Calgary Penguin Race

The 2nd Annual Penguin Race was a great success. 40 athletes competed on a decent day at the Deerfoot Meadows. The moderate temperature and weather held on just long enough for us to leasiurly get the program done, though 15min after leaving the site, I was driving in a full blizzard. Spring in Alberta!

Congratulations to all the competitors! For some it was your first Slalom experience, for some it was a tune up for racing season. Regardless I was impressed with how much everyone supported one another and it made for a great day.

The Overall speed winner was Ben Hayward, knocking reigning champion Paul Manning-Hunter out of top spot. Marissa Dederer again took the spirit of the event to heart and came up with the most creative costume. Both Ben and Marissa have been imortalized on the Penguin Trophy.

Thank you to all the parents and volunteers who help the event run smoothly and fed our hungry athletes. With competitors from Germany, Australia, Innisfail, Sundre and Banff, the Penguin race is quickly turning into an international event. Thanks for travelling to the mighty Bow River.

Full results can be found Here.

I hope to see many of you at next weekend's Alberta Cup at the Kananaskis River!

ASG Zone Trials

Check out the current Results for Alberta Summer Games zone trials. Some great times there! These will continue to be updated until June 21st. Good luck!

For more info on the Games click Here.

NOC training

Australia 2010

The month of February was a warm one for Alberta paddlers. 6 athletes and I ventured down under for three and a half weeks for a warm water/weather training camp. Tons of whitewater and a couple of races felt good after two months of skiing. Penrith Whitewater Stadium is still the place for internationals to go to train in the winter months. The set up is just too easy to train, to pass up.

Days off are always full. A trip the blue mountains revealed Kagaroos, a giant lizard, kookaburas, and big spiders. Swimming at Jelly Bean pool helped to cool us off on a 40 degree day.

As exciting as Penrith is, the beach is the major draw for days off. Those talented enough surfed while the fairer athletes, just soaked up the rays on the beach. Sunscreen is recomended while surfing (Paul, Ben). We also did a full lap of Sydney seeing the madatory Opera house, circular quay, downtown and Darling harbour. One of the highlights of the walking day was trying to watch Olympic results in a random computer store downtown. We watched as Jennifer Heil's sivler medal results slowly loaded up. Not as exciting as CBC coverage, but then the cricket match that was on tv was surely more important?

We were all sad when the camp came to an end and we returned to Calgary. Fortunately the weather in March can be borderline and we should be able to paddle some, before heading to North Carolina for the lone North American ICF ranking race.

Crushing it in the gym!

Olympic Torch passes through Alberta

For anyone lucky enough the see the torch this week it was pretty cool. Just the sight of it was enough get the heart racing and brighten the day of all involved. It reminds us of a higher purpose of improving humanity through sport. I saw only saw it on Mcleod Trail but Matt Frank had the great opportunity to touch the flame this week in Medicine Hat. He was one of the chosen ones to run with the Torch last Sunday. Here's a couple pictures.

Jasper Slalom in January

Thank you Sean and Rebecca for having me up to Jasper for the weekend. We had a great slalom session in the pool with 11 talented paddlers and a circuits session. I expect to see all of you walking on your hands, and rolling the C1 by the time Alberta Summer Games come around!

The drive up the parkway was beautiful, and I was even able to get out for a powder run on Parker's Ridge and a paddle on the Kananaskis on the way home! Gotta love January in Alberta.

Canmore Snow Camp - December

What better way to go into Christmas than a super high volume few days of skiing. It was an epic 4 days with 18hrs of aerobic work and up to 150km skied (congrats Marissa!). With some amazing training adaptations taking place in just 4days we have proven that we are tough. Luckily the weather was about 20 degrees warmer than last year. Here's a few pics.

Happy New Year!

2010 is going to be a great year.

Australia, North Carolina, Squamish, Whistler, Alberta Cups in every corner of the province, Alberta Summer Games, and Nationals in Minden.

Who wants to be National Champion?

WE LOVE TO PADDLE!!!

New Kayak Ergometer courtesy of ASRPWF

We have a new Speedstroke Gym! Thank You to Alberta Sport Recreation Parks & Wildlife Foundation for the Development Initialives Grant for its purchase. We can now train more accurately and do physical testing that you will all learn to love!

Sundre Pool Session and Training Day

Saturday we left Calgary bright and early (well not so bright at 6:30), and drove through a typical winter storm to Sundre for the day. Even with three boats and two ergs, the van seemed empty, but drove well even on snowy roads.

By 8am we had 10 kids zooming around the gates, in the pool, being coached by Jim, AJ and myself. Stroke drills made way for gate drills, and then some timed runs on either a 4 gate course or the Standard Figure 8 course. Ryley, Lissy, Levi, AJ and Hayden, all challenged 10m figure 8 test to see how they stood up against the best in Canada. Pretty well.

Following lunch at Subway, we did a little training seminar on the Energy Systems, complete with real, painful, examples. See the summary here. http://docs.google.com/View?id=df6z2c9x_111f4xggkd5

The day was completed in the gym doing circuits and core. It was great to see so many kids under 15 training, learning, and having fun. The quality of the kids, coaches, and club in Sundre makes me optomistic about the future of our sport. Without having see what all the Zones have to offer, I suggest the Sundre zone is going to be one of the top at Alberta Summer Games in July.

Thank you Jim and Sue for organizing a great day. If any other club wants to organize a slalom training day, feel free to contact me.

National Coaching Institute - Diploma and Level 4

I have recently be accepted into the Diploma Program at the National Coaching Institute at the Canadian Sport Centre in Calgary. This will give a vocational Coaching diploma on top of my BSC - Kinesiology, plus it will certify me as a Level 4 NCCP coach.

At the NCI we learn all the bits and pieces that go into high level sports in Canada. There are 13 tasks, or courses to take to complete to the two year program. Each task is about 20hrs of class time plus a paper or report. As I go through the process I will update you on the tasks I have taken and try and relay relevant information to you on a consistent basis. The first two tasks I have started are 'Energy Systems' and 'Canadian Sport System'. Stay tuned for more information on these first two tasks.

Cheers
Mike

It never rains in BC!?!

Our Camp in Rutherford has been somewhat...dry. We headed out to BC with the promise of rain in the forecast. But alas we haven't seen any. Now for most people that would make for a great trip, however for us it means boredom.

We spent two days in Chilliwack training, battleing fish and fishermen for the eddies. Now we're in Pemberton, hoping, wishing the water would come up.

Provincial Championships!

Another great Provincial Championships has come and gone. We got the last good weekend of weather for the year and now its time for some hard winter training to get into even better racing shape for next year.

We had 36 racers this year with a few notables missing. While the schedule for Slalom, Freestyle and Downriver was tight, all went off without a hitch. Congratulations to the class winners:

K1-Paul Manning-Hunter
K1W-Jessica Groeneveld
K1jr-Graham Jobe
K1Wjr-Marissa Dederer
K1c-Idan Wolach
K1Wc-Veronica Oczkowski
C1-Bryce Shaw
C1jr-Hayden Daniels
C1c-Idan Wolach
C1wjr-Marissa Dederer
K1M-Greg Hunter
K1wnovice-Hannah Penner
K1jrnovice-Matt Alliban
K1cnovice-Sam Alliban

Thank you to all the volunteers who put the event together, made the races run smoothly and fed the swarms on Saturday night! A big Thank You to the sponsors that made the awards exceptional.

Donors

Aquabatics and Confluence (manufacturer) - Rx boat

Integral Designs - camping items

Undercurrents - Galasport paddle + store gift certificates

Paddle Performance - 3 Galasport helmets

Hi Level Canoes and Kayaks, Lethbridge - Tywarp paddle + nose clips + pogies

MEC, Calgary - 20 dry bags

Also big thanks to HiJinx Toy Shop of Canmore and Gracie and Gruff Fine Toys of Calgary for supplying much sought after prizes for the Settlers of Catan Tournament.

Other donors

Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge, Canmore - 2 x 1 night in single apartment depending upon season

Stoney Nakoda Resort - weekend stay + $50 gift cert

SMS Sports - slalom deck

Wholesale Sports Outfitters, Calgary - gift certificates x4

The Fudgery - 2 gift packages

The Outdoor Outlet, Pincher Creek - Gift Certificate

Level 6 - 3 t-shirts + hat

Glenmore Sailboats - 4 t-shirts

Sobey's and Safeway - gift certifcates to subsidize BBQ

Total prize package was over $4000