What's New?!

Recent Happenings!

We are currently in the middle of a very grueling and intense 2010 Sprint paddling season. The World Cup season has drawn to a close and many new young paddlers are emerging from many different countries. This is great for the sport, as we constantly need new young talent to challenge many of the veteran athletes that have been winning medals for the better part of the decade. Most recently, the paddling community witnessed, as usual, a very competitive European Championships held in Trasona, Spain. Europe, as always, has incredible talent in the sport and the level of competition is as high as I have ever seen. The Czech Republic had a very productive regatta, winning a bronze medal in the Senior Men's K4, and competitng with the best in all the other disciplines in many A finals. I am sure that most countries are currently entering their final preparations for the World Championships in Poznan, which are bound to be exciting as athletes are trying to position themselves for the upcoming qualification year for 2012.

Coming Up...

We are already entering the final part of the sprint season with Championships in both Poznan as well as Moscow(European Junior/U23) in the next six weeks. These will be the first World Championships where the 200m will be contested as an Olympic Event. It will be great to see how the athletes have adjusted in the increased importance of this distance. These final regattas will be a great preview of what is to come in 2011, as it will be a big qualification year for all paddlers vying to go to London. I am anticipating a great finish to the season!

What am I up to...

I am still very engaged in my work with the Czech Canoe Union. The 2010 season has been arguably the most succesful to date with Czech Paddlers re introducing their great talent to the rest of the paddling community. All of the coaches in the Czech Republic have been doing a fantastic job with all the athletes across all age levels, and there is no doubt in my mind that the Czech will be a great force in the coming years.

I will be in Europe in a few days for the last leg of preparations before the World Championships in Poznan. This will be personally a great championships to witness as it will be exactly twenty years since the 1990 World Championships in Poznan, which were my last as the National Team Coach of Poland. I am looking forward to seeing some great competition.

It is amazing that we are already halfway between the Olympic Games and I am sure that everyone is beginning to get a little anxious and excited. Good luck to everyone at the World Championships, see you in Poznan!

Jerzy