Slalom Day

Slalom is one of the most challenging events of a competition. The course here in Zotemeer was no exception. The eddies were strong, the current fast, and the gates were set in a way that only the best teams in the world were going to make it through the course with a completely clean run. The men began the competition with the US team set to start late in the day. This allowed us to watch other teams move through the course and learn from their mistakes and successes. Our first lap through was pretty good. We cleaned most of the course and had only two gate touches, giving us a 10 second penalty and putting us in the top ten as we moved into the second round. On our second lap through, we sped things up a bit, had only a single gate touch, and improved on our overall time. This was one of our best slalom showings ever, but not good enough for the podium. The men finished in fourth for the day with the Czechs, Brazilians, and Japanese in the top three. On a bright note, we were one of only two teams able to clean the course with only a single touch. The women began their day with a brilliant run in the top of the course. They were the only team to clean the top five gates, but disappointingly missed gate number seven. The second run through for the women was a great showing. They had more gate touches, but made every gate and improved on their raw course time (one of the fastest for the day). It was a good day for both teams. Overall standings put the men in sixth and the women in eighth. It all comes down to the downriver race this morning. If either team can podium, then we are guaranteed an Overall medal. Wish us luck!