Source: Maxime Beaumont | Translator: Nico Scianimanico | Proofreader: Katie Ellis - Only 5 days after the World Championship in Russia, I am on my way to Potsdam in Germany. This has a great canoe club: it was the former West Germany Olympic team training centre and more recently they were German Club Champions winning more than 60 podium places. This trip was divided into 2 parts; firstly I competed in the famous Kanal Sprint and secondly I worked as a coach on a training camp for the young athletes in my club.

The ‘Kanal Sprint’

For those who don’t know this race, the idea is simple; it is a race in the town centre raced by the best 8 sprinters in the world with canoe and kayak events for men and kayak events for women. It takes place on a 10 metre wide and 150 m long canal with a depth of 1m. The races are set off every 3 minutes in front of excited crowds. As soon as the first race has started, the course moves and the waves never stop. I have been invited for the third time in a row in K1 and for the first time in K2 with a Hungarian athlete: Peter Molnar.

In the first round of the individual kayak (K1), I competed against Hugues Fournel, the Canadian. I managed to beat him and reach the second round where Peter, the Hungarian then beat me. Luckily, I got another chance in the repêchage where I raced Hugues for a second time. Once again, I beat him which gave me qualification for the semi-finals. It now becomes tougher, I am against Ronald Rauhe, silver medallist at 2014 World Championships in K2 200m. Suddenly there is an opportunity to take revenge. I seize it and win the semi final, thanks to the boat launch at the finish meaning that I am through to the final against Peter Molnar. He beats me in this final race. I come away pleased with second place. I was hoping to win but ultimately I could do no more against the Hungarian (8th at the Worlds in K2 200m).

For the K2, I paddled with Peter (the two best K1 of the individual race) against the German K2 silver medallists at the World Championships Rauhe-Liebcher (3rd and 4th in K1). During the first 100m we fought well but at the end we stalled. We finished 3rd, 0.03s behind the Germans, showing that the two best K1 paddlers don’t always make the best K2 ;). As this busy racing day finally ends, I thank the Potsdam club who invited me and also the young athletes who came to support me with whom I will be starting the training camp tomorrow.

Event website: www.kanalsprint-potsdam.de

The training camp

This training camp has been held for 30 years now. Every summer, our paddlers from Boulogne-sur-Mer go to Germany and in the spring some German paddlers come here to France. This French-German exchange is obviously about sport but it is also cultural. We adopt the German way of life for ten days, having a good time and discovering the surrounding areas. The coaching team consists of Mathieu Goubel, his wife Claire and my wife Aurélie and me. We try to pass on the Boulogne Power to the youngsters through training but also by sharing the values in sport that we hold dear. The camp started really wellas the young paddlers were highly motivated. At first, the wind and waves made the paddling harder, but once the weather improve it allowed us to train in great conditions. I hope I have managed to provide the younger generation with some of the knowledge they were looking for and I hope that they will use and apply it so they can become the future champions of our club. I wish them every success with this.

And so our stay in Potsdam comes to an end, now it’s time for rest…