Lot's of rain in Sweden this year. Not much time to prepare for the Euro Championships in Köln this weekend. We think we have managed though to get a full Swedish team (3 pros and 3 ams) on the startline.
Pro class
Jani Söderhäll: First competition of the year
Marcus Seyffarth: 5:th Pro special slalom, Paris World Cup 2004
Peter Klang: 8:th Pro tight slalom, Paris World Cup 2004
Am class
Henrik Madsen: 5:th Am Giant slalom, Paris World Cup 2004
Hans "Corky" Koraeus: 4:th Am tight slalom, Paris World Cup 2004
Pelle "Plast" Gustafsson: Still not decided if he will come...
This is the first time in modern time that Sweden will have 3 racers in the Pro class. This is historical. And they all have potential of doing very well. It will be especially interesting to see if Jani is fit enough to take on the European elite. They are all much better than last year. We hope to have at least one top 4 placement.
In the Am class we hope to be able to take home at least 1 podium. But here too the competition is getting harder and harder. The best Ams are starting to look really, really good. Unfortunatly our Am champ from Paris "Anders Hellqvist" could not make it this weekend.
Swedish team for European Championships 2004
Moderator: Hans Koraeus
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Hans Koraeus
- Corky - World Ranking Master Mind
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- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
- Contact:
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Marcus Seyffarth
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- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
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Hans Koraeus
- Corky - World Ranking Master Mind
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- Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2002 2:00 am
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The European Championships is over for this time. The Swedish team managed to live up to its expectations. Even though some didn't reach up to their goals others did better than they thought. So overall for the Swedish team I guess we were all happy. We didn't manage to get a full team (3) in the Am class for the nation points. Germany will probably take the nation overall title as they are on home ground. Maybe we can get second just before Switzerland. The Swiss had a great Pro team but not many amateurs. We will see when the complete results show up.
The Swedish results:
Giant Pro
4. Marcus Seyffarth
6. Jani Söderhäll
11. Peter Klang
Giant Am
1. Henrik Madsen
7. Hans Koraeus
Special Pro
4. Jani Söderhäll
7. Marcus Seyffarth
11. Peter Klang
Special Am
2. Henrik Madsen
9. Hans Koraeus
The big nice surprise for Sweden was Henrik Madsen. The difficult courses suited him well. He made the podium twice in the Am class. One podium placement more than planned for the Am team. The top 4 placement wish for the Pro team also was doubled with Marcus Seyffarth's and Jani Söderhäll's 4:th places. Jani was only 1/100:th of a second from the 3:rd place by the way. Peter and myself where maybe the only ones from our Swedish team who left Köln thinking that we could have done a little bit better.
The Swedish results:
Giant Pro
4. Marcus Seyffarth
6. Jani Söderhäll
11. Peter Klang
Giant Am
1. Henrik Madsen
7. Hans Koraeus
Special Pro
4. Jani Söderhäll
7. Marcus Seyffarth
11. Peter Klang
Special Am
2. Henrik Madsen
9. Hans Koraeus
The big nice surprise for Sweden was Henrik Madsen. The difficult courses suited him well. He made the podium twice in the Am class. One podium placement more than planned for the Am team. The top 4 placement wish for the Pro team also was doubled with Marcus Seyffarth's and Jani Söderhäll's 4:th places. Jani was only 1/100:th of a second from the 3:rd place by the way. Peter and myself where maybe the only ones from our Swedish team who left Köln thinking that we could have done a little bit better.
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Carsten Pingel
- Carsten Pingel
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- Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2004 12:54 pm
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Hans Koraeus
- Corky - World Ranking Master Mind
- Posts: 1980
- Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2002 2:00 am
- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
- Contact:
Same to you Carsten,
Unfortunatley there is not much time to socialize with everybody. It's skating and competition from morning until evening. Then you just want to go home and relax and get some sleep for the same thing next day. We also had to leave as quickly as possible on Sunday to get some hours of driving up to Stockholm before midnight. Our apologize to everyone that we forgot to say goodbye too.
We all had a fun trip and the competition was good even though there where some things that we could have been without. There are especially two problems that could be worth thinking about for all people organizing competitions.
1. Having timing system and result documentation separated will never be 100% safe. Mistakes will happen copying/transfering results manually from one place to another.
2. Setting courses that are too difficult for the majority of racers will always put a harder pressure on the organization. Racers will hit many cones wich make the work harder for cone judges. And that will also make it harder for head judges to detect DQ runs. We tend to sometimes underestimate the importance of cone judges. Their work is extreamly important since they directly handle a part of the total time you get as a competitor. It may be a booring job but it is a part of the organization that should be treated with more respect.
Since I mentioned problems I will also take out some of the best things in Köln.
1. The start area was very good. Good start ramps, a good starter calling out names and an extra person helping out finding racers and the like. It was calm since the main organizer table was at the end of the course. There where benches where you could sit down protected from the sun.
2. The finish area was also very good. A monitor existed where you could see all times and placements. It was placed away from the timing table that otherwise easily get disturbed by everyone wanting to see their times.
Next for the Swedes is the Swedish Championships in Stockholm, Aug 28. It is an open competition and UK's Paul Price (3:rd in Pro Special Slalom in Köln) will show up. So will also the very best of the Swedish elite. After that is Antibes. So far only 2 or 3 will be able to make that trip.
Unfortunatley there is not much time to socialize with everybody. It's skating and competition from morning until evening. Then you just want to go home and relax and get some sleep for the same thing next day. We also had to leave as quickly as possible on Sunday to get some hours of driving up to Stockholm before midnight. Our apologize to everyone that we forgot to say goodbye too.
We all had a fun trip and the competition was good even though there where some things that we could have been without. There are especially two problems that could be worth thinking about for all people organizing competitions.
1. Having timing system and result documentation separated will never be 100% safe. Mistakes will happen copying/transfering results manually from one place to another.
2. Setting courses that are too difficult for the majority of racers will always put a harder pressure on the organization. Racers will hit many cones wich make the work harder for cone judges. And that will also make it harder for head judges to detect DQ runs. We tend to sometimes underestimate the importance of cone judges. Their work is extreamly important since they directly handle a part of the total time you get as a competitor. It may be a booring job but it is a part of the organization that should be treated with more respect.
Since I mentioned problems I will also take out some of the best things in Köln.
1. The start area was very good. Good start ramps, a good starter calling out names and an extra person helping out finding racers and the like. It was calm since the main organizer table was at the end of the course. There where benches where you could sit down protected from the sun.
2. The finish area was also very good. A monitor existed where you could see all times and placements. It was placed away from the timing table that otherwise easily get disturbed by everyone wanting to see their times.
Next for the Swedes is the Swedish Championships in Stockholm, Aug 28. It is an open competition and UK's Paul Price (3:rd in Pro Special Slalom in Köln) will show up. So will also the very best of the Swedish elite. After that is Antibes. So far only 2 or 3 will be able to make that trip.
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Carsten Pingel
- Carsten Pingel
- Posts: 489
- Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2004 12:54 pm
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Carsten Pingel
- Carsten Pingel
- Posts: 489
- Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2004 12:54 pm
Pictures of the esc2004 can be seen on www.cruisin.de -----> Presse&Events-----> ESC2004 -----> scroll down until it says (Bild)
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Hans Koraeus
- Corky - World Ranking Master Mind
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- Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2002 2:00 am
- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
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Thanks for the pic links Carsten.
About you guys making the trip to Stockholm I can only encourage you. But in the end it's your decision. I guess it's for you as for me. It's hard to go to all events. It's a question of time and money. Have a look at The Swedish Championships topic for more info on that event.
If you come it would be great fun and would further increase the importance of this competition. Stockholm is also a very nice town to visit for other reasons.
About you guys making the trip to Stockholm I can only encourage you. But in the end it's your decision. I guess it's for you as for me. It's hard to go to all events. It's a question of time and money. Have a look at The Swedish Championships topic for more info on that event.
If you come it would be great fun and would further increase the importance of this competition. Stockholm is also a very nice town to visit for other reasons.