FIONA PENNIE
"Bruiser, Fi"

Discipline: Slalom

Class: K1 Women.....dabble in C1 Women!

Hometown: Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland

Living Now: Cotgrave, Nottingham

Current Boats: Nelo "Velox". My Vadja "Lizard" C1 is currently collecting dust in the boat sheds!

Shaft of choice: Bendy cranky shaft

Favourite Paddling Spot: For training it's probably Penrith, Aus; I love racing in Prague and, for the thrill, Beijing seems to hit the spot.

Achievements:
Team bronze in the European Champs 2007, 2008 and World Champs 2007.
Bronze medal, Prague World Cup 2007
Silver Medal, World Championships, Prague 2006
3rd U23 European Championships 2005
Junior World Cup Series Champion 2000
Bronze Medal, Junior World Championships 2000
Making the final in the World Championship C1W test event in 2009!

Whats Next... Ambitions / Plans:
2010 will see me competing in the European Championships in Bratslava, 2 World Cup races in Prague and La Seu d'Urgell (Spain), followed by a 3 week training camp in Tacen, Ljubljana, Slovenia preparing for the World Championships at the same venue in mid September....all in kayak this year! A few more of those shiny things at the major races over the next few years would definitely put a smile on my face. Having experienced the Olympics in Beijing, I'm eager to have another go in London, 4 girls (and the rest!) going for the one boat space available, will make things pretty tough, but I'll give it my best shot!

Best things about paddling:
Getting up early in the cold and dark and de-icing the car to go training.......erm maybe not!...but getting to go to lots of places (especially if they're warm) meeting people and getting to do what I enjoy every day.

Best Boating Moment:
Holding together 4 runs on the trot to find myself with a silver medal round my neck at the Worlds.

Worst Boating Moment:
A bad swim in training at Lofer in '97. Rich Hounslow swam in exactly the same spot just before me and his boat took a bit of a battering down the gorge. Subsequently, I was determined not to let the same happen to my boat and I wouldn't let go of it. I ended up getting hurt instead!

Heros, On and Off the water:
When they were on the whitewater, Richard Fox and Paul Ratcliffe and on the flatwater, Steve Redgrave. Off the water, Lance Armstrong.

Other Hobbies:
Battering away totally out of rhythm on my drum kit, snapping with my Canon on continuous shooting hoping that one picture will maybe look ok and doing all sorts of DIY around the house.

Favourite Stuff:

Food: A good steak or a roast dinner.

Drink: In the alcoholic sense, it's got to be red wine or a good whisky, otherwise Irn Bru!

Find out more:
fionapennie@hotmail.com

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