Well, World Cup 1 is wrapped up for me. It was a fantastic atmosphere at the race with tons of spectators braving the less than stellar weather. Here is the play by play on my race, stay tuned for video coming your way soon!
My first run at the Liptovsky World Cup started out strong. Over the first two splits I was in touch with the times of the top competitors. Unfortunately this good start began to derail around the 15th gate where I found myself just off my line and falling into a wave too early and with too much upstream edge engaged. For those familiar with the sport, you may be able to guess what began to happen as a result of this, for everyone else, allow me to explain. Leaning upstream isn't often recommended, especially not when a feature on the course, in this case a standing wave, is preventing you from moving downstream. The culmination of these two factors typically leads the boat to flip over quite quickly. Not willing to let that happen, I reached out for a stroke and managed to push off the riverbed and right myself just in time to see the next gate soaring past me. With some on the fly thinking, I caught the eddy and paddled back up for the gate so as not to incur a 50 second penalty. The damage, however, had already been done. I finished with a clean run, no penalties for touching or missing any gates, but the time was well off the pace and not close to the top 20 cut-off for the semifinal on the first run. So I was off to run number two, or as I like to call it - the "shame final".
In the second run (shame final), all the boats who did not qualify on the first run get a second chance, with the top 10 advancing. I didn't need to fix much from my first run, just the gate 15/16 combo and I was on my way. Just like my first run, the top was solid. My split times were a bit farther back from the leader than my first run but I was solid and on track in the middle section. I was feeling good as I approached the crux move for my run. This time I managed to keep my boat on line and use the wave to my advantage as I smoothly navigated gates 15 and 16. With the tough moves behind me, I pushed hard for the finish, pulling myself across the line in a time of 105.74 seconds and in 3rd position at the time.
I knew that I would be on the bubble in terms of qualifying or not. But after two clean runs and a solid performance on my second one, I was already pleased with my paddling. I opted to paddle around on the flatwater and cool down rather than watching the scoreboard and wondering if I would make it. When I finally got off the water I saw that I had been bounced down to 12th place, just 0.36 seconds from the 10th and last semifinal spot.
I was out earlier than I had wanted to be but this race still has a lot of positives that I can take away. My 32nd place finish is well within the goal of a top 40 that I had set for myself. I bounced back from a rough first run with a great second run. I was paddling well, feeling strong, and putting myself in a position to compete. And I had a blast being on the water today!
I now get a couple days to relax, cheer on my teammates and enjoy the rest of the racing before we head to Krakow, Poland, for the next stop on the 2018 World Cup tour.
