National indoor freestyle champs

Hey one and all, still having some trouble with photos but should get it sorted soon. Well the outdoor adventure show took place in the RDS Simmons court. It was great to see so many outdoor enthusiasts from all over the country, all passionately supporting their sports.
The wave box wasn't there this year but was replaced with an even bigger pool with loads of room to paddle around and a steep wooden ramp to slide in on. The pool was run by kipper and Shane Cronin, and was a huge success. There was a constant flow of people of all ages getting into the pool to try out some kayaks, get a bit wet, and have some craic.
The national indoor freestyle championships took place on the saturday and most of the top paddlers were out to win. It was a flatwater competition with every competitor starting by sliding down the ramp and trying some big entry move. Runs were thirty seconds long and it was purely variety, meaning you could only do each move once. The heats really set the standard with some entry loops off the ramp, flatwater felixes, tricky-woos, and super clean cartwheels being performed. The top six men went through to the semi-finals, I was in first place, and things were looking good. In the semi-finals the standard remained high with more consistent runs. The top three went through to the super hero final, Mark leonard, Moe Kelleher, and again me in first place, things were going very well. Unfortuantely this didn't last and I got knocked out in the super hero final, coming in third place, didn't quite nail my loops or tricky-woo, but hey these things happen. In the end mark came second, and Moe as always paddled consistently getting stronger and stronger with each round. A well run competition with some cool prizes, it was good to see such good solid competition paddling on flatwater...... if only we can produce runs like that in a feature!!.
The rolling competition organised for sunday was unable to go ahead due to lack of numbers. It was a great weekend with plenty of banter, and it was great to see Colin working hard in his new job, he's getting really good at making tea now ;) well I'll try to get some pics up soon and I'll report back from the irish freestyle team selections this weekend in Nottingham.

Varsities 2006

Sorry about the delay guys, been trying to figure out how to get pictures up, not doing too good, so anyway, varsities has come and gone and what a weekend it was. It kicked off on friday 10th february, with polo in st.josephs pool in cabra. There was a great buzz about the place, and college students being college students there were numerous drunken supportors. There were no real surprises with DCU winning, again, although UCC did surprisingly well, they've really stepped up a notch in polo, they also had a very big crowd supporting them.

The party that night was in Lynhams in Laragh, and by the time we got there UCD as always had the party going big, it was a great night with good music, crazy dancing, and loads of drunk students. Saturday morning saw an early start with the whitewater registration taking place at half eight in the morning. I was very surprised when I was woken in my tent by the competitors and supportors who had actually got up fairly close to the time. The course started just before Jacksons and finished at the boottom. Very very low water levels made it very difficult for the competitors, there were also taks along the course like giving an autograph and getting photo taken. The crowd on the bank seemed to be loving it, many of them already drinking again, and most just waiting to see the next beating.

On the saturday afternoon the long distance took place at lock Dan. This event always has a big turn out with many of the freshers jumping into boats and paddling just for the craic, that's what it's all about right. Saturday saw some more crazy partying and some funny costumes, the theme being "What I wanted to be when I grew up" with everything form mad scientists to show girls, and she even found herself a gimp.

Sunday was the real event, the freestyle at sluice. The scoring system was very fair letting people of all levels score some nice points. The mens was broken down into five heats and 12 went through to the finals. I came third in the heats and felt confident about the finals. My final were pretty good, I consistently nailed the rail grab and smiling at the judges, unfortunately I flushed a bit too often and didn't qutie pull off my split wheels. Only the top three results were announced, Lenny Kelleher in 3rd, Moe in 2nd, and Mark leonard paddled hard, showing great consistency all the way to 1st place.

DCU won overall, as usual,

In all a great weekend, good paddling and good parties. Oh and UCD got the prize for most fun college, which is what's important right? I'll get some pics and hopefully some footage up soon, watch this space.

intro

hey guys, I'm very happy to hook up with rivernomad, and really appreciate the wonderful introduction! Things are looking good, got my flights booked for Uganda from 5th july to the 11th september, myself and paddy are almost all set and can't wait to go huge. College intervarsities are just next week so I hope to get some sweet pictures and footage up, watch this space!