Gossip
Making the French senior slalom team!!!!
By Nouria NewmanApril 12, 2010
Last weekend the
French slalom team trials were probably one of the most difficult
kayaking
experiences I have ever had….
First, I
was supposed to get there with my best training buddy in Toulouse: Laure Udari.
But, on Monday, she
had a bike accident and she dislocated her shoulder during the
crash. She was so sad and I was also feeling terrible. This is one of
the worst
things that can happen to us. You’re training so hard in order to do
these
important races and not being able to do it is so frustrating.
Then during one of my
first training sessions,
I realized that my shoulder was very painful on my left
strokes, even on the flat. So Wednesday I did some terrible sessions,
paddling
bad and being in pain. I was hoping that it would get better, but it
wasn’t, so I
finally had to see an osteopath. My
collarbone was blocked and one of my vertebraes had moved, luckily
Olivier could
fix it all and I was feeling and paddling much better on Friday.
Apart from
the stress and a bad cold, I was ready for the team trails.
Saturday, I
was feeling lots of pressure before the race but luckily I had a few
friends there, to talk about anything that is not about kayaking and it helped
me a
lot. I won the semi-final with a great run, the fastest women time of
the day,
but I screwed up during the final run. I was so angry after myself and
disappointed. I think I cried for more then an hour. But Émilie Fer,
Vincent
Redon, Laure (on the phone), my parents and my club coach, Anthony, were
there to
help me to overcome and get back on tracks.
Sunday I
was very stressed and I was very happy that Émilie was there smiling at
me
before my start. Team trails are always a weird atmosphere and some of
the
girls you train and laugh with so often do not even say 'hi' to you.
Sunday I’ve
placed 6th of the semi and 2nd (behind
Émilie) in the final. This permited me to place
2nd women overall at the team trials and first K1W under 23.
So I
made the under 23 years old team and the senior team. I’m very happy
even if
I’m still a bit frustrated about touching the last gate.
THANKS to
all the people who helped me get through this.
Nouria
Nouria