First Year On The GB Team: My Experience
This year’s 2019 Junior and U23 European Championships took place in the beautiful country of Slovakia near the Tatra Mountains in the town of Liptovský Mikuláš.
The GB Team came away with two medals, Etienne Chappell (K1M) and Bethan Forrow (C1W) each with a bronze medal and many very strong performances laid down by fellow GB athletes!
Hello, my name is Kurts Adams, I’m the youngest athlete on the GB Team this year and today I will be sharing my experience abroad and what I think makes the GB Team really stand out. And I think the answer is in the name... the team around the athletes is what makes it really stand out.
After many years of hard work, grind and hustle I finally made the GB Junior Team this year. I had heard many good things about how well the trips are planned and how professional the team is… and I can now confirm that everything I heard is 100% true.
The coaches, the physios, the psychologists, the video analysts… sounds excessive but it’s not like that at all, this is where the GB Team stand out! Here is why:
After many years of hard work, when you make the GB Team you are given something special… you are given an opportunity. A massive opportunity. You are given the opportunity to represent Great Britain on the international canoe slalom racing circuit.
It’s a massive opportunity and there is very little room for error as you are only given 2 heat runs, 1 semi final run and 1 finals run. Athletes have been training all these years for up to 4 runs, and that’s if you progress through to the next rounds.
This is how I see it… Athletes have done their part which is train hard, eat clean, sleep well, and prepare. So why do you need the coaches, the physios, the psychologists, the video analysts – it’s to give the athletes the best chance of success. From the whole experience abroad this year, what really stood out to me is how supportive and helpful the whole team is around GB athletes. On that note, I would like to leave you with the equation below:
OPPORTUNITY + HARD WORK = SUCCESS
Overall I would say that it’s been a very productive European Championships with performances being laid down by the majority of the GB squad leading to finals and semis. All of the team want to thank Peak UK for their support and supply of the game changing Racer ST’s which ultimately makes a difference when the racing gets tight.
Now it’s onto the 2019 Junior and U23 World Championships… the whole GB Team is looking very good on the water and racing kicks off on Tuesday 16th July! Let’s Go!
