER (FRA) 102.02s took out the qualification ahead of Matej BEŇUŠ (SVK) 103.86s. Young Kiwi Brent BASTIN the best of the NZL C1M put down a clean run 120.82s leaving him in 37th position and just out of the semi-finals. Other NZL athletes on the course were Shaun HIGGINS 46th 138.69s and Ben GIBB 48th 146.78s.
In K1 W Olympians Štepánka HILGERTOVÁ (CZE) took out the qualifications with a clean run 112.60s with Luuka Jones (NZL) 125.22s in 14th position securing her place in the semi-finals. The semis showed the technical difficulty of the course with Corinna KUHNLE (AUT) 101.93s taking out first spot in the finals ahead of fellow AUT Vio Oblinger. Luuka Jones (NZL) moved into 19th position after encountering some troubles and incurring three penalties on the course with a time of 135.65s
Luuka JonesFollowing their recent training in Bratislava, many of the senior slalom team members have been training in Tacen, Ljubljana, on the course which will host the World Champs next month in Slovenia.
"We love Tacen" is the verdict of the Kiwis who have made the Slovenian capital home for the past eight weeks
The bad news on the slalom front is the withdrawal of Louise Jull from the Slovak Open through injury, the Kiwi contingency are hoping she will be back on track in time for the World Championships. Louise is the top NZL C1 W paddler, 2nd ranked NZL K1W and a key member of the NZL K1 W team for the world championship where performance goals had been looking promising .
NZL Results
K1M (121 competitors)
Michael Dawson 12th
Aaron Osborne 26th
Johann Roozenburg 58th
K1W (45 competitors)
Luuka Jones 19th
Louise Jull DNS injured
C1M (53 competitors)
Brent Bastin 37th
Shaun Higgins 46th
Ben Gibb 48th
The NZL team now travels to Ljubljana for their final preparation before the World Championships September 7-12th
Friday, July 23, 2010
Medals for the NZL rafting team in Down River
Congratulations to the NZL Rafting team both Men bronze medal and Women Silver medal
Tauranga rafter makes third for NZL Credit Sunlive . Interview Brent Bastin currently training in Slovenia
21 Jul 2010
Tauranga rafter Brent Bastin and his New Zealand team have placed third in the down river event at the 2010 Teva Rafting World Championships. It was held in the Netherlands on Dutch Water Dreams, an artificial course built in the last five years, with 48 teams from 37 countries competing in four different disciplines; time trial, head to head, slalom and the down river.
Brent Bastin with team mates rafting at the World Championships in the Netherlands.
The event, which occurred over the weekend, did not start too promisingly for the New Zealand team, but it did well to place third."After a slow start on Thursday morning in the time trial we were not looking in the best shape for a swift finish," says Brent."However, as the afternoon rolled in we got our stuff together and had our first head to head down the course with Serbia."We had a good start that allowed us to get a jump on the Serbians to take the win."In the quarter finals we came up against Hungary and took the lead early to win by nine seconds, however, we were accused of intentionally cutting them off acquiring a 10 second penalty to knock us out of the semi-final."The second event was the slalom on Friday."In our first run we got given a 50 second penalty as we missed a gate due to being full of water. "In the second run we smashed it out - did the third fastest time of the day, however, we had a delayed 50 second penalty added due to one of the paddlers just missing the gate."Brent says this was a 50/50 call."Saturday was a day to redeem ourselves in the downriver. The downriver is a 30 minute paddle made up of laps, racing down the course, out around the lake then back down the course with the field split into two pods."It was brutal as we had last lane pickings, but managed to get ahead of the field really early in the game and held our lead to win by a little over a minute. However, in the second pod the Brazilians and the Japanese managed to take first and second with us in third by 20 seconds. "With a podium finish this gave us points to finish ninth overall. Not the place we were hoping for, but with the lack of time in the boat together not a bad result in the end."The kiwi girls which included Louise Jull ( Otaki) also performed well in the slalom with a silver medal to add to the collection. With a close battle for first place the girls were happy with their result."
21 Jul 2010
Tauranga rafter Brent Bastin and his New Zealand team have placed third in the down river event at the 2010 Teva Rafting World Championships. It was held in the Netherlands on Dutch Water Dreams, an artificial course built in the last five years, with 48 teams from 37 countries competing in four different disciplines; time trial, head to head, slalom and the down river.
Brent Bastin with team mates rafting at the World Championships in the Netherlands.
The event, which occurred over the weekend, did not start too promisingly for the New Zealand team, but it did well to place third."After a slow start on Thursday morning in the time trial we were not looking in the best shape for a swift finish," says Brent."However, as the afternoon rolled in we got our stuff together and had our first head to head down the course with Serbia."We had a good start that allowed us to get a jump on the Serbians to take the win."In the quarter finals we came up against Hungary and took the lead early to win by nine seconds, however, we were accused of intentionally cutting them off acquiring a 10 second penalty to knock us out of the semi-final."The second event was the slalom on Friday."In our first run we got given a 50 second penalty as we missed a gate due to being full of water. "In the second run we smashed it out - did the third fastest time of the day, however, we had a delayed 50 second penalty added due to one of the paddlers just missing the gate."Brent says this was a 50/50 call."Saturday was a day to redeem ourselves in the downriver. The downriver is a 30 minute paddle made up of laps, racing down the course, out around the lake then back down the course with the field split into two pods."It was brutal as we had last lane pickings, but managed to get ahead of the field really early in the game and held our lead to win by a little over a minute. However, in the second pod the Brazilians and the Japanese managed to take first and second with us in third by 20 seconds. "With a podium finish this gave us points to finish ninth overall. Not the place we were hoping for, but with the lack of time in the boat together not a bad result in the end."The kiwi girls which included Louise Jull ( Otaki) also performed well in the slalom with a silver medal to add to the collection. With a close battle for first place the girls were happy with their result."
Friday, July 2, 2010
Louise Jull takes gold Augsburg Head to Head
Louise Jull kept a cool head and worked hard in the Head to Head race to beat off fellow countrywoman Luuka Jones into third position for the top finish. Racing was tight and brutal on the Olym,pic course and left no room for errors. Congratulations to Louise Jull (Otaki) 1st and Luuka Jones (Tauranga) 3rd
Thursday, July 1, 2010
World Cup Three Augsburg- Canoe Slalom Olympic Discipline
Louise Jull flagbearer for the NZL team at the opening ceremony
Saturday, June 12, 2010
2010 Teva Extreme Games Italy- NZ World Champions
Credit Teva Photos L to R Johann Roozenburg, Mike Dawson, Sam SuttonThe Kiwi contingency of Mike Dawson, Sam Sutton and Johann Roozenburg flew into Munich from recent successes at Vail, Colorado. Leading on from their fine USA performances Dawson wrapped up day one of the racing taking out both events, Ivrea northern Italy.
This morning an outstanding field of international competitors (Olympians, World Champions) lined up on the Chiusella River for the first race of the Teva Extreme Outdoor Games. Despite adverse weather conditions the race was spectacular as the athletes battled it out on this difficult and treacherous stretch of the river demonstrating high technical skills.
Mike Dawson (NZL) won the long race with a time of 6:16:20, with Isaac Levinson (USA) 0:05:10s behind and in third place Eric Deguille (FRA) with 6:23:50. Sam Sutton(NZL) finished a credible 4th position just off the podium with Johann Roozenburg (NZL) 18th in this field of 65 world class international paddlers
The high tensions and competitiveness continued throughout the afternoon with the "King of the Falls, a spectacular race from the top of Chiusella River which saw the top athletes combat it out for the title of" King of the Falls ". Only the top 20 placed athletes from the morning long run were eligible to race the "King of the Falls" An adrenaline test, this race has everyone on the edge competitors and spectators alike with the spectacular waterfalls, gnarly water demanding high levels of technical skills, fitness and endurance sending the crowd wild with excitement
Mike Dawson (NZL) also triumphed in the afternoon and according to 2009 winner and top international slalom paddler Kral Dejan (SLO) 2nd commented ‘Dawson is the King!' in third was well known international Honza Lasko (CZE) and NZL'er Sam Sutton was piped into 4th position
Mike Dawson, spearheading the New Zealand team, is the big winner today. Winner of both this morning's Long Race and winner of the King of the Falls in the afternoon.
In an interview a few months ago, Mike told the organisers that he hoped this year to get a good result..
Working towards the Freeride World Championship title and Team Extreme Kayak World Championship title Dawson faces his opponents with strength and high expectations to reach his goal. With two wins out of four events for the former he is in good standing for the title, the Team Extreme kayak World Championship involves two races slalom and downriver over some treacherous water and will be held over the weekend. Keep an eye out for the next results.
Check out full results http://www.tevaextremeoutdoorgames.it/
This morning an outstanding field of international competitors (Olympians, World Champions) lined up on the Chiusella River for the first race of the Teva Extreme Outdoor Games. Despite adverse weather conditions the race was spectacular as the athletes battled it out on this difficult and treacherous stretch of the river demonstrating high technical skills.
Mike Dawson (NZL) won the long race with a time of 6:16:20, with Isaac Levinson (USA) 0:05:10s behind and in third place Eric Deguille (FRA) with 6:23:50. Sam Sutton(NZL) finished a credible 4th position just off the podium with Johann Roozenburg (NZL) 18th in this field of 65 world class international paddlers
The high tensions and competitiveness continued throughout the afternoon with the "King of the Falls, a spectacular race from the top of Chiusella River which saw the top athletes combat it out for the title of" King of the Falls ". Only the top 20 placed athletes from the morning long run were eligible to race the "King of the Falls" An adrenaline test, this race has everyone on the edge competitors and spectators alike with the spectacular waterfalls, gnarly water demanding high levels of technical skills, fitness and endurance sending the crowd wild with excitement
Mike Dawson (NZL) also triumphed in the afternoon and according to 2009 winner and top international slalom paddler Kral Dejan (SLO) 2nd commented ‘Dawson is the King!' in third was well known international Honza Lasko (CZE) and NZL'er Sam Sutton was piped into 4th position
Mike Dawson, spearheading the New Zealand team, is the big winner today. Winner of both this morning's Long Race and winner of the King of the Falls in the afternoon.
In an interview a few months ago, Mike told the organisers that he hoped this year to get a good result..
Working towards the Freeride World Championship title and Team Extreme Kayak World Championship title Dawson faces his opponents with strength and high expectations to reach his goal. With two wins out of four events for the former he is in good standing for the title, the Team Extreme kayak World Championship involves two races slalom and downriver over some treacherous water and will be held over the weekend. Keep an eye out for the next results.
Check out full results http://www.tevaextremeoutdoorgames.it/
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Teva Mountain Games -Vail Colerado NZL on the Podium
With spectator crowds of close to 35,000 and over 3000 competitors this is a massive event testing the mettle of the world’s best. Held over four days the town of Vail USA becomes a Mecca for the worlds’ top extreme athletes. New Zealanders are strong contenders with a strong reputation for being at the fore of the world’s best in kayaking proved again they are at the top internationally. Congratulations to the following athletes for their prowess
Steep Creek Championship
Sam Sutton NZL, a Rotorua local took out the Steep Creek Challenge ahead of Mike Dawson NZL 2009 champion. Sam showed his style all the way winning both runs with a clear margin ahead of the worlds’ top whitewater kayakers. Sam who had been preparing in the States for the last three weeks showed his superb skill, technique and fitness on both his runs. Mike Dawson sitting in 4th place after run one was ready and rearing for his second run knowing he had to put down a blistering time ,he knew he was in trouble when early into the second run his shaft snapped on a rock heading into the Leap of Faith waterfall and left him working hard to make it down this gnarly river in 7th position. Johann Roozenburg (Rotorua) also showed his ability coming in 6th position after two solid runs. In the women’s challenge Nikki Kelly NZL was piped at the post into 3rd position by old time rival and friend Tanya Faux AUS, Leea Samuels NZL came in a credible 6th position just ahead of fellow NZL’er Rachael Curtis of Nelson
Down River Sprints
Mike Dawson NZL had a clear margin winning the sprint 8..36s ahead of fellow NZL Sam Sutton with Tao Berman USA coming in 3rd position. The NZL paddlers were on a roll and well represented on the podium with top world extreme woman kayaker Nikki Kelly NZL (Rotorua) in 3rd position in the women’s sprint closely followed by Louise Jull NZL (Otaki) a new comer to international extreme events in 4th position.
Mike, Sam and Johann now head towards Italy to contest their World Extreme title in the teams division against the world‘s best extreme kayakers from around the globe. With a sound performance behind them they are looking for a podium finish in Ivrea, Northern Italy
Unfortunately he high temperatures, snow melt and extreme river flows caused the cancellation of the final day of kayak racing and the 9th annual Teva Mountain Games Vail, Colorado June 3-6, 2010 came to an end
http://www.tevamountaingames.com/
BOP Times article Kiwis dominate
Steep Creek Championship
Sam Sutton NZL, a Rotorua local took out the Steep Creek Challenge ahead of Mike Dawson NZL 2009 champion. Sam showed his style all the way winning both runs with a clear margin ahead of the worlds’ top whitewater kayakers. Sam who had been preparing in the States for the last three weeks showed his superb skill, technique and fitness on both his runs. Mike Dawson sitting in 4th place after run one was ready and rearing for his second run knowing he had to put down a blistering time ,he knew he was in trouble when early into the second run his shaft snapped on a rock heading into the Leap of Faith waterfall and left him working hard to make it down this gnarly river in 7th position. Johann Roozenburg (Rotorua) also showed his ability coming in 6th position after two solid runs. In the women’s challenge Nikki Kelly NZL was piped at the post into 3rd position by old time rival and friend Tanya Faux AUS, Leea Samuels NZL came in a credible 6th position just ahead of fellow NZL’er Rachael Curtis of Nelson
Down River Sprints
Mike Dawson NZL had a clear margin winning the sprint 8..36s ahead of fellow NZL Sam Sutton with Tao Berman USA coming in 3rd position. The NZL paddlers were on a roll and well represented on the podium with top world extreme woman kayaker Nikki Kelly NZL (Rotorua) in 3rd position in the women’s sprint closely followed by Louise Jull NZL (Otaki) a new comer to international extreme events in 4th position.
Mike, Sam and Johann now head towards Italy to contest their World Extreme title in the teams division against the world‘s best extreme kayakers from around the globe. With a sound performance behind them they are looking for a podium finish in Ivrea, Northern Italy
Unfortunately he high temperatures, snow melt and extreme river flows caused the cancellation of the final day of kayak racing and the 9th annual Teva Mountain Games Vail, Colorado June 3-6, 2010 came to an end
http://www.tevamountaingames.com/
BOP Times article Kiwis dominate
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