Kayaking and the media!

I am back in Sweden from a great competition in Germany and my local newspaper has done a few stories on me over the past month and also made a video (Warning!! It is in Swedish).  I feel that getting kayaking seen in media is extremely important, as I think it will help grow the sport. I imagine one day kayaking will be a larger sport and will be included in such events as the X-Games, there is tons of potential for this sport to go far!

 European cup article

 Front page of newspaper

 Full story

First Eurocup ends!

Today was the last day of the Plattling Eurocup event! Really exciting finals day. As for the semifinals yesterday I kept my place in third, but the two other juniors up in front were fighting hard for first! Both my teammate and I made it to finals and we were ready to dominate! As I hopped in my boat to warm up before my heat I didn't feel as nervous as I did the first two day of competition. It was an awkward sensation  for me, as I am ALWAYS nervous. I felt calm and focused, I was in "the zone". Sadly that all fell apart when I unfortunately flushed on my entry move, other than that I had a pretty good first run! My second run was the best out of all three, I started from the eddy instead of upstream as I was worried to flush. Before my second run I regained focus and was ready to show the crowd what Swedish paddlers are capable of! My run wasn't the best out of the all the juniors but it bumped me up to second place, no other paddler beat that (well the guy in first place did...). I am really happy with my result and I believe this the first competition I have ever smiled in! I am now currently at a hotel about to go to sleep, I have to wake up early for my flight back to Sweden.  My next stop is the USA in two weeks, I am very excited to compete back in the US!

Eurocup begins!

So after training on the feature for a couple days I felt pretty good, the water level has dropped even though it's been raining non-stop. I believe the water level has to do with the power plant upstream of the feature. But today was Junior mens prelims, I was super excited today to compete! Even though I did not throw the ride I wanted to, I feel really happy with the end result, 3rd place going into semis! Wish me luck tomorrow!

Back to Germany

It's been a while since i last updated this blog...I feel very lazy.  But Currently I am back from Plattling, Germany, the site of the 2011 world championships. It is the first of three events of the European cup. I arrived in Germany today with my team mate Maria, we were living in a rental apartment with current world champion Claire O'Hare.  The weather is amazing! really warm sunshine and a perfect feature! I can't wait to compete!