This was a weekend where winter training was tested.  We had long time trials at the club on Saturday – with a number of new PBs, whilst the junior sprint monkeys (Class C and above) were up at Nottingham, being “profiled”.  From the photos, it looked like normal-for-Nottingham weather – wet and windy.  Sunday saw the club split 3 ways.  A couple of the SRS paddlers were still at Nottingham, a few brave souls went to Waterside C, and a large contingent went to Leamington for the first race of the year.  At Waterside C, Neil and Will managed 8th in the Vet K2, Kirsten and Irene 10th in Ladies K2, and Mark 20th (again) in Mens K1.  We had around 30 paddlers at Leamington – although it’s out of region for us, it’s local and friendly and early in the year, so always popular.  Winners came from opposite ends of the age spectrum, with Robin Avery winning Div 4 K2 with Jerry from LBZ, and Izzy winning U12 girls.  In between them, we had 3 third places – George Div 4, Grace Div 6 and John Carlo Div 8, and 5 promotions (so far).  Those were Grace to Div 5 (and about time too), John Carlo to Div 7 and the three first-time racers, William P, Josh and Lance all straight to Div 8.