Indooroopilly Canoe Club Under 16 European Tour Report 2006

Transcription

1 Indooroopilly Canoe Club Under 16 European Tour Report 2006 The Netherlands Denmark Germany 2006

2 Purpose of Trip The purpose of the Under 16 European tour has been organised for two reasons: 1. After a lack of international competition offered here in Australia for our under 16/18 year athletes, it was decided to give young athletes exposure to international competition at a friendly level in Europe. The European countries have this opportunity as they are very close to each other and have the luxury of picking and choosing regattas at their leisure. The tour gives the athletes an opportunity to meet and train with other athletes their age, as well as learning to cope under different situations such as pressures of international travel and competition. As under 16 athletes, they are more likely to be competitive against other athletes their age around the world. 2. The second reason for organising the tour was to give myself as coach international experience which is not readily available here in Australia. After nominating for a position on the Australian Junior Sprint team for the 2005 Youth Olympics and failing to receive a spot, I contacted Australian Canoeing to see why my application was unsuccessful. I was informed that I had no international experience. Since it s very difficult to get international experience without being on a team, I decided to organise junior trips to Europe for developing young athletes. This is the second year for these tours which have included international regattas in The Netherlands - Zaandaam International, Germany - Bochum & Nassau, Denmark - Open Jutland Championships, & England British Championships. Boys on Tour Three under 16 boys from the Indooroopilly Canoe Club were selected to attend the European trip. They were Michael Beaver, Matthew Arvier, & James Cornish. The fourth boy was from Westlakes in South Australia. He is Matt Duggin and asked to come along after he heard about the trip. Zaandaam International The Netherlands Amsterdam This was the first of our regattas. We arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday afternoon and settled into our hotel. All of the lads handled the travelling well and was keen to inspect the course. Friday was used to organise boats from the local canoe club and have a light paddle. The K.V. De Geuzen Club was celebrating their 50 th anniversary of running the Zaandaam International event. They had 4 clubs from Belgium, ourselves and 10 local clubs from The Netherlands competing.

3 Our boys were very competitive against others in their age group. Results are listed below:- Heats Heren Junioren B (16yrs) Heat 1 K2 200m James Cornish/Matt Duggin 2 nd Heat 2 K2 200m Michael Beaver/Matthew Arvier 1 st Heat 1 K1 200m Michael Beaver 3 rd Heat 1 K1 200m Matt Duggin 4 th Heat 2 K1 200m Matthew Arvier 1 st Heat 3 K1 200m James Cornish 2 nd Heat 1 K2 500m Beaver/Arvier 2 nd Heat 2 K2 500m Cornish/Duggin 1 st Heat 1 K1 500m Matthew Arvier 3 rd Heat 1 K1 500m Matt Duggin 4 th Heat 2 K1 500m Michael Beaver 2 nd Heat 3 K1 500m James Cornish 2 Final Results K2 200m K2 200m K1 200m K1 200m K1 200m K4 200m K2 500m K2 500m K1 500m K1 500m K1 500m K4 500m Michael Beaver/Matthew Arvier 1 st James Cornish/Matt Duggin 3 rd Matthew Arvier 3 rd Michael Beaver 5 th James Cornish 7 th Beaver/Cornish/Arvier/Duggin 1 st Michael Beaver/ Matthew Arvier 1 st James Cornish/ Matt Duggin 3 rd Michael Beaver 2 nd Matthew Arvier 4 th James Cornish 8 th Beaver/Arvier/Cornish/Duggin 1 st Final Medal Tally 8 Medals - 4 Gold, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze Placed 6 th overall on points Michael Beaver & Matthew Arvier racing the 500 K2 Final

4 Training Camp Germany Our next stop was Essen, to train at the Essen Kanu Club, Germany. The Essen Kanu Club provides accommodation and meals. We are fortunate enough to know Heino, the club chairman who had organised the use of boats while training at Essen. Essen was our first opportunity to train as a group as Matthew is from South Australia and was unable to get together with the Indooroopilly boys. One of the under 16 Dutch paddlers - Vincent Kalf, also joined our group for the week. He is ranked number 2 in The Netherlands and was keen to come along to learn new things. It was a very worth while week and gave the boys a chance to gel together and get to know Vince who was also able to get some training ideas and to be pushed along by our boys. Denmark Arhus After leaving Essen, we travelled to Arhus in Denmark for the Jutland Open Championships. The boys got the shock of their lives when they saw the starting list with over 50 under 16 boys racing. Boats were also organised by the local canoe club and the boys were very well looked after. On the first day of competition, the boys were racing 200m heats, semis, and finals. Matthew Arvier was our only boy to make the final for the 200m K1 and placed fourth in the event. In the K2, we had 2 boats make the final but both were out of medal places with the best, once again in 4 th place. The fact the boys were being dominated was an unusual situation for them especially over the 200m events. It was interesting watching to see how they would handle the situation and one in particular didn t like it. The 500m events was a little better with more boys making finals, but unable to make the top three. The only medal came from the K4 Under 18 event where the boys placed 3 rd in a field of 5. From a coaches point of view, this was a better regatta than Zaandaam because they were really made to work and were moved out of their comfort zones. To me it s not all about the number of medals taken away, but the lessons they take away from each regatta. We found the Danes extremely friendly, with coaches and athletes of all ages coming up to chat to the group. The squad was most impressed with this. They have met a number of athletes who they now chat to on the net.

5 Results 200m Heat 2 K1 200m Heat 3 K1 200m Heat 4 K1 200m Heat 5 K1 200m James Cornish 6th st Matthew Arvier 1 Matthew Duggin 6th Michael Beaver 4th Semi 2 K1 200m Semi 3 K1 200m Semi 2 K1 200m Michael Beaver 4th Matthew Arvier 2nd James Cornish 8th Final K1 200m Matthew Arvier 4th Heat 1 K2 200m Heat 2 K2 200m Cornish/Duggin 3rd Beaver/Arvier 6th Semi K2 200m Beaver/Arvier 1st Final K2 200m Final K2 200m Beaver/Arvier 4th Cornish/Duggin 9th 500m Heat 2 K1 500m Heat 4 K1 500m James Cornish 5th Matthew Arvier 1st Michael Beaver 2nd Matt Duggin 3rd Semi 1 K1 500m Semi 2 K1 500m Semi 3 K1 500m Semi 3 K1 500m Matt Duggin 9th Michael Beaver 2nd James Cornish DNF Matthew Arvier 3rd Final K1 500m Matthew Arvier 4th Michael Beaver 5th Heat 1 K2 500m Heat 2 K2 500m Beaver/Arvier 3rd Cornish/Duggin 3rd Final K2 500m Beaver/Arvier 6th Cornish/Duggin 7th Our boys chatting to a local kayaker

6 Under 18 K4 Final Our Boys (White Shirts & caps) placed 3rd Matthew Arvier (Green boat) K1 500 Semi

7 Nassua Kanu Club Germany Once we left Denmark, we headed to Lubeck, North of Germany for a week of light training with the Lubeck Kanu Club. Many of the kayakers there were very young with the oldest athlete 13yrs old. We were amazed at the training sessions provided for the young 8yr olds 8km paddles! Nassau was our last regatta, and we were keen to get there to settle in. After a long days drive on the Thursday, we made it to Nassau (about 100km from Frankfurt) in good spirits. As we checked into the hotel, we noticed signs up welcoming the Aussies to their town. Later we found the signs up around town, as well as the front page of the local paper. It was promoting the regatta and telling people that friends from Australia would be competing at it. The boys really found this amazing. This proved to be a fantastic regatta as it was low key and the locals were extremely friendly. The actual regatta course has two bends in it, so if you are sitting on the starting line, you are unable to see the finish line. I m sure the only one in the world. The timing of this regatta was spot on. The races started on time whether athletes are there or not. A special part of the regatta was when they stopped the racing for an hour and all coaches & officials with ourselves as the special guests, sat down to a cooked lunch. The local mayor came to visit us and to wish us well. Club singlets, flag & medals were presented to each of us on the Sunday. As the Nassau club is very small and doesn t have any males paddling for them, our boys asked if they could race in the Nassau club singlet as honorary members. They were thrilled by this and allowed them to race in their uniform. They picked up two gold and one bronze medal for the club. Results - Finals K1 500m Michael Beaver 1 st K1 500m Matthew Arvier 3 rd K2 500m Beaver/Duggin 3 rd K2 500m Arvier/Cornish 4 th K1 500m Matthew Duggin 3 rd K1 150m Michael Beaver 1 st K1 150m Matthew Arvier 1 st K1 150m Matthew Duggin 3 rd K1 150m James Cornish 4 th K4 500m Beaver/Arvier/Cornish/Duggin 2 nd

8 Michael Beaver & James Cornish in the Nassau Uniform James Cornish (white singlet) racing the 150m event Conclusion It was a very successful tour with all taking something away from it. In total the boys returned to Australia with 18 medals 7 Gold, 3 Silver and 8 bronze medals. It is a tour I would strongly encourage other under 16 athletes to take part in if ever given the chance. They are given the opportunity to travel the world and compete without the extra pressure that would be on them in an Under 18 team. These lessons can be taken with them next time they race internationally. We could never do a trip like this without the assistance of the local canoe clubs organising boats and in some cases accommodation. We were always made to feel welcome and have now formed some fantastic friendships.

9 Anneke & Hans Kalf from the De Geuzen Club, The Netherlands, went out of their way to ensure we were looked after. They had organised dinner at their home for the team and certainly made sure no one went hungry. All medals aside, the experience is something they could never hope to get here in Australia and our sport can only gain from it. Kevin Crisp Indooroopilly Canoe Club High Performance Coach Michael Beaver, Matt Duggin, Matthew Arvier, James Cornish