Some good results all round for Team Pyranha at the British Freestyle Team Selection events for the worlds in Canada in 2007. Read on for a full report…
Once again British Freestyle Team Selection was held at the National Watersports Centre at Nottingham. Originally the venue was to be the infamous Hurley Weir down on the River Thames but unfortunately due to unreliable water, the venue had to be changed at the last minute. This meant that selection was held in two hole features rather than the ideal location of a nice wave but hey, these things happen.
Saturday started out how most days at Nottingham do, cold and miserable. The feature used for selection 1 for the float boats was the inlet wave at the top of the artificial course. The feature is a super stable line stopper between two walls. There is no eddy service so it’s just a case of dropping in from above and strutting your stuff. The hole is retentive enough that the lack of eddies is rarely a problem and in fact for some of the smaller juniors, getting off is more of an issue. You name it, it can be done in this hole. Massive air loops, trick whus, mc nasties, just about anything goes. In the mens K1, James Barnes did well with some nice big moves and smooth ends but unfortunately just placed outdside of the top 5. In the C1s, I did better than I had hoped coming in top beating the European and British Champion in the process with a personal best score of 998. Further down the course, the squirt boaters did their best to sink and style with Ben White putting in some impressive runs do place 2nd and Emma Runciman showed of her squirting skills to make her place on the team.
Sunday’s event was held in the Muncher which is again a hole feature but with eddies this time. The flow was on maximium to allow the hole to have loads of power and scope for a nice variety of moves. The hole was a little flushy but was still proving to be at a level where big moves were going. Again James Barnes put in a good performance in the mens K1 and I came in 2nd in the C1s. Ben and Emma continued to impress in the squirt boats with some solid performances.
So overall, Team Pyranha did pretty well with Ben coming in 2nd overall in Mens Squirt, Emma making the Ladies Squirt team and I won the C1 Selection. I’ve now just got to ask nicely for the time off work in April. Thanks Pyranha for the 4 Twenty, it’s a great little boat that I never get bored trying new things with and has helped me have one of my best years ever.