Michele conquers the Sella
Plett is so proud of our Champion canoeist Michele Eray who won the ladies division at the ‘Descent of the Stella’ in Spain on 4th August.
We asked her mom Colleen to update us a little about what Michele has been up to in the last year and her plans for the rest of 2012.
The ‘Descent of the Sella’ is a race that Michele has wanted to do for a long time. It is an amazing race within a festival of paddling had has quite of bit of history with South African. Michele’s first coast Daniel Conradie’s name is on of the stones. The river surrounding are beautiful and the atmosphere amazing!
A great win fro Michele who has had a tough year, having had to cancel a number of her entrees into races. After her amazing win a year ago at the US Championships in San Francisco, Michele had to undergo surgery for a wrist injury. The kept her out of participating in the sport herself, but she has been busy with coaching and working in her field as a Bio Kineticist and has certainly not been idle.
Michele is currently rated at the first woman in the world for Surfski and was invited to Budapest for a month on a caching course which was organized by the International Canoe Federation/Olympic Committee.
She spent 10 days in Ottensheim with Bridget Hartley (her partner in the K2 from the Beijing Olympics) who was doing her final race prep for the women’s K1 500m event at the London Olympics.
Michele is currently in London and will be assisting on a 2 week surfski training camp in Poole.
On the first weekend of September she will be heading off to Porto in Portugal for the Nelo Summer Challenge, and what she describes as possibly the event of the year!
Michele won it the last time she raced back in 2010, and had to very sadly sit out last year with her wrist injury. It is also the venue for the inaugural World Surf Ski Champs to be held in 2013.
Then a quick time back in South Africa and then off to Rome where Michele represents South Africa in the World Canoe Marathon Championships.
Source: What’s New in Plett – 10th August 2012