The Global Paddling Community

With the Freestyle Championships only a few weeks away, we thought we might get the inside line on the event from the pro-paddlers who are going to battle it out for the trophy. Some sent us short comments, some sent novels. We have about 20 comments so far and we start with Allan Ellard, Clay Wright, Julie Dion and Ollie Castle.

Allan Ellard (UK)

The paddlers who will do well in each category :

• C1 - Allan Braswell should probably clean up but it wouldn't be the same if Cheezy didn't throw down a few funky moves and beat his ass.
• Men K1 - Someone you least expect?
• Ladies K1 - Debs of course - She's not allowed to do anything else!
• OC1 - That Kiwi fella, Paul Eames
• Squirt - The return of the old fellas - Clay Wright
• Men Junior K1 - Some grinning upstart that will have to be strung up and left to the Latino ladies.
• The winning move :- Super Clit! (Aerial clean split)

Clay Wright (USA)

The Site : Sort hosts the most incredible combination of small-town charm and river-side amenities! Camping, hotels, cafes, Internet, restaurants, post office: it is ALL right there. No shuttle, no finding a ride to town, no boat transportation problems - killer set-up. The hole at Pre-world's event was pretty touchy and rather unimpressive. Flash floods having washed out the previous hole just weeks before the event. This year the organizers have sent photos of a large, well-formed deep foam pile with respectable shoulders on each side. Seems quite huckable and looks like a much improved venue for ALL athletes to throw cartwheels, splits, blunts, as well as some of this year's fresh moves. If this thing holds, expect loops, tricky-woos and perhaps a Space Godzilla or two.

The paddlers who will do well in each category: That is tough, as here in the US we've had some unexpected absences but still have a super-strong team. Our Men's K-1 field packs the experience of Eric Jackson, Dan Gavere, Shane Benedict and me - and we've all been in the game since the 1993 Worlds at the Ocoee. Jimmy Blakeney is our IFC and USFKC president and his VA Tech buddies Andrew Holcome and Brian Kirk stepped it up, consistently schooling the field throughout team trials. In other parts of the world, Corran and Steve Fisher are always in the running and we expect Kenny Mutton, Alex Nicks, Bernd Sommer and Nico Chassing to put on as fine a showing as always. I've seen incredible new talent while over in Japan and those Costa Ricans came on really strong last year and I hear are getting even better. On the women's front, Deb Pinninger's world domination has some serious threats from Julie Dion, Tanya Shuman, Brooke Winger, Motoko, and if she makes it, Nikki Kelly. Tonya and Erica Mitchell have been stepping up the tricks for the girls here in the US so expect splits, blunts, and perhaps a few aerials to boot. C-1 champs Allen Braswell and Brian Miller got bumped by their equally tough buds Chris Manderson, Barry Keenan, and Luke Hopkins but if Cheezy would just practice I'm not sure he's beatable. OC-1 - Eli Helbert practices cartwheels, the Young Pirates just keep rolling em up. Who knows? Squirt - If the Japanese team learns the rules in time to train, watch out! Otherwise Bob Campbell will battle it out with us US boys Tom M, Andy Beddingfield, and I.

The winning moves : The highest scoring moves of the year are the aerial blunt, tricky-woo, backstab, and loop. Here in the US we've been seeing some aerial loops (flips) as well as clean air-wheels (called Space Godzillas), retentive bow pirouettes, and the "donkey flip" which is a past-vert blunt / kickflip looking thing. If the hole stays good, we're going to be trying to add some new moves in before the comp gets going or at least leave some spaces under "trophy move" for these new tricks.

How can paddling with the best boaters in the world for a week be anything but fantastic? With the US putting on such a strong showing during the Pre-worlds, I expect some serious surprises.

Julie Dion (CA)

It's hard to talk about a place that I don't really know... They rebuilt the hole for the worlds! But I think it's a great place to host a world event as it's very accessible for the media. Last year, the organisation of the pre-worlds was really good and I really enjoyed the time that I spent there. Who is going to do well that day and be the next world champion? Who knows??? Everybody in the finals can finish first... I might have a better chance in the lottery then with a bet on that!

Ollie Castle (UK)

The worlds hole at Sort looks cool. Just how I like it: two big laterals for some sweet blunting action and then a big fat pile so you can clean and air wheel to your heart's content. I reckon this year is going to be a close for who wins. There is a lot of very good paddlers and a lot of hidden talent that no one has seen for a while. I don't know how well I will do; I will tell you when I get knocked out...