Slalom in the dessert

Slalom in the dessert - February 27th, 2014 As seen on CKC website

by Haley Daniels

The Canadian National team is in the final days of their winter training camp in the United Arab Emirates. In the city of Al Ain resides a wonderful picturesque mountainous oasis in the dessert called Wadi adventure. Although an unlikely place for a whitewater course our time here has proved as some of the best training leading up to the 2014 competing season.

 Ben Hayward, Cameron Smedley, Michael Tayler, Adrian Cole, Alexandra McGee, Thea Froehlich, Jessica Groeneveld, Florence Maheu, Haley Daniels, Jazmyne Denhollander (photo: Michal Staniszewski) 

Members of the slalom team take a break from riding the waves to ride some camels.

The course is a winding continuous whitewater paradise with narrow eddies and technical holes and waves. Many of the world’s best paddlers have been training here for the winter which has made it an ideal place for us Canadians to learn from the best!

The culture is very unique as religion is a large part of the Emirati lifestyle. Most Emiratis’ wear traditional dress which for men consists of a long white dress shirts and baggy white pants down to the ankles, often paired with a red and white scarf on their heads. Women are dressed in long black dresses that cover all skin except for ankles and wrists; this is also often paired with a scarf that covers most of their faces and head. As an outsider it came as a bit of a shock to be constantly covered, especially because the temperatures are so warm.

We followed the Sochi Olympics closely while training here. We had to fiddle with cable connection of our television set, but eventually we were able to find a British commentated channel to watch the competitions live. Though our visit to the UAE was strictly for training we made the best of our days off and ventured to explore the surrounding areas. We contacted the Canadian Consulate in Abu Dhabi to find the best place to watch the men’s Gold medal hockey game. We were told of a small sports bar in the heart of Abu Dabhi that was filled with Canadians ready to cheer. It doesn't matter where Canadians are in the world we still hold to the stereotype of being exuberantly friendly and very passionate for the game of hockey.

The training camp has been amazing and I can say without a doubt that Wadi Adventure has become my favourite course. We have laid down a solid foundation of physical and on water training and are ready to attack the 2014 competitive season!

The Wadi Adventure whitewater park opened in 2012.___________________

Haley Daniels is a member of the National Slalom Team from Calgary, AB. She competes in Women’s C1 and has been training with her Canadian teammates at the new course in the United Arab Emirates for the past several weeks.   View

2014 Goal Setting!

Post by Addicted to the GYM.

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Epic Session

Our second session for the day was intended to be in the Inglewood pool paddling in our slalom boats, but the weather was so nice we decided to bring our training to the river. 

The adventure started with a text message from Mike (my coach) who said:

So instead of going home to do an aerobic workout I met my coach and team mate (Jessica) at the edge of the Bow River, which is our training site just off Glenmore trail right beside Deerfoot Meadows in Calgary. My attempt to get into the icy water was a little abrupt as I fell through the thin ice along the shore into fridgid water up to my knees, but the sudden chill helped me to transition from being dry and land locked to wet and water bound. I climbed into my boat, grabbed my paddle and had a wonderful technique session as the sun set with Canada Geese flying over head.

So many perks from today's session. I was able to get out and paddle, spend time with good friends, and paddle in pink water!!

The sunset went from beautiful to... Epic!

RIO Olympic programme proposal: A STEP BACK - Sportscene

[SPORTSCENE received the article below from an athlete who wishes to remain anonymous for reasons as explained in the below.]
I have chosen to write this article on an anonymous basis. Not because I don’t believe in what I’m writing and not because I’m afraid of standing by my point of view. I want people to step back, have a think and look at it in a different light. I feel the arguments that are being put forward on social media are getting too personal. The emotions are running high and I feel the sport as a whole seems to be missing the point.All I will say is that I am an Olympian, preparing another Olympic cycle and I compete in slalom. I do not train nor compete in any C boats.Canoeing is an Olympic sport. Canoe slalom and sprint are the Olympic disciplines of canoeing. What does it mean to be an Olympic sport? It means a lot of things. But from a practical point of view it means the sport signs the Olympic charter. By choosing to be Olympic, canoeing chooses to respect this charter. The international governing body, in this case the ICF, is there to make sure the governance and policies of the Olympic disciplines are in parallel with this charter. And this is where canoeing has a problem... Within the ICF’s current proposal of the Rio Olympic canoeing programme, our sport is in breach of principle 6 of the Olympic charter:
“Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement”How are we all in breach of this principle? Well, our international body believes it is ok to propose the same Olympic programme as in London, even though the landscape of our sport has immensely changed and continues to change for the better. Women’s canoeing has integrated our World Championships programmes and has been developed successfully internationally. Women’s canoeing now has a sufficient number of nations and level of development to integrate the Olympic programme with ease. In slalom this was clearly observed in the numbers at the start line of the World Championships in Prague this year, not to mention the junior and Under 23 world championships or at the canoe sprint worlds.
This fact is also strongly acknowledged by the President of the ICF, Jose Perurena, in the recent press release from Lima:
“Women’s C1 in both Sprint and Slalom has improved dramatically over the last couple of years and the proposal to include it in the Olympic programme will further support its future development.”Having read the whole press release and if I was to translate this statement and my understanding of the ICF’s message into more cynical words, I would read: Yes, C1 women you have improved, but we are going to continue to discriminate against you in absolute terms on the basis of gender for another 11 years until 2024 and remain in breach of the principle 6 of the Olympic charter in the proposed Olympic Rio programme. Mmmmm… Not a great message ICF and not one I am willing to accept.
If we choose to be Olympic, then we choose to take on the Olympic values. The choice taken by our international governing body to discriminate against women for another 7 to 11 years, does not reflect the Olympic values, or those of the ICF Statutes or the ICF charter for women in canoeing. 11 Olympic medal events for male athletes in canoeing against 5 for female athletes does not constitute gender equity by any stretch of the imagination, especially if the Olympic programme remains as imbalanced in Rio as it was in London and for all the Olympics before.
Sport is part of society and if anything Olympic sport is meant to show the way/set the example. How is the ICF doing this by choosing to propose to the IOC an Olympic programme based on gender discrimination? What message is the ICF sending to the world and not just the world of canoeing? Olympic sports have a responsibility that goes beyond that of their own sport. How is the ICF “inspiring a generation” (the motto from London) when they are clearly choosing not to give male and female athletes the same opportunities in their proposed 2016 programme? And how can they be so insulting as to suggest that female athletes would be happy with a proposal that reinforces the discrimination for a further 7 to 11 years.
Canoeing was ranked in the bottom 5 Olympic sports after London 2012. What does this mean? Our sport is in no way “safe” within the Olympic programme. One of the main reasons for that ranking was the gender imbalance within our Olympic programme, of course there are other reasons that must also be attended to. The winter Olympics will be starting in just under 3 months’ time and the IOC is going to come under huge pressure from the world media over the new “discrimination law” that the host nation has passed on homosexuals. The law is in breach of the same principle 6 of the Olympic charter that the proposed Rio canoeing Olympic programme is in breach of. The world media and many athletes are/will be putting pressure on the IOC to uphold this principle 6. The IOC can debate that Russia was awarded the Olympic hosting before this law was brought into place. What will become harder and harder to justify for the IOC is Olympic sports who don’t uphold the principle 6, or the Olympic charter in general within their Olympic programme, like canoeing.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this may come as a shock but we are on the Olympic ejection seat and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying or dillusioned. The ICF are being foolish and if they continue to choose to ignore the facts that are put them. I can safely say that our sport will not have an Olympic future once the IOC does it’s post Games review of Rio 2016 if we are to follow through with what the ICF is currently proposing as a programme.
I spoke to a group of friends about the issue and we came to this conclusion:
“In some countries women aren’t allowed to drive. In canoeing, according to the ICF and it’s 24 male and 3 female board members, women aren’t allowed to have the same opportunities as men to compete at the Olympics. What’s the difference? None. There is just one big fat word for it: DISCRIMINATION.”
As a sport, as people, as societies, we can’t accept the ICF’s proposal. We can no longer justify an Olympic programme with such high gender imbalance and even the ICF recognize this. But by saying “not yet”, they are not only consciously choosing continued discrimination for another 7 to 13 years, they are also playing poker with the sport as a whole and it’s Olympic status. And I don’t believe they have a Royal Flush in their hands!
Gender equity is not a debate, it’s an obligation. Socially and morally we have to do what is right no matter how hard those decisions are for everyone involved. Legally, we don’t really have a choice. If the case was brought in front of courts of many of our countries that have laws protecting against gender discrimination, the ICF would more than struggle to justify it’s current proposal and the professional restriction it puts on female athletes. On an Olympic point of view, we have signed up to something and whether we like it or not, the Olympic charter is not a menu. If we want to move beyond our current “eject seat”, we have to start moving the sport forward now, today; not tomorrow and definitely not in 7 years’ time because by then it will be too late. This is our reality, and if we continue to bury our heads in the sand we have some very dark days ahead of us.

OLYMPIC ALERT: C1 Women’s Canoe Events Proposed for Tokyo Olympics.

OLYMPIC ALERT: C1 Women’s Canoe Events Proposed for Tokyo Olympics. 

November 15th, 2013NewsWomenCAN Intl 0 Comments

International Canoe Federation (ICF) announces they will propose C1 (singles canoe) Women’s Canoe Events for Tokyo 2020 Olympics – for the Sprint and Slalom disciplines.   #equalympics  #womenscanoe      Thank you to the 6,200+ people who have signed our petition and almost 1,200 who have left comments.

https://www.change.org/petitions/lift-the-ban-on-women-s-canoeing-at-the-olympics-for-rio-2016.

Current Olympic Program has:

Sprint: 5 Men’s Kayak, 4 Women’s Kayak, 3 Men’s Canoe, 0 Women’s Canoe

Slalom: 1 Men’s Kayak, 1 Women’s Kayak, 2 Men’s Canoe, 0 Women’s Canoe

15th November 2013 ICF Press Release:

At the International Canoe Federation (ICF) Board of Directors meeting in Lima, Peru, motions were carried to support the inclusion of C1 Women Canoe Slalom and C1 Women 200m Canoe Sprint at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, and to guarantee complete gender equity across both Olympic disciplines (Sprint and Slalom) by the 2024 Olympic Games.

These decisions will now be proposed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Jose Perurena, ICF President and IOC Member, commented, “This is exceptionally positive for our sport and clarifies our position to ensure equity at every level of competition. 

“Women’s C1 in both Sprint and Slalom has improved dramatically over the last couple of years and the proposal to include it in the Olympic programme will further support its future development.”

The proposed inclusion of Women’s C1 Canoe Slalom reinforces the significant progress and increasing popularity of the discipline and will certainly please the recently crowned World Champion Jessica Fox (AUS), who has been a vocal advocate for its addition to the programme.

Likewise, the 21-year-old double C1 Women 200m Sprint World Champion, Laurence Vincent-Lapointe (CAN) will also be delighted by the prospect of Olympic competition.

Also discussed at the meeting was the increasing TV presence of the sport with over 50 hours live coverage in 2013 and a significant jump in audience figures.

Additions to the competitive calendar were also agreed with Pietermartzburg (RSA) winning the right to host the 2017 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships and Nantahala the 2015 ICF Junior Wildwater Canoeing World Championships.

Link to ICF press release  http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=2cbee736331aa45e1311e6e8c&id=3b5d4275d1

Remembrance Day Skiing

I was able to get out for my first ski of the season with my mom and two good friends. Our day started out with a trip to Laggans Mountain Bakery because all great ski adventures start with some yummy baked goods!

We proceeded to drive up to Moraine lake and found almost 60 cars parked along the highway. We came to a consensus decision that we would drive up the road for an extra 5 minutes and check out if the Great Divide ski trail was busy. Lucky for us there were only 5 other cars in the parking lot! The road we were skiing on used to be the old high way that went through the mountains! 

It was amazing day, but I have a little bit of post cross country skiing leg pain :)

Mom (left), Felicitas Polsterer (middle), Me (right)

Felicitas Polsterer (left), Mike Mutrie (middle), Mom (right)

  

Although I love summer and paddling on the river I also enjoy cross training with some aerobic cross-country skiing! I am really looking forward to the 2013/2014 ski season!