World's wrapup - a good week for Canadians
What can I say. When we host a party, we HOST a party... sadly we also amscray with all the jewels ;-)
Where do I begin: How bout a quirky thank you to Hydro Quebec and Ontario Hydro! Yup, heard that right (see article below on comprimise!). After iffy water level conditions and some non-committal calls to and from the management at the three dams controlling water flow, all was heading to a weird place with the World Freestyle Championships. 300+ paddlers waiting for a wave to train on. So we invited the managers for free beer and food... to the opening ceremonies.
Opening ceremonies were amazing, Olympian style march of the flags. You have to imagine how hard it is for a relatively unsponsored sport to pull together 65 countries! Add to the fact that most are pretty poor boater-skid-kids and that these are the World's... its a pretty happy moment for the lot of em. But the true nature of the event was seen best in the eyes and actions of the hydro managers in attendance. They were BLOWN away. They saw the Brits in full gear, kilts and all, Irish lasses steppin to any tune, the Japanese with such enthusiasm towards pretty much every word spoken (though with little understanding), the Germans drunker than all get out, the American show of power and unity, the French brashness, the Norwegian ladies... pause... the lone Israelie paddler and the proud Canadian hosts. Wow. The very next morning we received the call, "the level is steady at 14 feet and will be steady till the end of the event! Call us when you're done... er... thanks for the beer". We had the Buseater! The worlds were on!
Let me tell ya about Bussy. It was on a fine spring day a good many year ago when, a soused American bus driver was taking a group of senior tourists across the Pembroke bridge to Quebec for a quick tour and a depaneur stop for some pints. A sudden surge in the river, caused by overheating at Deep Rivers Nuclear facilities, caused a rogue wave. The wave swept the Greyhound bus and all passengers down the Ottawa and into the rapids... only to be swallowed by an enormous exploding wave... the Greyhound Bus Eater... aka... Buseater. If you look closely as you float thru the wave, you may just see the hazard lights blinking on the back of that fated bus.
This, was the site of the World Freestyle Championships. Even getting on this monster is a challenge. A rope tithered to a tree with a waterski handle at its end served to pendulum competitors onto this fast wave. Moves like the blunt, pan am, donkey kick, mcnasty, cartwheels, loops and helix were the aims of all paddlers hoping to score as many points on the wave in 30 seconds. Top scores moved on to the next rounds ... prelims, quarters, semis and finals.
To make a long story short, all countries were amazed at this wave and it took no time for these great paddlers to start rockin. Immediately there was a wide open field with many countries doing well. The top 20 in most categories saw an average of 15 countries representing... a rarity... no real domination. The common denominator though, Canadians in every final!
When the dust settled after the finals, Canada had two new World Champions: Ruth Gordon, womens K1 and Valerie Bertrand, Women's squirt. We had two silver medalists: Paul Danks, Mens OC1 (that OPEN CANOE.. shit), and Thomas Fahrun (Jr mens K1) . We had 2 bronze Guillaume Laroux, Mens C1 and Nick Troutman (Mens K1). More than that, we had all Canadian team members make it at least to the semi finals. And don't think it was because of our home turf... only a handfull of the Canadians actually practiced on this wave in the last few years... its usually up only a few days a year!
End result was an amazing week in the sun, brilliant paddling, exciting cultural exchanges and proof positive that there is no better community than a healthy, outdoors oriented one.
Next year its off to Switzerland! I am 2 weeks away from getting my liver to the proper size... stay tuned for that and PLEASE don't offer me any Grappa! Freakin Greeks.
