The following report was provided by CANI Slalom Squad member Tiernan Gribbin on his experiences during Irish Team Selection at Suice, Dublin earlier this month
On the weekend off the 5th and 6th March CANI Slalom Squad members traveled to Dublin for the start of a big weekend of racing to decide the Senior, U23 and Junior Irish Canoe Slalom Team. The competition kicked off on the Saturday and continued on Sunday running alongside the Irish open.
The weekend drew a big crowd of CANI athletes from across the UK along with the family creating from a great atmosphere for the race. Matt McKnight was on the river bank for the two days supporting the athletes providing feedback between runs, course walks beforehand and helping to calm the nerves beforehand.
During the two days of competition the courses were set made to make the best use of the features at Sluice. It forced all the competitors to push themselves to get a clean, fast line with several gates being put in difficult position requiring good technique and tricky decision making prior to the gate.
Both days were well organised and everything seemed to run smoothly and according to plan, and thankfully the weather was quite mild, with thanks to the Irish Canoe Slalom committee for such a great race.
It was great seeing how everyone’s training has helped them to have progressed over the past year, as everyone put in a good performance. It was a very competitive race with highs and lows for most of the athletes competing due to a mixture of good and bad runs. Overall though a good weekend of racing with lots to take away from it.
