Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, traditionally hosts the TIP training camps in the picturesque Matka Canoyn ahead of their traditional international canoe slalom race IKAS, which celebrated its 55th edition this April.
A group of 12 young athletes, representing six countries – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Greece, Turkiye, Serbia and North Macedonia, was lead by Atanas Nikolovski and Aleksandar Zlatarov. Over the course of a week they experienced good training conditions. It was a first participation in the training camp for some of the attendees while some already had several experiences training in this kind of programme.
The beginners were divided into smaller groups, of two athletes each, and were paddling on the easier part of the course of the Treska River, which enabled a better working conditions and an opportunity to focus on important technical aspects. The athletes were able to paddle twice a day on a course, and were able to join more experienced paddlers at flatwater trainings prior to the competition, to learn more about the basic technique.
The more experienced paddlers were gathered into two groups as well, and were working on more difficult elements on water, preparing for the race and also focusing on some elements which they were encouraged to work on when they came back home.
Atanas Nikolovski said after the TIP, “There is still a lot of job to do to compete against the biggest nations, but I can see great progression even for months and we are definitely on the right track, helping with TIP camps. For some of the athletes this was the first international competition, for some of them second or more, but it was a great experience for them to compete at this level. All athletes have expressed their gratitude and are aware of the great support they were given – especially by the ECA in preparation of this TIP camp and throughout the Ilinden Kayak Slalom 55thIKAS 2024 Open Championships.”
13.11.2024
