The Slalom World Cup reaches a finely-balanced conclusion this weekend with Irish kayaker Ian Wiley poised to capitalise on any lapse from the series' leaders when they negotiate Grade III wild water on the final Canadian leg of the competition.
Wiley's improving form has put him among a group of six paddlers still in the running for the K1 title, and the natural slalom course in Minden, Ontario - a course that brought him silver in 1991 - is expected to favour the eight-times national champion in his bid for a second World Cup win in as many weeks. Racing a similar steep and narrow course last Sunday, Wiley shook off his early season inconsistency with two penalty-free runs that finished within a second of each other. Ocoee, Tennessee - the scene of Olympic disappointment just 12 months ago - produced a winning combined time of 271.10 seconds which has left Wiley sharing fourth place overall alongside long-time rival Scott Shipley of America. The arithmetic of the five-race series means that any improvement for Wiley in Minden will depend on others. Currently lying 18 points behind the leading paddler, Wiley will rest his hopes on Briton Paul Ratcliffe finishing outside the top six and Germany's Olympic bronze medallist Thomas Becker being placed no higher than third.
Delays in official funding have left Wiley largely to his own devices this year, relying on a `reasonable' training relationship with the British and Slovenian teams. Speaking yesterday, the Nottingham-based paddler conceded that the absence of his usual coaching mentor, Marjan Strukelj on the circuit has caused problems.
"If a decision has to be made on a particular race plan there's no one here to bounce it off and I just have to wait until after the first run to assess whether it's working or not. Because the final is raced off in reverse order it's going to be quite important to get a solid performance in at the qualifiers and then wait and see how the others do on Sunday." Wiley has already laid down markers in practice this week racing a canoe specifically built for the forthcoming World slalom championships in Brazil. Injury looks as though it might scupper the only other Irish entry this weekend, with Ian Corcoran still doubtful for the Canadian singles event. A lingering shoulder problem has prevented Corcoran from putting full pressure on his strokes, and after failing to make the cut in the last three World Cup fixtures he may be withdrawn from competition. Meanwhile, the Irish team sponsor Cara Computers have revealed that their national slalom championship on the upper Liffey is now set to go ahead on the first or second weekend of October. The Celbridge event was a casualty of low water levels at the start of the summer but organisers have confirmed that both Wiley and Corcoran will defend their respective titles on the rearranged date.
