Euro Tour 2018: Makinito

Having already spent a few days training in Millau, I was excited to head to one of my favourite features and compete at Makinito! The feature, styled out of an irrigation ditch and old canoes as omni-blocks, is quite similar to inlet in its regularity but has shoulders and shallow points. This meant transferring skills across from one of my usual training features was relatively simple.

As the days went by, the camp, a short drive away by the local canoe club, became busier - and so did the feature. The whole set up at Makinito is pretty unique and awesome: sofas by the wave, a slackline and pallet bridge, and a huge lake by camp for swimming and washing. 

Training continued and with this favoured feature, I also continued to work on tricks such as lunar orbits which aren't quite in my competition ride yet but are close and so added into training. The British contingency was growing as well, and as the competition kicked off there was a great atmosphere between all competitors and locals. 

For the competition, my heat wasn't until around 6pm so I had all day chilling out and watching the others compete. At last, it was time to paddle (and cool down!). My runs were ok but I felt quite sluggish from hanging around all day and so flushed a couple of times but did enough to make it through to the finals in 5th. (French rules include top 5 plus the next finishing French paddlers to make five Frenchies in finals.)

That evening, everyone got together for a meal at the canoe club hosted by the local community and had a party. This is one of the things that make this event so cool as it is so involved with the locals!

Warming up for finals I felt more awake than I had for my heats and was excited to throw down. I was aiming to link a few extra moves and if things went to plan, even put a lunar in at the end! However, a few moves missed and more tie in the eddy than intended meant didn't quite get the ride I was looking for but still finished 4th and as top GB women!!

Makinito had become a truly international event with many people here in preparation for World Cups in Spain just a few weeks away. This meant the eddies were stacked with World Championships finalists and medallists - so I am stoked with a 4th! 

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tanAgTP4Qns