International Canoe Federation

Despite the cold, dreary and overcast conditions in the town of Vichy, in the middle of France, the beginning of the 2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup was far from dreary. With over 40 countries bringing their best and fastest athletes to compete, an overall impressive turnout; the newly renovated Canoe Sprint venue at Vichy received a grand opening for its first major event since the 1970’s.

The river was flowing swiftly, swelled by a significant influx of water, resulting in an unusually faster race for all competitors. The weather over the past few days had made things difficult for the athletes and the organisers, yet all took it within their stride, working to ensure that the overall quality of the races were not impeded and the athletes could perform to the best of their abilities.

The heats went swiftly, with impressive performances all round as the athletes got into their stroke, preparing themselves for pushing further and faster for the semis at the end of the day. The athletes used this time to acclimatise to the course, helping them to discover the nuances of the river.
With a strong fielding from many of the top Canoe Sprint countries, it proved to be an exhilarating spectacle.

The WK1 1000m semi was won by Haiping LU (CHN) with an impressive 3:57.241 (with water current), a pleasant surprise after coming 5th in her heat.
In the Women’s K1 500m saw a strong overall performance from all participants. Katrin Wagner-Augustin (GER) received the fastest time, with a powerful 1:47.619. Long term veteran paddler, Josefa Idem (ITA) came second in her heat, with 1:48.288 showing she is still competing at the top of the sport at the age of 42.

In the Men’s K1 1000m Max Hoff (GER) started the season well with the overall fastest time, of 3:18.755, followed closely by Adam Van Koeverden (CAN) with a fast 3:21.305.

The Men’s C1 1000m, France’s own Mathieu Goubel powered his way into the final. Also in the final for Saturday will be David Cal (ESP), finishing 5th with 3:54.065. Another athlete worth mentioning was Vadim Menkov (UZB) who made a solid run in the Heats with 3:39.591, coming 1st and securing his position in the Final.

Competing in the men’s K2 1000m the teams worked well with no surprises. The highlight being Cuba’s Carlos Camilo Montalvo Garcia and Reiniel Torres Riveaux managed a superb 3:08.511.

The Men’s C2 also saw a positive result for Cuba, with their team coming first, closely followed by Gabor Szeles and David Varga from Hungary with a strong 3:30.255.
Russia stole the show in the men’s K4, the Czech team coming second, with the French taking the final spot by coming third with a swift 2:53.544.

With the final race of the day, Italy’s K4W team finished first with 1:36.174, France’s team taking advantage of the home field and second place, closely followed by Japan in third.

With the heats and semi finals over, the stage is set for truly exciting finals on Saturday. While the weather proved problematic, the action was hot in Vichy, and the next two days should be action packed. See the ICF website for up to minute results over the weekend.

Friday morning's results can be found here www.vichycanoe2011.com/info/day1morning.html. Results for Friday afternoon can be found here www.vichycanoe2011.com/info/day1afternoon.html