It’s just over a week since the competition finished and I’m still feeling the marathon race in my shoulders. The week flew by in Miraflores, we arrived Saturday 18th in Lima only to discover that our boards were still in Madrid but we were assured they would arrive the following evening. We took this as a sign to have a chilled first evening and thought we could use the next day to see the sights with the knowledge that Sunday night we would be reunited with our boards and could look forward to a dawny Monday before the opening ceremony.
Well as with all good plans they don’t always work out and on return to the airport we were told that the boards hadn’t arrived from Madrid but don’t worry they said as we are confident they will arrive Monday night. As I’m sure you can imagine some strong words were said to the airline company and panic started to rise in the team as Gareth and Jim who were competing in the surfing element of the comp were due to start their first heat Tuesday morning and they would have very little time to practise before.
So we made a few phone calls to the other teams and managed to get Surf SUPs and paddles from the Irish team and another few paddles from the French team ( French and Irish relations with Great Britain have never been so high).
So the boys had vehicles to get them in the water to train and Mark and I had paddles to use the distance boards the ISA were providing for the racing element of the comp. Things were starting to look up and we could now go and concentrate on the opening ceremony.
The Opening ceremony was amazing, all the competing countries lined up around Parc Kennedy with their flags, locals and tourists wanting to have their photo taken with us was a very odd experience. For that short walk around the square we felt like celebrities. Everyone buzzing off each other and getting a little nervous as once this ceremony finished we knew it was time to put the game face on.
The competition started on the Tuesday with the SUP Surfing which would last over 3 days with the final on the Saturday. We arrived at the beach super early so the boys could get some practise in on their own boards as by a miracle they arrived the previous night from Madrid.
The surf was perfect the whole day at about 4 ft with light winds and the sun shining and continued that way for the rest of the week, both Gareth and Jim made it through their various heats with some great surfing against some of the best in the world in to the next day of rounds. They would both go on to make it in to round 3 (3rd day) where unfortunately they both got placed in the same heat. They were up against some tuff competition and at the end of the heat Gareth and Jim were out placing 14 and 15th in the world out of 34, a very respectful ranking.
Now the boys were out it was coming up to Mark and I to step up and put all our months of training in to practice as the next day we were due to start the Technical race which was a 3 mile course around markers placed out at sea which would test your ability to turn the board, paddle out through surf and ride the board in surf. Mark and I had been practicing all week so we felt confident but what you can’t practice for is how the other competitors will handle the course. This was evident straight away in my heat, we set off with a beach start running in to the sea with our boards. Straight away one guy fell off in front of me whilst another paddled sideways across me. All this slowed me down and put towards the back of the pack, not the place you want to be so I had to dig deep and pull myself to the front 10 and I was lucky to catch a good wave in on the last lap of the course and finished my heat 8 out of 15 which put me through to the final round later that day. Mark also got through his heat in to the final, so Team GB were still in it!!
The final came far too quickly that afternoon and the ache in the shoulders was starting to set in but we mustered all the strength we had a set off for the starting line where the top 24 from the earlier 2 heats waited to do battle in the final (12 from each heat advanced to the final).
On the horn we set off sprinting in to the water, Mark and I had a good start and were powering it along with the big boys from the USA and Australia but as I mentioned earlier you can’t practise for how others will handle the course and I came foul to others mistakes. On the first lap I caught a wave with 6 others heading for the inside marker but the guy on my left lost control of his board which shot over mine knocking me off. I quickly got back on but the pack started to slip away so I did what I could and managed to grab a smaller a wave to gain some distance. Second lap and I catch another wave but this time the guy to the left of me falls off his board on to me taking us both out. At this point my temper was going and I remember shouting at the guy. So off I went again chasing the pack. On the last lap I was still behind the pack but managed to grab a wave from quite far out which brought me up to the middle pack which Mark had managed to stay in. We both hit the beach at the same time, Mark taking 17th and me 18th out of 24.
That night we hit the carbs with 2 portions of spag bol each because Saturday was the 18KM marathon and we knew we would need the energy to make it to the end.
The marathon course was 3 x 6KM laps starting at a beach further down the coast and ending at the contest site with a beach sprint across the line. We set off at 9am and I found a nice pace that I knew I could keep going for the 18km distance. The biggest mistake you can make in a distance race is setting off too fast and burning out before the end.
After the first lap the racers had all spread out in to smaller packs with some adopting a technique called drafting whereby you take turns to paddle behind someone’s board in the slip stream which helps to pull you along. I unfortunately I was in no man’s land. Everyone in front was too far to catch and all behind were too far for me to worry about so no drafting for me. A marathon is more mental than physical and you have to stay positive to get to the end, it can get pretty lonely paddling for 2 hours and the markers never getting closure. But all that said it does come to an end and as I headed round the last marker and turned my board to face the shore a wave loomed behind me which I caught and rode all the way to the beach. Mark was already there having finished 14th and I came across the line 19th out of 30.
That night Jim and Gareth had to leave for the airport as they both had to be back to work Monday so it was left to Mark and I to fly the flag and attend the Closing Party and Club Waikiki which is the oldest surf club in South America and probably the coolest. Well long story short drinks were drunk, songs were danced to, surf stories shared and new friends made.
The ISA put on an amazing event that was well run and will continue. I’m currently trying to get the Channel Islands recognised by the ISA as being independent from the Surfing GB. My hope is that the Channel Islands can start to compete at all ISA events as their own team. Watch this space.
I would also like to thank the following sponsors for their help as without them this would have been very hard. Sure Mobile, Enhance Group LTD, Pennington’s Solicitors, Penguin Recruitment, 2020 mobile, Naish, Excel, Starboard, Jono’s Water Sports.
To check out more photos and videos from the event go to http://isawsuppc.com/
Here are the link to the photos in my preferred order.
http://isawsuppc.com/wp-content/gallery/day-4/mtr_9872.jpg
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http://isawsuppc.com/wp-content/gallery/day-4/4_lifestyle_creditchasenmarshall.jpg
http://isawsuppc.com/wp-content/gallery/day-4/mtr_9817.jpg
http://isawsuppc.com/wp-content/gallery/day-4/mtr_9769.jpg