MEASURE OF SUCCESS

 

by Rebecca Lee 21.05.08

Behind the scenes of the canoe slalom training base at the Nottingham Holme Pierrepont National Water Sports Centre, lays a mountain of cables and up to the minute gadgetry which is helping canoeists measure their success on the white water.

Slalom canoeing provides its challenges for performance analysis, with complex runs and unpredictable waters, ensuring the right action is covered can be tough. However, with strong working relationships with the coaches, EIS Performance Analyst Julia Wells says the progress has been impressive;

“We have seen massive growth of the use of performance analysis in recent years. This has been down to continued support from various funding avenues and key staff and coaches who have driven things forward to where we are now. We’re able to provide fast information flow, giving coaches the video and data they want for race analysis.”

Wells has worked predominantly with slalom with the EIS since 2004, working hard to tailor the service to each coach to ensure results are maximised.

“It’s vital we stay ahead of the game” says Wells, “Coaches can use the information between runs as well as post race to review the athletes performances. Each country has its own set up for video analysis and going into Beijing every split second of improvement is vital. We have two training camps in Beijing in which I aim to assist the coaches in fine tuning athletes performances for the Games.”

The English Institute of Sport continues to lead the way with Performance Analysis through the innovative partnership with Dartfish, a world leader in video instruction and performance video analysis software.

“We are utilising the whole of the software available with Dartfish to enable us to deliver the most effective service we can” Wells adds. “As the demand of coaches and our requirements have grown, so too has the software’s capacity for helping us maximise performance analysis.”

Britain’s Beijing bound canoeists have all now been announced by the British Olympic Association, who completed the Team GB squad today, 21st May, by announcing the Slalom team at their base in Nottingham.

In sprint, Athens Olympic bronze medallist Tim Brabants will be hoping for success in both the men’s K1 (kayak single) 500m and 1000m thanks to taking gold and silver at the Sprint Racing World Championships in Duisburg, Germany in August 2007.

In slalom, Athens silver medallist Campbell Walsh will be looking for another gold medal, having picked up his first at this months European Championships in Krakow, Poland. Walsh will compete in the men’s K1(kayak single) slalom thanks to qualifying the boat back in September 2007 at the Slalom World Championships in Brazil, where he picked up bronze. Also competing in slalom this summer will be Britain’s David Florence in the Men’s C1 (canoe single), having achieved 5th place in Brazil last year and Fiona Pennie who claimed 7th place in the Women’s K1 (kayak single) class.

To find out more about Dartfish click here