Well that’s it - selection is done and dusted for 2008! The bad news is that whilst I didn’t qualify for the Olympics, I did qualify myself a place on the Great Britain senior team. This makes it my second year on the ‘full’ team (the first being 2006), and means I will be eligible to race the European Championships in May, two of the three World Cup events held during June, the Pre-World Championships in July, and the University World Championships in September – it looks like I’ve got a fairly busy summer ahead of me!

As it’s been a while since I last posted I’ll give a quick update. The domestic season for me kicked off at the beginning of March with a Premier division national ranking race held in Wales. Unfortunately for me I cocked up, finishing a lowly 41st. A couple of weeks later I then made the journey up to Scotland for races 2 and 3 of the national ranking championships. Here I did slightly better, finishing 4th and 8th. Whilst these results were hardly spectacular, they did serve a vital purpose in my selection preparations in as much as they got me ready to race – fine tuning if you like.

And so, after 8 months of intense preparation, Britain’s top canoe slalom athletes travelled to Holland to where this years Olympic and British senior team places would be decided. The first run of any selection event is particularly important; it sets out your stall and if you can get a good first run in it puts pressure on the opposition from the off. As it was I was 5th after first runs, and certainly not where I’d hoped to be. The first run was actually very good, marred by a slight error which cost me around 4 seconds. I knew a good second run should move me back up the order, and fortunately I was able to deliver one – climbing back up to third, and a result I’d have certainly settled for after first runs. Winner of the first race was Athens silver medallist, Campbell Walsh, closely followed by Richard Hounslow (4th in the Worlds last year).

The second race took place the next day, and I was acutely aware that if I wanted to stay in contention for the Olympic place, I really had to win. My first run was, whilst I considered it to be pretty average at the time, actually rather decent. I gave away a fraction here and there but it was enough to have me in the lead by a small amount.

Sitting on the start line prior to my second run was quite a surreal experience. Whilst I have led races before, I’ve certainly never led an Olympic selection event. Regardless, I was determined to be as aggressive as I could, and to try and enjoy the whole experience. I set off hard, and managed to get the boat up and running early on. My only real error was ploughing into one of the larger stoppers (a re-circulating wave caused by a sudden drop in the river bed), which scrubbed off quite a bit of boat speed. However, I managed to recover and paddled well to the finish. I then had to wait for Rich, and then for Campbell to complete their runs.

Whilst I thought I’d performed well enough for a top three result, I didn’t really think I’d done enough for the win. So you can imagine I was slightly surprised when I discovered that I’d won. The final results were myself first, Campbell second, and Richard third. Perhaps the biggest implication of this result – from where I was sitting at least – was that I was guaranteed a place in the British team regardless of what happened in the third and final race, and more importantly, I was now the only person who could challenge Campbell for the Olympic spot. Admittedly I had to win again, but I was still in there with a shout.

We then had a weeks break before the final race during which I did some light training, and generally let myself unwind prior to building ones mental focus again, ready for the weekend.

Saturday dawned grey, windy, and generally pretty miserable – you couldn’t have chosen a worse day on which to race. Regardless, I still had a job to do, and set about doing my pre-warm up / warm up routines. My first run didn’t get off to a particularly good start; taking a touch on gate six put me under pressure from the off, and I subsequently wasn’t able to get into a relaxed rhythm. I was over 7 seconds down on Richard, the leader after first runs which, barring a disaster on his part, effectively ended my Olympic campaign. Irrespective of this, disasters will, and frequently do happen, and so it was up to me to put something down which could challenge for the lead. I resolved to take what chances / risks I could (after all I had nothing to lose), and to see what I could do. As it transpired I took one risk too many and messed up the penultimate gate – but that’s sport, I raced to win, and I lost!

Congratulations to Richard, who won the final race, and in doing so qualified his place on the senior team, and congratulations also to Campbell who, despite making a mistake in the final race, did enough to qualify for his second Olympic games.

Whilst myself, and the men’s kayaks were having our own mini battle for Olympic selection, there was also three other classes to be determined. Arguably the most closely fought was in the Canadian singles category where David Florence and Stuart McIntosh (both World Championship finalists) had to race for the one Olympic place. Winner of the first race by a comfortable margin was Dave, who managed to put down an exceptionally quick first run, closely followed by a good second. The second days racing was a much tighter affair, however, with the deciding factor being penalties. Both athletes raced well, but Stu was fractionally quicker after both runs and penalties had been combined. This resulted in a final race showdown, much like the men’s kayaks, with whoever finishing ahead of who taking the Olympic place.

The Canadian singles had exactly the same weather to contend with as we did. Making the best of the poor conditions after first runs was David, who held a comfortable lead as a result of Stuart picking up a two second penalty. McIntosh had to push hard to make up the lost ground on his second run, but was unable to do so, with Florence attacking the course and going on to post an even quicker second running time. The third and final place in the Great Britain Canadian singles team went to my room mate, Mark Proctor.

In the women’s kayak, Fiona Pennie (2006 World Championship silver medallist) had her Olympic place secured by the evening of race two with an unbeatable two wins. Close rival Laura Blakeman pushed hard but could only manage 3rd overall, with the 2nd place, and Olympic reserve title going to Louise Donnington.

In the Canadian doubles category, Etienne Stott and Tim Baillie went head to head with Dan Goddard and Nick Smith to decide the number one spot. Despite having something of a nightmare in the first race – Tim’s spray deck (the piece of kit which keeps the water out of the boat) popped off – they paddled sufficiently well in the next two races to take both wins, and assuming they paddle to form at the European Championships, a place in the Olympic Games.

So to sum up, congratulations go to Campbell Walsh, Fiona Pennnie, and David Florence, who have all secured their Olympic places.

Go Team GB!