Claire wins Silver in the Squirt World Freestyle Kayaking Championship Canada 2007
Claire O’Hara won Silver at this years World Championship on the river Ottawa in Canada. This was her first attempt at medals at the world championship and built on her success in 2006 when she won European and British titles.
Claire (left) with Gold Medal Winner Valerie Betrand
of Canada and Emma Runciman of GB who won the Bronze
Medal
Claire has been training hard for this event in
Uganda, Nepal, Scotland and Nottingham and she was
keen to make an impression - which she did in style!
The Women’s Squirt event was held on the 30th April 2007.
Dawn broke and so did the fine weather. It was dull, very cloudy and windy, adding quite a chill to the weather.
Off to the ‘Smoothie’ on the McCoys rapids on the River Ottawa which is the border between the states of Quebec and Ontario. The spectators had to be ferried to the island from which the competition took place by inflatable powerboat with many spectators arriving wet from the waves.
It was a short walk through dense pine forest and then a search to find a perch on the riverside with the best view of the event.
Fortunately Freestyle kayakers do it in style so the only facility was the music blasting from speakers powered by a portable generator to give edge to the competition.
Claire O’Hara was drawn to be the first competitor of the competition and took to the water to a rapturous applause from the large contingent of athletes and spectators. The world championships were off!
Claire faced nine competitors from five countries and faced four competitors in her first heat.
Claire had three runs of a minute each to perform a
number of moves which demonstrate her skills of
control, strength and dexterity in the moving waters.
The squirt event also features a mystery move where
the competitor scores points for submerging below the
water for as long as possible and performing moves
underwater.
Claire performed her three moves improving her scores with her every run. (The score from her two best runs counting towards her score for the preliminary round.)
Her supporters from Great Britain gave her every encouragement including the sound of a bugle horn blasting from the river bank for support.
The best five competitors would go through to the finals.
Heat Scores
| 1 Claire O’Hara, GB | 134.20 |
| 2 Motoko Ishida, Japan | 107.20 |
| 3 Valerie Betrand, Canada | 104 |
| 4 Emma Runciman, GB | 87.07 |
| 5 Devon Barker, USA | 62.63 |
Claire was leading the pack and was delighted with her
score and her fellow GB squad mate Emma Runciman also
reached the final five.
The competition heated up with the pressure on as it
moved into the finals.
By this time the weather had improved – the wind had dropped and the spectators enjoyed the event and the smell of the pine trees and the power of the river.
The final involved four rounds in which the competitors each had a run and in each run the lowest scoring competitor was eliminated until the winner and medal order was decided.
The World Championship was to determine the first medallist of the 2007 competition.
Round 1
The fight to survive was on with the lower scoring competitors. Devon Barker U.S.A. scored the lowest and was eliminated. Valerie Betrand Canada scored highest with Claire second.
Round 2
Would Emma Runciman hold on? The GB spectators cheered
and Emma kept her performance consistent and
eliminated Motoko Ishida of Japan. Emma broke into a
huge smile when she realised she was in sight of a
medal. Claire scored highest with Valerie Betrand
second.
Round 3
This round would decide bronze medal which went to Emma Runciman at which several of the British supporters nearly fell in the river with excitement and pride. Claire scored highest with Valerie second.
ROUND 4 Head to head
Gold and silver to be decided. Valerie went first and gave her best performance scoring her highest round in the competition.
Claire took to the water with the noise of her supporters drowning out the noise of the music and she gave a powerful performance.
The crowd went still with anticipation as the judges calculated the scores. The competitors hugged and congratulated each bother on the water both looking anxious and exhausted.
The results were announced Claire O’Hara Silver and Valerie Betrand Gold.
The British athletes and spectators were delighted with the result both for the individual athletes but also for the GB squad. GB had won two medals in the first competition of the world Kayaking Championship 2007.
