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.