2004 CAFA Nationals: Fun in the Sun (Really !)
Posted By Peter Scott on 12 July 2004
AIDA judge/ CAFA President Kirk Krack's soothing voice rose as he led us through the first competitor’s' briefing for the 2004 CAFA Nationals. Behind him and through an open door came the screams and squeals of children splashing in the pool at the University of British Columbia. Looking around me, it was obvious that I wasn’t the only one who felt like bolting from the room and joining those kids in their mayhem.
Restraint, though, was the order of the day, with static apnea up first.
Eric Fattah stared unblinkingly at the floor. The usually effusive Ananda Escudero was quiet. Even Mandy-Rae Cruickshank was a lighter shade of pale. We had done the training, paid the $150 registration fee and, like Matt Charlton (who had flown in all the way from Toronto) we had all made the commitment to give it a shot. The "it" varied from person to person. It was either good, clean performances, the chance at a new personal best, or, for some, the chance to represent Canada at the World Championships in August.
Despite training since January, despite having “been there, done that” at the last regional competition and many others, despite being sick with a chest cold and having announced conservative performances- so why should I worry?- and despite the knowledge that there were rookie competitors, probably, with worse nerves than mine, my heart was already pounding as Kirk finished the rigmarole of rules, safety and procedure. The worst is over, I thought, as the briefing wrapped up and we walked out onto the pool deck. It can only get better from here.
Static apnea is where it all gets decided. Athletes are bound to their constant weight announcements--unless they turn early--but not so for static. The question on my mind was how much further might each person go beyond his announced performance? The suspense was palpable in the air. Eric Fattah had done an 8:20 dry static the night before but had come down with a mysterious fever the morning of the competition. Luc Gosselin, current Canadian static record holder, would likely try to amass as many points in static as possible, given his expertise in the discipline and because he had suffered a lung squeeze some weeks before and so was playing it safe with a announced performance of 28 metres in constant weight. Matt Charlton from Toronto was also a threat to pull off 6 minutes as he had done at the Eastern Regional Competition the week before. Would seasoned competitor Mandy-Rae Cruickshank hold off the rapidly improving challengers Ananda Escudero and first-time competitor Jessica Apedaile?
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