The Global Paddling Community

Third article in the 'Worlds2001' series. We now have the comments of top paddlers Nico Chassing, Simon Westgarth, Simone French and Tom Debruslais.

Nico Chassing (France)

The site: 5 out of 10 for the hole, 10 out of 10 for venue. That was for last year' s Pre Worlds. This year, the hole should be better, I haven' t seen it yet though.

The paddlers who will do well in each category: It really depends of the hole. If it' s retentive, a lot of paddlers can do well. When a hole is retentive, it becomes more forgiving, and not so technical paddlers taking a lot of risk will have their chance. If it isn't retentive then the number will be more limited, and the old guys will be on top.

I haven' t competed since last September so I don' t know who' s really good at the moment... From the latest results I saw, EJ has a good chance of winning.

The winning moves: Winning the Worlds is more about regularity than doing one amazing ride with crazy moves and flush on the next, so I think verticality will still be a sure value, but paddlers will have to add more variety than usual. We're also going to see more trophy moves, like Matrix...

I can' t wait to be there...

Simon Westgarth (Ireland)

The worlds, well I was one of the paddlers that pushed Lluis hard to go for it in 1999, after a group of us went to the Euro Cup and it was great. We all saw the potential of the place and Lluis just simply went to work and now will put on what can only be said, should be the best world championships so far. lluis has been under considerable pressure by paddlers to accommodate all their wishes, but I have heard that the wave he has developed should keep the sceptics silent, and if not, they can simply go home for all I care.

Moves that will win the worlds, wheeling compound moves, splits into tricky Wus, cleans and loops, all mixed with blunt combinations.

As the USA team trial showed, the older and more consistent paddlers may fair better at Sort, simply as it is a long week and difficult ride combinations that will be attempted, alas there is hope for the young guns in the form Andy Holcombe and Tobias Bersch for K1 men's, otherwise the smart money is always on EJ. Oli Grau is in amazing form this year, as well as a few hidden talents that may rise for the occasion.

In the ladies, the money is on a head to head with Deb & Tanya, why, well why not. The other women, I do not see the same vision in their riding, but you never know, with a stroke of enlightenment and the whole thing can become a light with surprise, so I will look forward to this and hope it happens.

As for the juniors, this is a difficult category as consistence is not common with these paddlers, Birkbeck? who knows?, but be certain some of the best single combinations performed at Sort, will be done by these guys.

As for C1, long live Cheesy, I just simply love his paddling style in a C1, all the other are apes, malformed monkeys throwing the boat all over the place with little style and grace.

OC1, who cares, well I must this year as I have entered this category along side the K1, but I think Jason Bowerman is my number one choice.

As a finishing thought, go hard, party well and simply enjoy the 'Viva Espana' of this great occasion.

Simone French (NZ)

The site: I have not been to Spain yet, so I cannot answer this one.

The paddlers who will do well in each category: I was lucky enough to spend the majority of last year on the road in North America competing all over the country, and noticed a trend setting in from competition to competition. The sport that we are involved in now seems to favour different athlete builds, depending on the site. If we are looking at a wave (not really by all accounts), then I would expect to see some of the stronger, larger paddlers doing well, along the lines of Ken Whiting, Steve Fisher and Mike Abbot. With more of a hole, I would expect the shorter, lighter paddler to do well, especially with the smaller boats. So, Clay Wright, EJ (although he is strong too)... I think the real challenge will be who can pull it all together on the day.

The winning moves: I would love to say aerial - but who knows. Realistically, the winning ride will be well planned out, taking advantage of the variety and technical scores. At wave sites, blunts are easier than cartwheels, and score more points, so people should be looking for the best points to difficulty ratio - which may not be the hardest moves. I would like to think that those pulling the most innovative moves take the lead, but it may come down to the more calculated routine.

General thoughts on the comp: Lets hope it will be an amazing experience, with an idea of things to come! Especially from the point of view of the media, and general organisation, I would love to see this being a highly efficient event, with a relaxed atmosphere for everything except the competition itself. I can't wait!

Tom Debruslais (UK)

The hole looks much improved from last year, deeper, more powerful with slight radials either side to blunt off. Still appears to be predominantly left sided hole but more balanced than last year.

I reckon the winning moves will be super-clean cartwheels and reverse blunts, and as much variety as is possible!

The competition is set to be close one, there's such a large number of paddlers capable of winning its hard to say, hopefully well get one or two titles to bring back, with the team that's going out from the U.K. there's potential medallists in all categories.