World Master Games

The World Master Games came to Sydney in October, with over 28,000 competitors from 95 countries competing in 27 different sports. The Games are open to competitors aged over 30 or 35 – depending on the event – and are run every four years like the Olympics. Fairfield Canoe Club had a strong contingent of paddlers competing in Slalom/Whitewater, Marathon and Sprint events, with Kevin Hannington, Liz Jenkins, Kelly O’Shanassy, Rhea Dempsey, Chris Wharton, Gary Flanigan, Don Campbell, Lisa Newton, Helen Neil, Wennie van Lint, Chris Runting, Andrew Clinton and myself taking part. Thanks to Gary for getting the trailer up there and back for us! The marathon events were held on the Hawkesbury river and consisted of singles and doubles races of 21km for 30 – 49 age groups, 14km for 50- 64 years and 7km for 65 years plus; and sprints of 200m, 500m and 1000m were held at the International Regatta Centre, both in Penrith.

A number of us paddled the marathon course (a 7km lop on a straight section of river) on Monday 20th, being practice day, and were impressed by the flat, calm and wide river in perfect paddling conditions...unfortunately this wasn’t to be the case on the race days. Early morning and the weather at Penrith on both days was quite good with a slight breeze that progressively grew into a gale at about 9.30am and with cyclonic winds by 10.30am, just in time for the second race. Fortunately the wind was mainly straight down the 3.5 km straight course but there were plenty of gusts (over 50km/h) from all directions causing plenty of excitement and many spills. Paddlers in sea kayaks were the only ones who looked happy! Chris Wharton did well in his K1 only to become a victim of the weather and fall in close to the finish, losing a few minutes, with Wennie also going for a swim. Chris and Don Campbell managed to stay in their K2 on the rougher second day, with Kelly O’Shanassy and myself having to pull out after 7km due to an injury (we were put to use holding the First Aid tent down in the winds though!). Helen and Wennie battled the conditions well to score a gold in a competitive TK2 race.

All others did well for some medals and good results overall. There was some drama on the second day, with an Argentinean paddler unfortunately dying from a heart attack during the race. Due to the worsening conditions, officials stopped many paddlers at the 14km mark to shorten the race. The medal ceremony process was unfortunately very disorganised, with many singles paddlers not receiving their medals until the second day, and others incorrectly awarded. Kelly and I managed to get gold in our doubles race, despite officially pulling out! Mid-week saw the slalom events, with Chris Wharton and Chris Runting competing at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium in what seems to be an excellent course of 18 gates. Both won gold in their K1 events against some strong competition. The Sprints were held over 3 days, with a different distance each day (luckily, decreasing in distance each day).

The Regatta Centre is an excellent venue and it was great to hang out with fellow FCC and other paddlers between races, and chat to international competitors. The rowing events earlier in the week were cancelled due to the wind, and in the 1000m we could see why – a strong headwind and chop in the water made paddling difficult. A few boats sank due to the wind or submerging under waves, so made for some exciting spectating.

All the FCC competitors did well, with Liz, Gary and Kev especially having some close races in their age groups. I scored my only silver medal in the 500m when almost going in at the start, but recovered to catch up. Liz and Gary performed particularly well in the doubles and we were in front by about half a boat length in the 500m but half-way suddenly hit a patch of water that stopped them dead. They managed to claw back to second place. Wennie scored Bronze in a difficult 1000m and a close 4th in the 500m. Rhea impressed us by showing you don’t need to train all the time to win medals. Although due to some system errors, Helen showed you can go home instead of competing, and still win medals in the sprints. Whilst overall the events seemed well organised, the details could have been handled better – the 1000m sprint day ran some four hours late and some races were held in near darkness, the results calculation and the medal presentations were equally as bad. When the ‘medal presentation’ desk closed at 3.30 PM, medals for only 50% of the events had been presented…hopefully the others will arrive someday in the mail! At the Sprint start line, the wind ‘blew away’ the Starter’s calling of the event number and even his calls to go to the start-line; chaos often ensued with people missing races or lining up for the wrong event. However despite these mishaps, terrible weather for the first few days, sunburn, a total of three heart attacks (not me, other people) and large, intimidating Eastern European paddlers (which made some of us thankful we were in TK’s), everyone enjoyed the Games and had some great races.

Thoughts are already turning towards Turin, Italy for the next Games. A summary of the medal achievements for FCC was: Kevin Hannington: Bronze in Marathon Doubles and Bronze in Sprint doubles Liz Jenkins: Gold in Marathon Singles and Doubles, Gold and Silver in Sprints Kelly O’Shanassy: Gold in Marathon Singles and Gold in Sprints Singles and Doubles Gary Flanigan: Bronze in Marathon Doubles, Gold, Silver and Bronze in Sprints Chris Wharton: Gold in Slalom Wennie van Lint: Gold in Marathon Doubles, Bronze in 1000m Sprint Chris Runting: Gold in Slalom Rhea Dempsey: Gold in Marathon Double, Bronze in Sprint Doubles Darren Ryan: Gold in Marathon Singles and Gold and Silver in Sprints Singles and Doubles Helen Neil: Silver in Marathon Singles and Gold in Marathon Doubles Hopefully all the above is correct – some results weren’t published – and any errors are mine. Congratulations to all club members who participated.