Olympics.....Dude.

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TheKrikkitWars
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Re: Olympics.....Dude.

Post by TheKrikkitWars »

Craig Smerda wrote:this thread should be titled...

"If you plan to watch todays olympic slalom events this evening...
DON'T OPEN THIS THREAD!!!"

:lol:
I didn't say who won... That was just the Semi's

However... [spoiler alert]


















GBR got gold and silver, the slovakian brothers got bronze
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Re: Olympics.....Dude.

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John Coraor
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Re: Olympics.....Dude.

Post by John Coraor »

ohioboater wrote:Interesting that, in the few C2 heats I was able to access online, I didn't see any cross strokes from the bow paddlers. Is that standard practice, or just the style of the few teams I was able to see?
It represents a pretty universal change in slalom C-2 style.

In part this is due to the fact that over the years slalom C-2 designs have gotten easier to turn without using a cross-draw. As there is always a premium in slalom on maintaining forward momentum, whenever possible you favor turning strokes that move the boat forward, or, failing that, you avoid strokes that slow the boat (e.g. a sweep maintains momentum better than a draw/cross-draw, a draw/cross-draw slows the boat less than a reverse sweep). In a situation where a bowman might use a cross-draw in C-2, the sternman already has the ability to plant a draw on that side to anchor the turn; consequently, the boat's momentum can best be maintained if the bowman sweeps vigorously to power the turn.

Obviously this change didn't develop until after center cockpit C-2 designs were introduced, which gave the sternman a much greater ability to use strokes to directly control the bow and center of the boat. I recall that in the early to mid-80s (when my wife and I raced C-2M) use of cross draws by bow paddlers was still relatively standard practice, even though center cockpit designs had been around since the mid-70s. By the time I got back into racing slalom with my kids around 2002, cross-draws in slalom C-2s had essentially disappeared.

John
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Re: Olympics.....Dude.

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Craig Smerda
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Re: Olympics.....Dude.

Post by Craig Smerda »

C2 finals was spectacular... congrats GBR!!!

Gotta say... I really loved watching their in-water celebration. :lol:
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Re: Olympics.....Dude.

Post by Kelly-Rand »

ohioboater wrote:Interesting that, in the few C2 heats I was able to access online, I didn't see any cross strokes from the bow paddlers. Is that standard practice, or just the style of the few teams I was able to see?
The latest C2's are so short 13'-8" to 13'-10" and easy to turn that it is just not necessary to do a cross stroke. I and my partner Walter have been paddling our C2 for four years now and at first the bowman would cross over but now as we have gotten comfortable it just never happens. The pivot point is centred roughly 15" between the paddlers so either one is capable of initiating and controlling the onside turn, so one or the other is maintaining the momentum.
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Re: Olympics.....Dude.

Post by John Coraor »

Despite what Jim and I said above about cross-draws rarely being using in C-2 slalom competition in recent years, I did notice that the frequency of C-2 cross draws did increase slightly in the semi-final and final runs compared to the qualifiers. It was still only 2-4 boats, but out of a much smaller pool represented a larger percentage of those paddling. It appeared that there were a few boats that found 1-2 of the offsets to be a tad challenging in the semi/finals course and may have been forced to resort to cross-draws in order to make a last second turn to keep on track. However, I believe that everything that Jim and I said about the trend away from using cross-draws in C-2 slalom still holds true.

John
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