Sickline Worlds 2009 – Qualifications
Friday 2nd October 2009:
Today was the start of the qualification heats here in Oetz at the adidas Sickline World Championships. A field of 120 competitors from twenty different nations, created the foundation for a strong field and some tight times during the qualifications.
The qualifications were held on the long stretch of the slalom course on the Oetz River. The length of the course surprised paddlers, today, with the fastest times taking two minutes twenty-five seconds.
The course was class three with a low volume of water flowing through it and the discolored glacial water made forchallenging sight of the smaller micro obstacles, during the race section. Some paddlers would loose valuable time by hitting rocks during their race.
Each paddler had a mandatory practice run and then two race runs, with the two times being added together and making the overall qualifying time.
The top forty-five paddlers from today’s qualifications will advance to tomorrows Wellerbrucke section. With a good mix of seasoned white water paddlers, and slalom racers, it should make for some tough racing tomorrow and most of all some very good spectating.
Top twenty qualifying paddlers for tomorrows Wellerbrucke are…
- Eric Deguil – France
- Alexander Grimm – Germany
- Mike Dawson – NZ
- Victor Legat –CZE
- Uwe Eichfelder –Germany
- Robert Bouten –NL
- Andrew Holcmbe – USA
- Danial Mairgrinter- Italy
- Claran Mairgrinter – Ireland
- Dejan Kralj – Slovenia
- Fabian Dorfler – Germany
- Enrico Lazzarotto – Italy
- Thomas Waldner- italy
- Fillippo Brunetti – Italy
- Grham Milton – GB
- Jakobus Strenglin – Germany
- Ralf Schaberg – Germany
- Jakub Namec – CZE
- Dirk Schwethelm – Germany
- Marco Guid – Italy
Text by Deborah Pinniger
All Photos: Peter Csonka and Nina Halasova
Tags: Deb Pinniger · Extreme Race · Ötz · qualifications · Sickline · whitewater
