Tryweryn Freestyle

This year there are a number of GB national league events that are counting towards selections and also to decide who will be British Champion 2010. The first of these events took place at the Tryweryn on May 22nd. I managed to get an hour of practise in the day before the comp, but wasn't holding out much hope due to my recent lack of boating (due to back problems, work and a recent lack of water I have been in my boat just 12 times since the worlds in August last year - not great preparation for a season of competition!). The feature is tricky as it is easy to flush out of the hole on loop-based moves, with huge potential for missing the eddy and floating off downstream, as happened to a number of competitors throughout the day.

In the men's event Sam Anderson made the feature look sticky with huge phonics monkeys, McNasties and Space Godzillas - he took 1st place.

There were just a few ladies who entered the competition, but 4 out of the 5 were GB team either this year or last, so the competition was still tough. I was consistent with the moves I could do - loops and cartwheels - but wasn't getting any of the higher scoring moves, however I did enough to put me in 2nd place with Emily Wall, who scored a felix in her first ride (the only one of the competition), taking the ladies win. Full results are on www.ukfreestyle.com.

The next UK league event will be at Boulters weir on 10th July. As well as the Brit Champs/Selection there is also an open category for novice/intermediate paddlers, or anyone that doesn't class themselves as 'elite'. Details on www.ukfreestyle.com

My next comp will be the European Championships in Lienz, Austria, 14-19 June. I'll hopefully be posting updates from there.