A TRIP TO KRAKOW

Alice Haining
Aug 16, 2015
2 min read

This year I decided to stay and train in the UK to maximise my training. Having missed so much with my injury, I weighed up the options and came to the conclusion that having my support team around would enable to me to progress in training at a higher rate.

At the end of the summer I was given the opportunity to go on a trip with the England National Talent Squad (ENTS) – as team mum!!!!

It was a week-long trip with junior paddlers aged 15-18, some of whom I train with. The timing of the camp (date and length) along with my coach in attendance gave me insurance I was strong enough and enable enough to manage myself (body and mind).

Although my role was as a chauffeur/team mum to support the other two coaches I was able to paddle in the sessions. It was my first time paddling on Krakow and it is fab course – with really bad water quality!!! The eddy lines were quite soft and you could play about with different techniques on the up streams. The fast flow in the main stream was great for setting tricky staggers, where keeping online and being dynamic in your strokes were key.

Along with training and being on watch, I was demo boat for the junior European cup race. It was a great chance to practice the course with everyone watching. It was also great to watch the younger paddlers compete at the weekend. I was allocated the duty videoing, where actually I’m great at keeping a steady hand! Although standing in the 36*C heat took its toll, there’s not much shade on the bank.

Post racing a trip to the city was great for a bit of downtime. It’s a beautiful city with lots of places to visit – the Jewish quarters are very interesting. The centre it’s self-reminded me a bit of Prague, another city I love. I think it’s always good to have a great course and city put together – you get the best of both (training and tourism).And so in just a week’s time the GB U23/Junior Canoe Slalom Team will be racing here at the U23/Junior European Canoe Slalom Championships and I wish them all the best of luck!