RACE REPORT:- NORTHWICH:- 02\03\2003

Oh crumbs, is it really that time of year already!! With precious little training done by the majority of us, the first race of the year comes as a lot of a shock! Freestyle Canoe Club have the honor of giving the marathon paddlers of the North West a rude awakening with this first race of the year. The weather at this race has, in the past, been down right awful with strong winds and heavy rain. During the week there was plenty of both but luckily for the 23 MADCC members who braved it, it actually turned out to be quite a pleasant day. I don’t think of myself as the superstitious type, but for some reason I get nervous when the team contains 13 singles like it did today. 5 doubles is a marvelous amount and the team looked pretty good on paper, but how would it fair on the day?

Since the end of last year, MADCC has been boosted at the top end of racing with the arrival of father and son Woodhead from South Africa. These two were in the first race of the day, a Div 2, 3 & 4 combined event over eight miles which saw Robin power his way to a very well deserved victory, beating two higher ranked paddlers! He also managed to get himself promoted to Div 3 so now has to race over twelve miles. Dylan wasn’t too far behind in 4^th place with his Dad, Gordon, just behind again in 5^th spot. This was their first ever marathon in Britain and they still haven’t quite got used to the cold! Well done all three of you. In a two boat race, by request, Neil and John took on a higher ranked crew and did very well to finish within 2 minutes of their time. Next off for MADCC were the three doubles in Div 7\8 K2. Proving that it’s experience that counts, the old partnership of Kerrian and Douggie worked hard for 3^rd place, pushing the new pairing of Simon (what’s he doing in a 4 mile race anyway) and Michelle into 4^th. A slightly off colour Nathan and Tom were left in 5^th spot. Early to bed for them next time! MADCC kept up it’s tradition of flooding Div 7 K1, with five out of the eight boats wearing yellow and blue (literally speaking). Andrew proved that there is plenty of racing left in him with a strong paddle into 2^nd spot. Chasing closely in for bronze was Mark, with Mike and Paul just off the pace in 5^th and 6^th respectively. Chris is a welcome sight back on the circuit after a long rest and was just out of the points in 7^th spot. Div 9 doubles went next over the four-mile course. A new pairing of Nich and Stephen proved to be less than compatible, but they persevered and finished 5^th, after three dunkings in the chilly waters of the Weaver. This was yet another example of the team leader getting it badly wrong by assuming these two young chaps, who can both paddle K1’s, could manage a K2. I apologize again for my error. The last event of the day was Div 9 K1 with five MADCC paddlers competing. Sarah, not to be outdone by her Dad, put in a very strong performance to claim a silver medal, showing that a little winter training goes a long way! Margaret ploughed on into 4^th place while a tired Bill had to settle for 6^th. Liam and Karen did a wonderful job looking after our K2 and consequently didn’t really race finishing 8^th and 9^th, a good thirty minutes later.

Today proved to be a good day for MADCC, with six medals coming our way. The spread of the team meant MADCC picked up yet another clean sweep, taking the full 10 points for the Hasler League, and building yet more of a lead at the top of the Points and Posteriors table. Well done to one and all, now that the weather is warming a bit of training could be done and the results will get even better!