John Gregory | @gregiej | Sportscene - The World Championships returns to the UK for a third time, making use of the formidable London Olympic course at Lee Valley. The British team has secured a gold medal at both previous home World Championships – Richard Fox in 1981 at Bala and Lyn Simpson in 1995 at Nottingham. What does 2015 have in-store for the federations with Rio qualification spots up for grabs?

If you are an accomplished slalom paddler then good luck this season and alternatively if you are completely new to canoeing then I hope this encourages you to pick up a paddle for the first time. Happy reading.

2015 holds much promise, with April’s U23/Junior Worlds in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil to the Pan Am Games on the Gull River, Minden, Canada or the Senior Worlds on the Lee Valley course in London. “This year I'm excited to see some new race venues on the World Cup circuit”, says Ros Lawrence (AUS), referring to World Cup races in Krakow, Liptovsky Mikulas before the final in Pau, France.

Ahead of the start of this 2015 ICF Canoe Slalom season many of the international paddlers can sensibly be found training, and tanning themselves in Al Ain in United Arab Emirates or Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. The Oceania Championships take place in New Zealand starting January 31 just prior to the Australian Open and team selection in Perth Feb 13-15.

Click here to see a summary table of the 2014 season winners.

Statistically speaking Jess Fox (AUS) and Boris Nevue (FRA) were the best performing athletes in 2014. Jess broke new records winning K1W and C1W World titles at the same event. Fabien Lefevre (USA) achieved something unique with World Championship medals in all three categories (K1M, C2 and C1M).

C1M
Michal Martikan (SVK) rightly won the World Cup series before missing the World Championship final for the second year in succession. The Deep Creek Worlds were also not kind to 2013 World Champion David Florence (GBR) who will hope to replicate his Lee Valley World Cup win into gold at his home World Championships on the course where he also celebrated Olympic silver in C2.

Fabien Lefevre after sealing his third World Championship title said, “I am still motivated for doing better and reach gold at the Worlds and the Olympic Games.”

“Lee Valley is a very specific course and I would say that it can fit my technic skills. Last year I completely adapted my training so I don’t give any credits to the results there. It is a challenging course because it is hard to find the appropriate lines and the pace of the strokes has to be adapted all the run long which make it difficult to race.”

As I said back in my 2014 Season wrap-up Lefevre aside, the C1M class is super tight between Martikan-Florence-Slafkovsky-Benus-Gargaud Chanut.

C1W
Ros Lawrence won the Australian National Championships in Eildon, Victoria in January ahead of Jess Fox who picked up a touch. Ros also won the 2014 Prague World Cup race. “I felt quite pumped to race, and was happy to win the C1”.

Jessica Fox (AUS) took two of the 2014 World Cup race wins (Tacen and Seu) plus Senior Worlds in Deep Creek in addition to home U23 World title earlier in the year.

Despite not taking a race win in either 2013 or 2014 Katerina Hoskova (CZE) was able to secure the 2014 World Cup title through a series of silver and bronze places in the World Cup series.

Mallory Franklin (GBR) won the Lee Valley World cup 1 race last year as well as the World Cup final race in Augsburg and silver in Deep Creek.

K1M
“I think this year experience will shine through” anticipates Richard Hounslow. “We're now entering Olympic selection territory and those that have been through the process before will have the upper hand. But you can never discount the new breed of fearless young athletes coming through. I'm sure we will see some exciting racing at the world champs in London!”

This points towards the 2013 World Champion Vavra Hradilek (CZE), London Olympic Champion Daniele Molmenti, 2013 & 2014 World Cup Champion Sebastien Schubert, reigning World Champion Boris Nevue (FRA) or former World Champion Peter Kauzer (SLO) returning from injury. Or 21-year old Jiri Prskavec (CZE) could snatch his first World Cup race win.

K1W
Emilie Fer (FRA) did not take a race win during 2014 (check). We know she is strong on the Lee Valley course after a sensational Olympic Gold in 2012. It was Lu Li who won the Lee Valley World Cup race last year, ahead of Corinna Kuhnle (AUT) and Jess Fox (AUS)

Jessica Fox’s rise continues, starting the year on form with a win to retain the Australian National Championship title. Still only 20 she will be racing U23 Worlds, World Cup series before the Lee Valley Worlds.

Again watch out for 22-year old Richard Funk (GER) who has been the K1W rising fastest through 2013-2014.

C2
The C2 class remains utterly dominated by European crews. It was tremendous to see 2014 World Cup runners up Luka Bozic & Saso Taljat (SLO) take become new C2 World Champions. They edged out Peter & Ladislav Skantar (SVK) who had been exceptionally strong through the 2014 World Cup series.

Now back in the international scene, London Olympic Champion Etienne Stott (GBR) gives a taste of what may be to come; “There is no doubt that 2015 is a big season, especially with our home Worlds, and that there are definitely more strong crews than there are places available. But I think this is a good thing, as intense competition drives standards higher and produces tough racing athletes. All I know for certain is that Mark and I are doing everything we can to be in that team and whatever happens; it will be very exciting for everyone involved!”

Sportscene asked Stott in what way having Mark Proctor as a C2 partner; “It is different in many ways, but similar in the most important areas. Mark is totally dedicated to being the best athlete he can be, and that’s all you really need. From there, we have to combine our training philosophies and our mental approach to racing in order to sit on the start line with one mind focused completely on the task. My crew with Tim grew and developed over 9 years, and although I have known Mark for quite a while, we are trying to use all the skills and knowledge available to us to compact this process into a year. It’s very interesting to do this, and I think we’re doing a very good job of it.”

Richard Hounslow shares his insights; “Myself and David have put the disappointment of last year’s world champs behind us and we're both looking forward to once again racing a massive competition on home water! Last year the Skantars dominated during the year, but didn't deliver to their potential at the worlds, so I'm sure they will be looking to bounce back. But with Olympic selection in the back of everyone's minds, there are going to be some exciting races within the racing. Can the Skantars dislodge the Hochschorners? France, Germany and Czech also have multiple quality boats racing for that one Olympic spot and it all starts this year!”

Pan Am Games Debut
Canoe slalom makes its debut to the Pan Am Games, which take place on the Gull River, Minden Hills in Ontario Canada. C1M World Champion, Fabien Lefevre (USA) hopes to be among those on the start line.
You can read here a specific early preview article following my site visit and research.  James Cartwright, Manager at Canoe-Kayak Canada describes what it means to them to have the event on home water; ““The Minden Wildwater Preserve is the heart and soul of the Canadian slalom community and we’re thrilled to be racing the Olympic qualifier at home. There’s so much history and tradition around the venue and our athletes love racing there. It will be a real challenge as the American and Brazilian teams are very strong but we hold high expectations going into the Games.”

Senior Worlds – Lee Valley
Paul Owen, British Canoeing Chief Executive said, “British Canoeing is delighted to be hosting the 2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships and, after a 20-year absence, it’s a great honour to be welcoming the event back to the UK. The World Championships will be the third high-profile; world-class event to be held at Lee Valley White Water Centre in the last four years and the venue is fast gaining a reputation as one of the best slalom courses in the world.

“With a technically-challenging course and qualification for the Rio Olympics up for grabs, we’re expecting some fierce competition. And following the fantastic success of British athletes at the 2012 Olympics and last year’s World Cup, we’re hoping home advantage will once again play a part in determining the outcome of races and the overall medal tally."

“As well as providing some thrilling racing, London 2012 and the World Cup of 2014 have shown the British public has a real passion for canoe slalom. With the enthusiastic local support, as well as a strong contingent of international followers, we’re expecting the 2015 World Championships to attract a large, vocal crowd and with an array of free, family-friendly activities on offer, we’re hoping the event will have a real festival atmosphere and prove a great day out for spectators.”

Junior/ U23 Worlds – Foz do Iguacu
All is not rosy for Brazil, which has experienced its lowest rainfall since 1930 and with drinking water restrictions in São Paulo. The Paraibuna reservoir supplying Rio has dried up for the first time since 1978. The Foz course has also been dry for almost the whole of 2014. With the Junior/ U23 Worlds there in Foz water pumps are being installed which “should be solved for us soon and forever”; says Guillermo Diez-Canedo, Técnico de Canoagem Slalom and Equipe Permanente de Foz do Iguaçu.

“2015 should be an amazing year for us from the very beginning, with the Junior & U23 Worlds at home. However, the already too long period with no water in our course jeopardizes our options, which I think could be high. Anyway, Brazilians can easily put over with difficulties. It'll be interesting to see what happens”; says Diez-Canedo. The November 2014 Brazilian National Championships in Tres Coroas were won by Ana Satila in both K1W and C1W, Felipe Borges in C1M, Pedro Henrique Gonçalves in K1M and Charles Correa/Anderson Oliveira in C2.

“The rest of the year we'll be looking forward to seeing the Deodoro Rio course completed and see how our Olympic dream materializes”.

Final Reflections
So what has happened since the last Deep Creek Worlds in September 2014?

Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the greatest one of all? The legendary coach and author Bill Endicott has published a book The King of Slalomia. The Formidable Reign of Fabien Lefèvre. In my mind, any book on canoeing – kayaking written by Bill Endicott is worth reading. A separate review will also follow soon.

The World Paddle Awards nominated 47 individuals that included categories of Sportsman, Sportswoman, Lifetime Achievement, Sports Team, Sports Junior, Media Ambassador and Paddlesports Professional. The public vote is complete with a staggering 25,000 votes cast and the faculty will now vote before the winners are announced. This first award ceremony takes place in Augsburg on May 9. With the Catch 22 between sponsorship and media attention we hope these first WPA can take International Canoe slalom to a new level. Congratulations WPA. 

Key International Race Calendar

• Junior/ U23 World Championships - Foz do Iguacu, Brazil April 22-26
• World Cup 1 - Prague, Czech Republic June 19-21
• World Cup 2 – Krakow, Poland June 26-28
• World Cup 3 – Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia July 3-5
• Pan American Games – Minden, Ontario, Canada July 17-19
• World Cup 4 – Seu d’Urgell, Spain August 7-9
• World Cup Final – Pau, France August 14-16
• Senior World Championships – Lee Valley, London, UK September 16-20

I will be providing live race tweets for the Pan Am Games, Lee Valley Worlds and through the World Cup races using #ICFslalom all season. Follow me @gregiej.

Photo credits: Richard Hounslow, CBCA, Daniele Molmenti, Mike Dawson, Emilie Fer