Quite often things don’t go to plan in sport and that’s certainly been the case over the last few races for me. Indeed, following my successes at team selection and the Europeans it was going to be a tough act to follow but that’s what the game is all about – trying to continuously move forward.

It started in Prague at World Cup 1 where I messed up in qualification and failed to qualify for the semi-final. Whilst it’s relatively easy to cock-up in a race it’s kind of inexcusable. I’ve spent plenty of time training and racing in Prague and frankly I should have performed a lot better.

Moving on, the next race was in Ljubliana, the capital city of Slovenia. Set in the picturesque mountains it’s a beautiful little venue, and I would thoroughly recommend the country to anyone considering a holiday there. Indeed, having lost my teammates on a shopping trip, some kind soul wondered up to me and informed me (in English) where they were. How he knew that I was lost, looking for them, and was English I will never know, but it summed up the whole Slovenian experience.

Given that I’d never raced or trained on the site before I was aware that I was slightly up against it when it came to getting a good result there. The course itself is notoriously difficult, with a big drop at the start (I can only relate it to a roller coaster just as you’re about to go down a very steep section) and some very surgy water. Despite this I qualified comfortably for the semis, even with a pretty shoddy first run. My semi-final charge got off to a good start, with me having a nice run down the big first drop. Unfortunately that’s where it ended, as some giant boil on the next move swallowed me! It was pretty embarrassing actually, and the rest of the run certainly wasn’t one of my finest.

After a week back at home, I flew out to La Seu d’Urgell in Spain, site of next years World Championships, and home of the 1992 Olympic course. Seu is one of my favourite sites, and despite having trained there many times I’ve never actually raced on it. So it was with some excitement that I pitched up on race day, all raring to go. Having qualified fairly comfortably I was looking forward to the semis. Sadly I didn’t start very well, with me pinging off a rock in the opening sequence costing me time. I then made the cardinal sin of pushing too hard and making further errors as a result of the boat either moving too fast or being in the wrong place. I finished in 34th position, which is very disappointing given how well I can paddle there.

Despite myself having a bad run of form of late, there have been many excellent performances from various members of the British team. Top of the pile from my own personal perspective is Tom Brady - my training partner - winning silver in the Junior European Championships last weekend. Given he was winning after first runs he held his nerve brilliantly to put down a quicker second run, only to be beaten by a slender 0.21 of a second…….slightly annoying from his perspective, but a fantastic performance nonetheless!

Congratulations also to David Florence, who’s further underlined his status as a Beijing medal contender, finishing 3rd in both Prague and Seu. To attain this level of consistency is a tremendous achievement, and one which I’m sure he’ll carry all the way through to the Games.

Conquering the boils and surges in Slovenia was Richard Hounslow, the GB men’s kayak Olympic reserve, taking a very good 3rd place, and his first world cup medal. Other excellent performances were from Lizzie Neave and Louise Donnington finishing 5th and 9th respectively in their first finals.

At the pre-worlds in Seu, Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott demonstrated their unquestionable talent with a fabulous bronze medal. Given their difficult season to date it was a real pleasure to watch them show the World exactly what their capable of.

Finally, Canadian singles paddler, and my room mate, Mark Proctor qualified for his first final finishing in a very good 9th place. Sadly I wasn’t there to watch it (our selection policy had ‘released’ this race to the juniors and U23’s), but I was assured he paddled very well without me!

So, with the ‘smaller’ races done and dusted, all that remains is the Big One, the Olympic Games. This will be the culmination of many years of hard work, sacrifice, and dare I say, a few tears. Very few people get the privilege of representing their country in any kind of sport, and fewer still at an Olympic Games. For an athlete this is the pinnacle of their sporting career, and I’m sure you’ll wish Campbell Walsh, Fiona Pennie, and David Florence all the best as they go for Olympic gold on the 12th and 14th August.

Campbell Walsh: www.campbellwalsh.com
Fiona Pennie: www.fionapennie.com
David Florence: www.davidflorence.com