Day 23: 9/7/2005

The crystal ball of slalom was thrown into the air by the rain god on Saturday morning to see if someone would catch it and run the Junior Pre Worlds. Luck was on the organisers side and it was decided that the race would go ahead, all be it at a slightly higher water level than was originally planned.

The race would start in just over an hour after this decision was made and still there was not one gate on the course. Jacqui was elected to be the sole woman demo runner and did a fine job considering the short notice. Race strategies were quickly formulated, some of which worked better than others. Those that could adapt quickly to change kept cool heads and threw down some good performances.

First off was the C2 (actually second off but whose counting when you've only got 1 hour to watch demos, warm up and actually come up with a strategy to get two bodies and one boat through 21 gates on a flooded course in Slovenia!). They had a pretty solid upper section but the wheels fell off the wagon for the bottom and a couple of fifties followed. With more time to work it all out for second runs Tim and Tom threw down a stella performance and finished their Worlds campaign on a high with the knowledge that two runs like that would put them in about 5th place.

The mens kayaks were in a similar situation with short notice being the first major obstacle of the day. Ben finished on the top of the pile after first runs with a quick but dirty run. Not far behind him were the two Phils just outside of the Semi-Final bubble, well within striking distance for second runs. Dave had one of the closest calls of the competition with a pole slipping over the top of his head resulting in a fifty second penalty. Second runs brought mixed results, some went up and some went down. Dave managed to redeem some moral by throwing down a scorching performance and would have landed him well within the top 20 with two similar runs. Phil Minga had another quick run but chopped too much wood and ended up outside the semis around 50th. Phil Gibbins hit the nail on the head, had a solid, clean run and earned a start time for tomorrows race. Unfortunately Ben Jones went fishing with his mouth and dropped a few too many seconds to make it inside the cut.

C1 was run next with mixed results. A few mistakes were made, but all performed well enough to make it through to the semi's. Although some may question their performances and their worthiness of receiving a finals birth. Craig put down two solid runs to finish in 25th, followed \closely behind by Robin in 26th. Rob's first run was hot, but a mistake on the second run wasted some time and dropped a few positions. Jono came in next at 29th due to a solid second run performance, jack living on the edge with a 39th placing, with two dicey runs, his expectations of making the finals were not high, and his surprise when the results were announced was obvious.

Finally the ladies had their shot at demolishing the coarse, Farrah led out with a some very solid moves, but unfortunately was not good enough to make finals, finishing in a solid 48th. Ros to fought with the conditions, and had a bit of luck on her side making finals, in 38th, after a mistake in the second run which had us on the edge of our seats. Emmie came 16th with a neat second run, and Kate taking first Aussie boat in quallies, with two solid runs and an excellent 13th position.

So with a drama filled day we head into semi's tomorrow with Phil G, Craig, Robin, Jono, Jack, Kate, Emmie and Ros to fly the flag. A good effort with more than half the team making finals.