Olympic US Team Trials Course Demo--C1

[Craig Smerda]

http://vimeo.com/40200708" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

best of luck to all competing

[John Coraor]

Awesome! I particularly liked the French upstream near the end of the run.

John

[Mike W.]

Who, other than KNeal & I are down here? KNeal is helping w/ the race. I'm heading over as soon as I can get out of this class today. I should have some photos up sometime this weekend.

[Smurfwarrior]

Awesome!

[Craig Smerda]

From the ACA...

"There is a great paddling event going on right now through the weekend that we wanted our members to be aware of as we support the U.S. Olympic hopefuls in paddling. The 2012 Olympics Team Trials for Whitewater Slalom is happening now at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC. This event is the third of four selection events for the Olympic team and will go on through Saturday April 14.

The final day of trials on Saturday will be streamed live on Universalsports.com.

The direct link to the streaming action on April 14 is

http://universalsports.com/video/saturd ... ic-trials/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We hope you join us in rooting on the competitors this week as they vie for a chance to represent the U.S.A. in the London Olympic Games later this year."

[Mike W.]

Great racing! I got there in time to see 2nd runs in all classes. A very tough course today. I'll try to get through the 896 photos I took as soon as I can

[Smurfwarrior]

So can people just show up for time trails or do they have to secure qualifying points throughout the year to get the opportunity to compete at the Olympics in Slalom?

[Craig Smerda]

anyone else watching?

I missed first runs... because it's 70 degrees outside.

[Craig Smerda]

5:30pm (EST)

2nd Runs for C1, K1W, C2, C1W, K1

[KNeal]

So can people just show up for time trails or do they have to secure qualifying points throughout the year to get the opportunity to compete at the Olympics in Slalom?

Smurf, it's a points thingy. The trials this past weekend was for selecting the national team members. One of them in each of these classes (men's c-1, c-2, men's k-1) will qualify for the Olympics based on the points they accumulate in the world cup series. To add to the confusion, one of the top 3 women's finishers at the Charlotte team trials is not able to qualify for a potential Olympic berth as the 4th-place finisher already accumulated more points so that one is on the team instead. Did I just make things as clear as mud there? There is no US women's k-1 spot yet for the Olympics, but they have an opportunity at the next world cup to qualify.

Personally, I do not like the math used to select the *best* qualifier for the Olympics as it is based on who is the most consistent performer through the qualification period, versus taking the one who is performing the best when it counts.

[Jeffrey Ward]

Actually, the US has secured a spot in all of the slalom classes for the Olympics. Based on good results obtained by US paddlers at the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Pan American Championships, the US is permitted to enter one boat per class in men's K1, women's K1, men's C1 and men's C2 at London 2012. (Women's C1 has not yet been approved as an Olympic class.)

Although the US has secured the spots in the Olympics, it has not yet determined which paddlers will actually compete in those spots. The Olympic Team Trials race in Charlotte was part of the selection process to determine which US paddlers will compete in London. The selection is based on which paddler performs the best at three races: the 2011 World Championships and the Olympic Team Trials (which already have taken place), and the upcoming Slalom World Cup race in Cardiff in June.

Personally, I like that the selection process is based on several races, rather than just one race. Lots of people can have a bad race now and then, and a good race now and then, so a paddler that consistently finishes at or near the top over a series of races has shown that they are the best qualified to compete at the Olympic Games, in my opinion. Also, if the selection were based on just one race, then the racers with the most experience on that particular course would have a distinct advantage over the other competitors. By including three different races at three different venues, there is less "home field advantage" involved in the process.

[Smurfwarrior]

Cool, thanks for the info.. what got me asking that initial question was seeing people competing in that who (being kinda celebrity paddlers) didn't make much noise about slalom prior to that event, when other actual slalom types were mentioning their world travels and competitions.... just found it odd, and yes, its kinda confusing to me but I'm sure its not as bad for those who are knee deep in all that.