Claire O'Hara: 22 days left ...

With only 3 weeks left until the 2011 World Freestyle Championships begin, I cannot believe that two weeks of training have already flown bye.

Checking out the Bavarian Forests from the T5

Training has been going really well out here in Plattling. Everyday there is a different water level and a different set of people, as competitors have started to come from all over the World. So far we have British, Irish, Polish, German, Slovakian, Norwegian, Swiss, Russian, American and New Zealand paddlers training at the wave.

Huge clean air loop at higher water level

The atmosphere is great and everyone is supporting each other as they try and learn how to paddle this quite tricky wave.

Water Gauge shows recent low levels and then the sudden peak

For almost 2 months the water levels out here have been pretty low, meaning that most training has been done on a very tricky, shallow and flushy wave. But this has all just changed. On Thursday after 3 days of 30 degree + heat the heavens opened and we had 2 days of non stop rain. This has brought the ‘real’ plattling wave into play and we now have a fantastic feature that offers longer rides and allows alot more moves to be thrown.

Hitting rocks at a low water level

Mixing it up with a bit of C1 fun at low water levels

I have really enjoyed being out here the last few weeks, despite the low levels, as it has allowed me to get an understanding of the wave, town and life that will around at the Worlds. I look forward to everyone arriving and the competition starting but at the same time I am quite enjoying this relatively quiet, friendly training camp we have going on at the moment and will miss it when the crowds appear.