The 2019 Mini Slalom series has drawn to a close and the 3rd and final race didn’t disappoint. After the gales of the 1st race and the arctic temperatures of race 2, it was good to finally have perfect conditions to fight it out for the top step of the podium and be crowned Mini Slalom Winner 2019.
Race 3 again attracted a good turn out despite a large number of paddlers training in London. 82 paddlers took to the course and after the girls took the top three positions in race one and the boys in race two we had a mix for race three.
Stafford & Stone and GB Team member Chris Bowers had taken a break from training at Lee Valley, to return home to race. He showed everyone lining the bank for his run just how good you have to be to get a spot on the GB Team, with a very impressive winning clean run and time of 77.1 seconds.
Just behind Chris came Isobel Mockett in her C1 taking 2nd place with a handicap corrected time of 79.6 seconds, a really impressive clean run.
Taking 3rd place was the Club’s Olympian Lizzie Neave, also in C1 with a time of 80.5 seconds and clean. In fact the times for the top five places were all so close. You can see the full results here.
After all the racing in the final round was complete it was just the small task of finding the overall mini slalom winner. The results from the three races were quickly processed and the top ten paddlers across the three races were announced. They then had just one more run to be declared Mini Slalom Champion 2019 and lift the Stone Cup. So it was with tired arms they lined up once again at the start line, all determined to give it their best. An eventful 10 minutes of racing followed and as the last paddler crossed and the times were checked, it was Isobel Mockett who had clinched first place, followed by Keira Pearce and Lizzie Neave. A really good effort for the three Stafford and Stone paddlers and much deserved result, but we should also congratulate the other seven paddlers for their commitment and determination.
Chris Bowers was on hand to give out the prizes and also a mug to all the paddlers who had entered all three races. It is always special for the junior paddlers to get to meet and watch our GB team members back at Stone, inspiring and helping the next generation. Chris also had a question and answer session over the lunch break which proved very popular and got some excellent questions from the younger paddlers.
As always we would like to say a massive thank you to Pete Appleton and John Homer for their tireless effort in running the mini series. Course design was by Thomas Mayer and Jessica Magson was in charge of organising judges. Thanks to all the parents and helpers who set up the course and judged the racing, Steve Pearce for his pictures and finally and most importantly Kay Royle and her amazing catering team for keeping everyone going.
We hope everyone who has joined us over the last three races has enjoyed it, please spread the word for next year. We look forward to welcoming you back to Stone on 2nd & 3rd March for our first Div 3/4 race meet.
