World Cup #3 Markleberg, Germany

From an easy river and a relatively straight forward course in France the circus travelled to Germany for the last World Cup before a 2 week break in the schedule. One of the only courses in the world to 'turn' right, the site just outside Leipzig is know for its tough moves. The French coach designing the course this weekend put it all on the line and set a doozie.

Paul Manning-Hunter Qualified solidly in 34th position. In the Semi-Final Paul showed amazing consistency finishing in 26th place. You can see the run below. With a 31st, 24th and 26th place result in the first three World Cups we look forward to seeing a serious jump in his world ranking which was 94th going into the events. Paul is remaining in Europe for the entire summer to train, and compete in the London Test Event, Prague World Cup 4, and culminating with the World Championships in September in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Jessica executed the moves, but lost time in being too careful, costing her a place in the Semi-Final. Jess is headed home for a brief 10day reload, and then will be headed back to London for the first Olympic Test Event. She will then remain in Europe with the rest of the Team for World Cup 4 and right through the World Championships in September.

Well Done Guys!

Paul's Semi Final Run:

Qualifier 1 Leipzig World Cup # 3 from Diago Alps on Vimeo.

Argentiere Update - Personal Best Results!

A great race for our two Alberta paddlers in the second World Cup. Argentiere la Bessee is a cross between the Kananaskis and Chilliwack. Crisp, clean water & eddies with a constant gradient. Clearly an natural venue would play to their strengths.

Jessica Groeneveld of Innisfail tore up the course to post her best ever World Cup finish. She qualified 28th and then proceeded to 'switch off' and race to a 20th place result. She was extremely pleased with the result dispite a couple of minor time errors.

Paul Manning-Hunter was equally specatacular in France Qualifying in 14th place! In the Semi-Finals he finished 24th in what was one of the tightest races in recent history, with only 4 seconds separating the top 23 men on a long (105 seconds) course.

14th place Qualifing run

Qualifier 2 L'aganteire World Cup # 2 from Diago Alps on Vimeo.

World Cup #2 Argentiere, France

World Cup 2 is upon us. After a blazing start for Paul Manning-Hunter in WC1 in Tacen, he's looking to improve on his personal best, 31st place finish. Paul's hoping his new haircut will make him even faster!?!

Jessica Groeneveld will be looking for a better performance after missing out on the semi-finals in Tacen. Jessica has been teaching herself french over the last year, so she'll finally get a chance to use it this week in France.

Also having two Olympic medalists in their coaching staff should instill all the confidence needed to throw down! Benoit Peschier won gold in Athens, while Michal Staniszewski won silver in Sydney.

Results, Video, Webcam
http://www.largentierecanoe2011.com/en/

Updated - Live Video this weekend of World Cup #1 - You can watch it all here taped as well. See Paul in the SF, John in the final!

Live Video Link - World Cup #1 from Tacen (Ljubljana), Slovenia.

Good luck to Jessica, Paul, Thomas & Daniel. This is the first World Cup ever for the later 3, so again congratulations on making the big step up. Jessica was 19th here at the World Championships last September, so she's looking to have another good result to continue her quiet climb up the World Ranking, where she currently sits in 58th. The Purcells are sitting in 59th in C2 in the WR and Mr Manning-Hunter has cracked the top 100 in K1 Men with his spring racing in Europe and currently sits in 94th.

Go Team!!!

http://video.digotel.com/eurovisionbest/icf/index.html

National Team Trials Pics - Thanks AJ!

The view from our cabins

Catch the wave with your chin? I doubt I said that...

Training behind the Maxi grocery store

Ben 'McGruff' Hayward

Alberta's Senior National Team Members Video

2011 National Team Trials - Valleyfield, Quebec.

See the official Canoe Kayak Canada Press release here:
http://www.sirc.ca/news_view.cfm?id=40604

Alberta Slalom Canoe Kayak had a record showing at this year's National Team Trials selecting 5 senior athletes and 2 Junior athletes to their respective National A Teams! An additional 2 Alberta athletes were named to the National B Team. Congratulations to all the athletes!

Thank you to all our partners & supporters who helped make this event one to remember for Alberta.

Thank you Connor and Greg for your coaching and video support.

Thank you to the Alberta Sport Development Center-Calgary, Canadian Sport Center-Calgary, Alberta Sport Recreation Parks and Wildlife Foundation, Undercurrents,

Thank you to our IST providers: Karen MacNeil, Nicholas Simpson, Susan Massitti, Kelly Quipp & Kelly Anne Erdman.

Most of the National Team is headed to Europe this week for three World Cups, followed by another European tour in August, including coach Mike, for a fourth World Cup and the World Championships.

Stay tuned for more results... Good Luck to All !!!

Sweet new vid from Twelve Productions!

V.H The Machine in B.A from Twelve Productions on Vimeo.

Penguin Race and Picture link

The Waterwerks Kayak Club hosted the third annual Penguin race at the Meadows Saturday. The first event of the season saw a conglomeration of paddlers take to the river to demonstrate their skills. From young to old, beginner to adept, all were out showing their stuff. The many hours in the gym paid off for some of the older and junior paddlers as they saw their times drop on the challenging 16 gate course, while the cub-cadets, many for whom this was their first time in a boat this season, saw a great improvement to their second runs from their first. Paddlers from as far as France and Japan also came to the local event with a strong showing from the Cottonwood Kayak Club (Innisfail) and the Waterwerks Kayak Club (Calgary).

Volunteers made the event a success with an assortment of chilli and goodies for the athletes to fill up on after their race. In addition to the delicious food (with a special mention to national team athlete Jessica Groeneveld’s penguin-topped cupcakes), penguin-themed prizes were awarded.

Thanks to our sponsor, ATB Financial and to all the volunteers who made this year’s race a huge success and we’ll see everyone back at Waterwerks’ 4th annual Penguin Race in 2012.

Pictures can be found Here. Thanks to Geoff Holroyd. If you were racing, and there isn't a dozen pictures of you, let me know, because I think he was only able to upload half of them.

The Keg - Grant Submission

We'll see if we get through the nomination process, but here's the video AJ Cole put together for us for this Grant. If we get to the voting round you'll hear lots more about it. Good Job AJ!!!

What a great opportunity for paddling in Alberta!

Lower Kananaskis River area redevelopment plan

The Lower Kananaskis River area is a popular day use destination, and is recognized for its river-based recreational opportunities. There are four facility nodes within this planning area – Canoe Meadows, Barrier Lake Visitor Information Centre, Widowmaker and Barrier Dam.

The draft redevelopment proposal has been prepared to help address issues related to the increasing recreational use of the area, while minimizing any adverse impacts on the Lower Kananaskis River watershed and area wildlife. The key objectives of the proposal include reducing congestion at day use sites; improving river access for recreational users; increasing camping opportunities; and enhancing the Canoe Meadows site to accommodate special events, river recreation, and to act as a multi-function camping area.

Information on the proposal, and instructions for providing written or online comments are available at http://www.tpr.alberta.ca/parks/consult/consultations/LKR/

The consultation period for this proposal will start on February 25, 2011 and close on April 25, 2011. The website will be updated once all comments have been considered and a decision has been made. Please check back after April 25, 2011 for updates.

In addition to public feedback gathered during this comment period, site management efficiency, cost effectiveness and public safety will be key considerations in making a final decision on the proposal.

ASCK Casino

Wednesday and Thursday, March 16-17
Calgary at Casino Calgary, 1420 - Meridian Road N.E.near Barlow and 16th Ave.

We need to fill our casino volunteer positions for our casino. As you know all HP and Winter Training families are responsible for taking a minimum of 2 casino shifts each year. But we also need help from our regular slalom community too. This casino is vitally important to providing coaching and support to our slalom team. Without our casino funds we would not be able to offer the excellent program that it has become. ASCK will treat all casino volunteers to meal vouchers at the casino and for out-of-town volunteers, ASCK will pay the normal volunteer mileage rate of $0.26/km to the casino and home and a hotel room if required. If you would like to volunteer for a position I will need to know the day(s) and the time(s) that you are available and the type of position that you would like to work in.

Download:
CasinoVOLUNTEERSCHEDULE.doc
AGLCVolunteerApplication.pdf

You can email these forms back to Sue Penner at rspranch@gmail.com or fax them to 403-335-3160. Please forward this on to anyone that you know that might be interested in helping out.

AJ Cole's Australia Video of Team Canada!

Check out AJ's sick vid and make sure to watch it in HD if you can.

Untitled from Adrian Cole on Vimeo.

Spring and Good Technique

It's spring and time to make sure you are starting off the year with impeccable technique. Check out a great site to see how it's done.

http://www.slalomtechnique.co.uk/index.php

A Beginner's guide to Canoe Slalom