I didn’t put the butt in my boat for several weeks. The phone rings: a friend invited me to participate in the Pyrenees Cup freestyle kayaking where paddlers French and Spanish will compete for victory. This happens in Salt, Spain, north of Barcelona. I accept the invitation. This is the best way to get back in the bath, two weeks before the championship of France.
I put my freestyle boat and my creek boat in my van and I was off for a six-hour trip on the road. On the spot, all is perfect. We are housed in a beautiful country house, overlooking the valley of the Ter. The roll is really top: all moves are possible, there are many bottom, we are in the middle of the Catalan countryside, it’s green, the sun heats, the birds sing.
Several activities are planned: a freestyle race on Saturday and a concentration of creek boat on Sunday, on a section of the river Ter where there is only one let go of water per year.
I win freestyle qualification phases in front Nico Fayol (French) and Adria Bosch (Spanish). In the final, I confirm my position as leader, the roles are reversed behind me. I get back with a check for € 300.
The next day, place of the concentration. It’s festive, everyone gets along. There are some good carnage on key passages and many paddlers offer great swimming !
In short, a good weekend preparing for the championship of France.
Two weeks later, at the whitewater stadium of Pau, serious things happen. French riders are all there for the same goal, win the national title.
The hole is new for everyone, as it has been specially modified for the event. This is a relatively difficult spot, the current is very cyclical. But the bottom is really far, to the delight of all paddlers.
Qualifications are complex, I take the provisional third place, behind Nico Fayol and Seb Devred. Pressure up a notch in the final stages.
The hole is even more difficult than the day before, movements are complex to execute. The suspense is over until each run of finalists. The judges deliberate. The verdict is there. I won the championship of France. This brings to four the number of my victory in the championship of France since 2007.
These results motivate me even more to select me in France team to compete at the next World Championships in September 2013 in the USA.
Jo.
