Lip Mich Incident

We've moved on from Liptovsky Mikulas, but it's unlikely that we will forget the events of the past weekend's racing very soon. The racing was fun and the top canadian of the weekend was John Hastings. It's wasn't the racing that made this weekend unforgettable. It was a short delay about halfway through the semi-finals. A young C2 was on the course and approached a moved that required paddlers to cross the river above a midstream rock. They didn't quite make it and got stuck against the rock. The fragile C2 was crushed instantly. The bowman was barely able to escape being stuck in the boat which was sunk partially below the water line. His partner in the back was less fortunate, and was unable to get out in time.

The boat clutched his fatigued body as the whole weight of the river relentlessly forced him against the rock. The boy was stablized by volunteers known as Frogmen who are suited up in wetsuits to assist in a case of an emergency. After several failed attempts to push or pull the boat away from the rock and out of the rivers clutches, a saw was brought to the scene to chop the boat in half and hopefully save this young paddler. At this time a large crowd had gathered helplessly observing from the bank as the Frogmen worked furiously to unpin the boat. The Frogmen ripped away most of the boat and the boy was finally helped out of water and to the safety of shore. Obviously in pain, he refused medical attention and walked away from the incident apparently unharmed. A sobering event to remind us that we are not so invincible. Our sport is dangerous and a momentary lasp of focus and simply a bad decision almost turn fatal for two very experienced young paddlers.