Coaching/management: Jes Oughton, Alan Tordoff, Jonnie Schofield, Grant Anderson, Martyn Steele, Jo Oughton

Team (alphabetical order): Kyle Bowles, Olivia Churchill, Daman Davies, Jennifer Hyslop, Sandra Hyslop, Ben Oakley, Jamie Oughton and Jessica Oughton.

Supporting Families: Hsylop, Ford, Oakley, Christie, Schofield, Folland, Bowles, Churchill.

Tired and hungry, the team rolled into Mezzana on Monday evening with just two days on the water in which to practise before the non-stop on Thursday. The accommodation was three two-bedroom apartments in the same building, one for junior girls, one for the junior boys (and Grant and Jonnie) and one for the adults. Each apartment was very well appointed with cooking facilities, fridges (aka pizza holders to the juniors) and plenty of storage space (though the floor seemed to serve this purpose for the juniors).

After fairly cool and overcast conditions on Sunday and Monday, temperatures started to rise on Tuesday, and an early start was needed for the sprint course while the water levels were still low and rescue cover was in place. The River Noce is a mix of a natural river topped up by flow from a hydro-electric plant and tends to rise during the day in response to snow melt and also dam releases. The classic course can be rather rocky early in the day and the sprint course rather powerful in the afternoon. Most of the juniors knew the classic course well from their training trip at the end of June and Alan Tordoff's video game, so it was just a matter of refreshing their memories.

Racing in France had taken its toll on equipment and the afternoon (and evening and night) was spent repairing paddles and boats. Resin was in short supply, and the local shops were cleaned out of duck tape as rock guards were the order of the day. A huge garage below the accommodation was totally monopolised by the team and the rest of the residents very wisely chose to park above ground.

The accommodation could not have been more conveniently located - 50 metres from the classic finish with the sprint start a few metres further on. This meant fewer problems with the officious traffic cop whose sole purpose seemed to make life as difficult as possible for any foreign teams and supporters, "you can't park here, park over the bridge" "no, you can't walk your boats back over the bridge having parked there" "your boats overhang your car too much" "you are lying about your disabled badge", but "Italian team, come this way……". He was incensed to be told he was just a traffic warden, then spoilt the effect by running off to find a "real policeman".

Mezzana is a popular tourist spot in summer as well as winter and it is hard to know what some of the visitors made of the WWR invasion. Some were obviously impressed (cue two teenage Belgian girls), some less so (sunbathers on the jetty by the get-out being soaked by the water from an emptied boat). Two small local boys attempting to use a C1 as a toboggan down a grass covered slope were happily prevented from doing so by their mother. Travelling further afield on his bike in the evenings, Jes discovered a nudist colony, but declined the opportunity to get an all over tan. Last minute preparations by the Italians included gravelling the path by the sprint course even while people were trying to use it.

The weather got hotter and hotter to about 33ºC through the week, and the cool water in the river was a great attraction, splashing about in the get out eddy. Water pistols were also much in evidence, though when the team bus was discovered to have orange juice all over the inside of the windscreen and dashboard it seemed to have got out of hand. Sent to give the bus a much needed clean, the juniors discovered an exploded carton of juice on the dashboard - natural forces, not human over-exuberance, were to blame.

Wednesday saw the initial scrutineering. One of Olivia's boats (which had been weighed in at the correct weight in France) was deemed to weigh 10.5kg. When she returned with some lead weights, the unaltered boat was put back on the scales and was now judged to weigh 11.5kg. Many people will sympathise with inexplicable weight gain, but perhaps not 10% in 5 minutes. In fact, by moving the boat around on the scales it was possible to achieve weights with a range of 1.5kg. The problem with the scales was resolved by the following morning (when the boat weighed a consistent 11.1kg).

Racing started on Thursday with the non-stop. The numerous supporters were stationed down the river to shout encouragement, wave flags and to take splits. Alan suffered the most by disturbing a wasp's nest while setting up the beam and getting stung 9 times. To add insult to injury, the wind rose after setting up the beam and triggered more signals from foliage and waves than from boats, and since it was out of sight of the split taker round a bend, it became a matter of guesswork. A few technical adjustments and a spotter on the far bank made this much more efficient during the classic race. The water level rose significantly during the non-stop, but thankfully was much better controlled during the classic race. The start involved a bulldog clip attached to the grab loop on the back of the boat and a light cord arrangement to trigger the start clock.

The purpose of the this article is not to comment on the racing, but suffice to say that everyone raced the classic course very well and in one case spectacularly - a testimony to quality coaching they were given by Neil Stamps and Alan Tordoff on the training trip.

The sprint was an eventful affair. Even the start was not without action. Quite apart from the starter who persistently counted down "five, four, three, four, one", one paddler broke his blade completely off on the start gate, nearly went in on his next stroke, but then continued down the course to complete it! The rescuers at the finish were obviously feeling underused since they decided to lift the first few boats out, one person at each end. Not a problem you might think, except that the paddler was still in the boat. A squawk from the tannoy soon put a stop to that.

The Swiss supporters were much in evidence. Quite apart from the fact that they tended to move round in a phalanx, they also had an enormous cowbell. Not daunted by this, Jackie Hyslop joined them on the halfway bridge with her small Mezzana souvenir bell, much to the amusement of the onlookers. Unfortunately, the Swiss had the last laugh as Jackie's bell worked loose from its strap and disappeared into the rapids below.

Equipment for the GB team was also an problem on the sprint course. Jamie broke his foot rest during the first run, and Olivia split one of her blades on the final practice run - not many people arrive at the start of a race with a G-cramp attached to a blade.

Sunday (team race day) dawned cooler, but had a sting in the tail. After all the boys had completed their race, a huge thunderstorm moved in, and just as the GB girls got off the water huge lightning strikes crackled round the finish sending the spectators scattering. One tree just 20 metres from the river and close to the finish was struck, with large strips of bark being blown off by the boiling sap. Thankfully it was on the far side of the river to the get-out and no one was hurt.

This was a very successful trip made possible by the sterling efforts of the management and coaching staff under difficult circumstances. Mention must also be made of the families who attended and who carried boats, mended them, shuttled paddlers, shouted splits and provided lots of support when it was needed most. It was a long and arduous trip for the paddlers, but they kept their focus and efforts up to the very end and have come away with achievements and memories to last a lifetime.