Wild Water Racing

Nicky Cresser, a Maths teacher at St John’s School and Sixth Form College in Bishop Auckland, has been selected to race the World Cup Series as part of the Great British Wild Water Racing Team, in the individual men's kayak (K1M)

At the rigorous selection weekend in Wales back in April, Nicky dominated the Classic event, winning by over 10 seconds, and finishing in 3rd in the Sprint event, behind Olympic bronze medalist Jonnie Schofield and the very experienced Jamie Christie.

The World Cup series involves 4 races over 2 weekends in June 2013: 2 classics and 2 sprints.  

The Classic is a long distance race (between 18 and 25 minutes depending on the venue) where endurance and an ability to “read” the water are key to ensuring that the boat runs smoothly and energy is not wasted re-accelerating the boat or making significant changes in direction.  

The Sprint race is more exciting and explosive with athletes racing over a course of between 1 and 2 minutes.  Here the best racers need to be incredibly powerful yet have the relevant skills to keep the boat on the racing line.   Fractional errors in positioning will result in lost time and with races won and lost by 100ths of seconds, slight time losses can mean everything.

Nicky will be racing at the course on the River Vrbas near Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 22 and 23 June before travelling to Italy where the racing takes place on the River Adda in Piateda.

A quote from the current Chairman of Tees Tigers Canoe Club:
"Nicky is a friend who I have known since coming to University.  It is because of him that I started competing, to the point where I will hopefully go for GB selection next year.  Nicky is a Maths teacher who seems to spend every waking minute raising money for our canoe club, teaching children (maths or canoeing) or going training.  This leaves very little time for sleeping!  We often get up at 6 am to go training before work often not getting home for dinner after training and coaching until 8 or 9 pm.
“Nicky is a great asset to both his school and our canoe club.  After the normal teaching day Nicky has established a very successful Kayaking club at St John’s, with students making their way up the rankings and one in particular has made the National Programme in his age group.”

Lisa Byron, Head of School at St John’s said:
“All of the staff and students at the school are very proud of Nicky and his kayaking achievements.  He is a very popular member of staff and is a true inspiration to all, encouraging many students to participate in the sport and enjoy the rewards of such hard work and dedication.  We wish him every success in the World Cup Series.”