PCK/Plastex Ambassador Sebastian Marczak counts down to London 2012

With London 2012 only a day away now Sebastian Marczak, a PCK Plastex Ambassador, shares his European World Cup prep experience for London prior to going into ‘lock down’ in Rome for the last fortnight:

World cup 2 Duisburg: My training and preparation leading up to this regatta was very good and solid. On arrival to Germany I became very sick right until friday the first day of racing. I started to feel slightly better on friday which was a good sign for me. I was able to go for a light paddle and try to do a few short sprints.

Saturday - c1 200m heat I placed 5th in a time of 42.85.  This time is close to my last years P.B. i was very happy with the heat although i was sick all week i was able to perform close to my best.   c1 200m semi From first place to 8th place there was 1.4 sec This was a tough race – my body was slightly tired and i did not recover well after the heat due to the sickness. I still managed to paddle well in a time of 43.3 but i know if i was fresh and feeling 100% i could have given them a good fight. I placed 8th but considering the circumstances i was happy over all with my performance.

World cup 3 Moscow: After a week of no sickness and training well focusing on my sprints and technique i was ready for another race.

c1 200m heat - It was a constant head wind every day. I placed 4th in this heat. Tough race with the wind pushing me back to the starting line and the waves coming inside my boat.

c1 200m semi – I placed 4th but i just missed out on the A final by .4 of a sec. Top 3 make the A final. It was so close. I was very happy to be pushing the A final already and giving me a very big boost for the Olympics that its possible for me to make A final at the Olympics with the Worlds Best racing in the World cup.

c1 B final – Well again 4th place in the B final, it was one of those regattas were i just kept placing 4th in each race. Again good racing, very happy and i can see where i can improve my race leading up to the Olympic games to make the A final.’

We wish Seb all the best in London 2012!