World Championships 2010, Poznan.

We are currently in Poznan, Poland, for the final regatta of the season; World Sprint Championships.
All the boats will be throughly checked for weight, surface texture and dimension this afternoon, after which it is the athletes responsibility to ensure that they race their boat at the correct weight. Failure to do so results in disqualification from the regatta.

The uncontrollables
Our team leader, Greg van Heereden, will receive the lane draws tomorrow afternoon, from which the athletes will know the strength of their respective heats. Is it better to have a strong heat? How will that influence your semi final draw? In a regatta like this, it is not always the fastest 9 boats that go through to the A finals, but rather who is

This course has a history of windy conditions, with races having to be canceled in 2008 due to more than half the field falling out their boats before the finish line, due to the wind and waves. The direction of the wind plays a role in deciding which is the fastest lane, as a side wind could leave some lanes more exposed than others. At the moment, the winds look like they will be shifting throughout, and vary from race to race.

200m Finals wrap up the weekend

The last afternoon of racing was the 200m finals. Greg and Stu had a 'shoot off' for SA s top K1 200m, as were both in the C final together. The wind had just picked up and Greg pipped Stu to be our first K1 over the line.

In the womens K1 Jen had an intense race and came in 6th, 0.468 behind the winner of the B final. 

Bridge had a photo finish for her C final and narrowly came in third.

The K2 mens had another SA shoot off with Shaun and Mike racing Greg and Ryan Louw in the B final. Mike and Shaun finished 0.33 seconds ahead of second place. Their time was faster than the A final s first place, however both races had a head wind so unfortunately the times are not comparable.... 

Greg and Ryan came in 6th a second behind them. 

Well done to all the athletes for an intense 3 days of racing. We had 9 B finals and 3 A finals. This is amazingly promising for the future of SA sprinting. 

Please browse the other blogs, linked on the right, for more analytical reviews of the racing.

I hope we have brought home a taste of international sprinting and that you've enjoyed the experience with us.

500m finals

There were 2 A finals in the 500m for South Africa. Bridge having raced all three disciplines, was up against a difficult field. She had one of her best starts and was still able to hold onto a strong finish coming in 5th, above.

The K2 of Shaun and Mike had a different game plan. Being 200m specialists, they decided on racing a 400m race plan. They dominated the race up until the final 150m and came in 7th, one position better than at Vichy.

Cam and Stu raced the K2 B final and had an awesome 4th. Nick was in the K1 B final and had an incredible race! From the start blocks he was in the lead and powered his way to a win.

The ladies boat of Jen and Tiff had done so well to get a spot in the B final for the K2 women's, and finished 5th.

5000m sprint finish

28 boats make a sprint for the front bunch at the start of the men's long distance race yesterday afternoon.

Len fights for a spot in the front bunch... and gets squeezed out.

The front bunch of Adam van Koeverden, Ken Wallace, World marathon champ Ben Brown and Len.

 In the third lap Len and Adam have made a break away.

It comes down to a sprint finish...

Adam's boat crosses the line centimeters ahead of Len.

Well done Len!