Second Euro Cup in Cunovo

The latest Euro Cup was held at our local spot in Cunovo. We all were very happy to welcome Europe’s best paddlers here in Slovakia. A country, where most of them have never been to before. That was one of the reasons, why we tried to make them feel as comfortable as possible. In order to prepare the spot for the event, we’ve rebuilt the hole during the winter and made some final improvements just short before the actual competition.

Some paddlers already arrived on Monday, right after the contest in Plattling, but most of them came on Thursday or Friday. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the weekend wasn’t that good, but we just didn’t really care about it. After we had prepared everything, the free training sessions started on Friday and the real qualification runs on Saturday at 10 o’clock. After the qualifications of every category were over, the semi finals of the men took place, followed by the Slovakian Cup in kayak cross of the R2 category.

In the evening, we all came together at a local restaurant and started a little party with a concert, cheap beer and good paddle friends. Most of us left the party by dawn. Luckily, the weather on Sunday was way better, than the day before. While the sun was shining down on us, we started the day with the C1 category, then the K1JM and then the women. My first ride was pretty good, so not as bad as my first run in Plattling, which was a big relief to me. Therefore I could try some more difficult moves during my second run… I started off with a Phonix Monkey but didn’t make it. Of course I had to try it again in my third and last ride and I finally made it! Afterwards, I even had some time for some Loops and Cartwheels left. In the end, I scored 300 points, which is the best result, I ever accomplished in a competition!

I was really happy and became first. The second best female was Katya Kulkova from Russia and the third place went to Lenka Borovickova from the Czech Republic. The men’s finals started after K1W. The general level of the guys was pretty high, which made the competition very exciting. Due to the fact that Peter knows this particular hole very well, all of his three rides were high scored. The McNnasty and Phonix Monkey to both sides were the basics, for the guys on the winners’ rostrum. In addition, Peter showed a Tricky Whu, a Felix and a Loop which ensured his first place. James Bebbington from Great Britain became second and Jan Spindler from the Czech Republic third. We had a kayak cross after the finals, which was a lot of fun! Almost every freestyle paddler also took part in this competition. The funny thing about it was, that many of them were faster than the “long boat paddlers”. Afterwards, everyone was curious about the prize giving ceremony, because none of us knew the results before they actually were announced.

I want to thank adidas for helping us out with some super cool prizes and Jan Rusnak, Matej Fabianek, Peter Smolinsky and Hanka Bubnikova for taking the pictures.