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Sat, 4 Sep 2010 16:35:56 -0400

Fall is in the air here in Tacen. Not only are the mornings becoming increasingly crisp, but the streets are filled with book-carrying students...yes, summer is ending, and fall is fast approaching. Another tell-tale sign that Fall is approaching is the fact that Thursday was my birthday! Happy Birthday me. Not to sound too nostalgic, but it’s pretty crazy how fast time flies. One day you’re one of those wide-eyed students entering high school or university, and then bam...you are 27! However, I have heard that 30 is the new 20, so, it ain’t all that bad!

So, what’s new? Worlds are next weekend, and you can tell things are starting to ramp up. The atmosphere here in Tacen has been electric; media has been down nearly every session doing interviews, snapping photos, doing it all....Tacen/Slovenia is certainly doing it right! And I guess it doesn’t hurt when the reigning World Champ, and current Euro Champ hails from Slovenia. In addition to all of this, last night, Ljubljana hosted their notorious night-time parallel slalom race on the canal right in the middle of down-town. No Canadians participated in the event, simply because information surrounding the event was pretty vague, but it was to no ones surprise that local hero Peter Kauzer took the crown. Strangely, Danielle Molmenti didn’t compete, and I am thinking it would have been a different story had he been there! Anyways, the night-time slalom brought out a bunch of spectators, and proved very exciting. Perhaps an event like this could join Sprint’s Mazda Knock-Out event that is hosted every year in Toronto....no Cana

Anyways for those of you looking for a new site to check out...I direct you to Adam and Jamie Cutts new online portal. I particularly enjoy the quote they have up there, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the Face” - Mike Tyson. Classic....but kinda true! Ha.

Alright sport fans, check out www.sloka.si and www.canoeicf.com for more information surrounding Worlds and results.

John

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Moving Forward

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:43:57 -0400

After a solid 8 days in Bratislava, the team is back in Tacen for 3-weeks of training as we ramp up to the World Championships that will happen September 9 - 12, 2010. It was a great camp, we even got to do a night session under the lights. The highlight was certainly watching teammate Ben Hayward compete in his first finals at a big international race. Yep, Ben finished 7th, which was hard fought, and well-deserved. The race didn’t go that well for me....I realized that some more time on that course is needed as I wasn’t able to really attack like I normally do. Oh well, it was good experience, and experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want!

In other news, congratulations goes out to Hayden Daniels who finished 4th in the Canoe Slalom event at the Youth Olympic Games that are currently being held down in Singapore, Singapore. He missed the medals by a mere 2 seconds!

Also want to give a huge congratulations to roommate Corey Hamilton for his 8th place finish this past weekend at the sprint World Championships. In his first Worlds, Corey competed in the 5000m race...yep, I know what you are thinking, who in their right mind would race 5km! ha. Good work Corey.

If you don’t frequent the blog of Adam VanKoeverdan, I would suggest you check out his most recent entry about his 2010 Worlds.

Anyways, that’s it for me at the moment. From Tacen, I bid you adieu!

John

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John Hastings Canadian National Kayak Team Member

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Moving Forward