The day started at 6am for porridge breakfast and black coffee. All geared up in dry suits and bibs we were ready to go at 9am. Getting to the river just before 9:30 we were able to see the Qualification Group 1 (76-200 bib numbers) take their first practice run and qualification run. There were a few incidents, which meant that the running order was 30 minutes behind, therefore our mandatory practice was pushed back till 11am. In order to get into the two qualification races you must complete the full course in your mandatory run.
Dan was up first, he sailed through Champions Killer -1 and cleanly through Champions Killer. I was next up and had a good line through Champions Killer -1 but was forced slightly left over Champions Killer scrubbing off my speed through the pool, thankfully this was only the practice so it didn't really matter. Rob was up next, dropping into Champions Killer -1 he got flipped backwards took two attempts at rolling but unfortunately bailed just above Champions Killer. His boat and paddle dropped into the pool below as the safety team was roping him out. From this point there was an epic walk back up the course and across the bridge at the top of the course. Due to not getting back to the boat in time he was timed out and didn’t complete his mandatory run, therefore not being able to race in the qualification races.
After our practice run it was back to the start and queuing up for our first qualification run. Dan was in first, dropping into Champions Killer -1 he went slightly too far right and got stuck in the hole for a few seconds. He was finally flushed out but was upside down. After two attempts of rolling he was back up but heading towards the right hand slot of Champions Killer. Going over the drop he then had to work extra hard to get back into the main flow to continue down to the finish line, finishing in 2:00.20.
Whilst Dan was fighting his way I was busy getting into the boat. I knew that Dan must have taken a bad line as the Race Official wouldn’t let me start for a while. Once I was given the “OK” to start I broke out into the main flow. Cutting across the top of Champions Killer -1 I had an almost perfect line between the rocks river left and right. Next up was Champions Killer, I got the boat pointing slightly to the right ready to pull it back straight just before landing. Just after landing I felt the boat jump up and skip across the pool heading towards the narrow slot before the main racecourse finish line. Unfortunately I got pushed a little to the left which meant I lost a bit of speed through the slot, but managed to recover on the flat section before continuing down the rest of the run. Finishing in 1:27.34 I was fairly happy with my run but knew I could shave a little bit of time off.
After completing our first run we had a two hour break before starting our second Qualification Race.
Dan was up first again for the second qualification run. He was pushed right across Champions Killer -1 but managed to get back on line for Champions Killer. Successfully boofing off the drop he just had the long slog to the finish line, finishing in 1:37.73 - a vast improvement on his first run!
Before I knew it the official gave me the “OK” to start. Dropping into Champions Killer -1 I headed far left again, however this time after the hole I was pushed a little too far left with my boat not quite pointing downstream, one extra left stroke saw me back on line for Champions Killer and setting up for the boof. Skimming across the pool I was heading towards the narrow slot. This time I set the boat up a lot better getting a straight line through the gap and not hitting the wall. Now the power was on till the finish line, finishing with a time of 1:26.60 - slightly faster than my previous run.
After both times had been added together Dan had a combined time of 3:37.93 finishing 115 out of 119. Two runs like his second run would have seen him inside the top 100.
My combined time was 2:53.94 finishing 64th, missing the Qualification cut off by 6 seconds. For a first attempt at the Sickline with admittedly less training then most others this wasn’t a bad result.
The target has been set for next year……
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