Day 2 of the ICF saw the start of the float boat event with the C1's and K1 women taking to the water under tricky conditions.
It was the C1 men who kicked the day off, and second up was GB's James Ibbotson. With a heavily strapped elbow, he did his best to show even a portion of what he was capable of doing. Through his injury he managed to put some points on the board and place 13th. Adam Ramadan showed his experience by putting together a couple of calm rides to put himself in 10th, and in the afternoon's semifinals. Finally, newcomer to the C1 team, Ben Higson, went out and gave it his all, looking to put his mark on the event. It was a 15th position finish for him on the day.
Women’s kayak was next to the water, and with Ottie Robinson-Shaw as reigning world champion, Great Britain had six paddlers to go in this event. Becky Green was the first woman to the water, looking to improve on her performance from the squirt event the day before. Battling the wave, Becky managed to throw a couple of impressive moves and place 22nd. Emma Witherford, Tamsyn McConchie and Heidi Walsh all laid down come composed rides to make sure they progressed to the quarter finals. The stand out GB performances came from international debutante Dino Rock and returning world champion Ottie Robinson-Shaw. Dino showed her wave knowledge from paddling Hurley for years, paddling her way to 10th place. And Ottie put on an aerial masterclass to make the most of the bonus points on offer, claiming first places in prelims.
C1 men headed back onto the water for their semi finals, looking to make the top five positions and through to the finals. The only Brit to have made it this far was Adam Ramadan, currently sitting in 10th place. Adam stuck to his ride place, managing to score more points than in his prelims. This took him up to 8th position, just missing out on the final.
Rounding the day off was the C1 women, only the second time this event has been part of the ICF Freestyle World Championships. It was a fast paced prelims round, where we saw four Brits take to the water. Unfortunately, Becky Green wasn't able to make it through to the final and defend her silver medal, finishing in 8th place. However, the three GB paddlers left, Jak Fantastic, Tamsyn McConchie and Ottie Robinson-Shaw, all paddled their way to the top five and into the finals. Ottie left it until her final ride to cement her place, smashing a ride of over 200 points to storm into the lead.
After her day of racing, Ottilie said:
“I was a bit nervous, but after my first ride I knew I'd made the cut, so I just relaxed and tried to do some of my favourite tricks.
“Yesterday was my first ever silver, I still am a bit sad. The day didn't work out the way I wanted it to, but I just had to park those emotions so I could focus on what's next and dwell on that in the future. For now I've got business to deal with.
“I think I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to try and double the triple, I was sad yesterday because suddenly that dream had to go. But then, so what, a silver is pretty great, and I have two other classes where I can defend my title and I just have t enjoy it and be nice to myself.”
Tomorrow will see the start of the OC1 event and the K1 men. Make sure you tune in and see the action unfold on the ICF website.