Our last freestyle event of the season took a part in Graz, Austria. For us it’s only about 3 hours of driving so on Friday morning we packed our camper and hit the road. Just me & Peter, our son Petko and two dogs stayed at home with grandma. So we had few days just for us and kayaking. We didn’t even have to worry about food as the guys from Graz prepared great meals for all athletes during these days.
Hole in Graz is quite special. It is an artificial hole made by local kayak club. It’s situated in the industrial park, in the artificial water channel. The channel is about 3 meters wide and you have to jump 2 meters into it and then climb out of course.
The hole is constant and deep but very strong, not letting you relax in any position.
This year it was our first time in Graz and we really enjoyed it. Despite the late date the weather was just perfect. The participation was quite big and international. We met lot of friends from Czech, Russia, Netherland, Ireland, Germany and Austria of course …and us – Slovakia.
Competition started on Saturday with prelims of all categories. I was also judging mens so I had program for whole day. Peter paddled very well but even I had really good feeling on the water. I could do nice loops, spaces, splits, cartwheels and phonicses. Peter basically just combined all hard moves and trophy moves in one fluid motion and nailed it in each ride. We went to finals from first position. Finals were awesome show as everybody tried their bests. Guys were jumping really high and girls were trying for hard moves. Peter won and scored more than half of the points as the second place. I was able to do all my planned moves in my second ride and secured first place. Prize giving ceremony followed party with tasty dinner and dancing next to fire. Just epic end of the season, what do you think?
I am already looking forward for next year and new season. I hope it will be full of happy kayaking adventures.
Cheers
Nina
