Meet the colourful Czech youth ladies team

Tereza Krausová, Lenka Sováková, Karolina Stoličková, Denisa Foltysová Blanka Ligurská ceske budejovice czech republic world championships rafting raft youth masters whitewater irf icf sportscene

Decked out in Czech colours from head to toe, this year’s local womens youth team are arguably the most colourful athletes at the 2012 Youth and Masters World Championships, set to commence in Ceske Budejovice tomorrow.

The team is comprised of Captain Tereza Krausova (18 – Back Right), Denisa Foltysova (19 – Back Left), Blanka Ligurska (18 – Front Right) and Lenka Sovakova (19 – Front Left), while Karolina Stolickova (20) is the fifth member of the team and will step into the front left position for the Head to Head discipline on Saturday.

All five girls are from Moravia, a historical region in the East of the Czech Republic and hail from either a whitewater or canoe slalom background, and will look to capitalise on their whitewater experience in the slalom and downriver disciplines.

“Our favourite discipline is slalom and maybe downriver, we are not as good at sprint”, said Krausova.

Despite coming from the same region, the quintet are spread out across several towns and like most teams struggle to get regular training sessions in other than at training camps and in the lead up to competition.

Asked what she thought of the course and who their main rivals were Krausova responded, “I think it is good water and a good course for juniors because it isn’t too easy, but it isn’t too hard either.”

“I think the Brazilians, the Russians and maybe Germany but I didn’t see them train,” she said.

The Brazilians are the names on everyone’s lips at the moment as the ones to beat, and it will be interesting to see how the action unfolds tomorrow down the rapids of the Ceske Budejovice course with the Sprint and Head to Head disciplines to kick of proceedings in the adventure capital of the Czech Republic.

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