Lowri Davies

The past few weeks have been totally non-stop for me: assignments, competitions, talks, assignments, paddling, Christmas dinners, birthday parties & more assignments has left little time for anything else! Now term has ended, assignments are in and I’m catching up on things in a student-free Aberystwyth.

One thing that I didn’t do in the last month was GB Freestyle Team selection. Shocking? Not really. As the current European Champion I get a free place in next year’s competition, which is fortunate as I’ve had little time for “training” this term. I was glad I didn’t have to make the decision as to whether to go for the team this year as it would have been a tough one. The European Championships are due to be held in the middle of my summer break (end of July) in Spain, however there are rumours flying about the freestyle world that the organisers have thrown their hands in the air and walked away after complaints about the running of their Euro Cup this year. Having an uncertain event and venue is hardly ideal when trying to select a team for it! Anyway, this year’s selection event was held on 8-9th of December at Hurley and Holme Pierpont. Prior to the event it rained… a lot. Conditions weren’t great with Hurley on a high four gates and HPP practically flooded (sewage levels nice and high to add to the ‘atmosphere’). I have to admit that I thought of everyone there while I enjoyed dartmoor in huge spate and caught up with lots of friends at the Adventure Paddlers Weekend

Well done to those that made the team (results are here), I look forward to training with you in the New Year. Hopefully the rumoured issues with the European Championships will be resolved soon so we can be sure what we are training towards!