New PB!!

This week on Friday I had a bad crash in slalom, after which I wasn’t able to ski on Friday anymore. Usually the first pass after a crash like that I am really careful and hold back because in the back of my mind I am a bit scared. This time, my first set after that crash was on Saturday, on a competition. The focus for this competition was already to find a way to deal with competition stress. For this it was important to set realistic goals and make sure I wouldn’t put too much pressure on myself. I would also work on a ritual before my set that would make me focussed and calm. Due to the crash, I wasn’t sure if I would even be able to ski at the competition. Before the start I wasn’t even sure I would make it past the second bouy, since that is when my shoulder would get pulled. I was oke with stopping if it was hurting too much, since there was a busy period coming up with clinics and competitions. When I noticed at bouy 2 that I was oke to continue skiing I ran my first two passes. The first round, I skied just under my personal best at competition, which was quite surprising considering the circumstances. In the second round I even skied past my pb and raised it by 1.5 bouy to 4@14. I am convinced I

On my way to a PB!

could have done more, but I didn’t want to push it with my shoulder. I also decided to stop after 2 rounds, even though there were 4 rounds in the competition. Hopefully I will be able to put my pb where I want it this year at another competition because I made a wise decision to stop.

Yesterday was a fun day of travelling. I started in Frespech, where the competition was on Saturday. On Sunday I was brought to Toulouse, since my flight leaves from there. This time was probably the fastest and easiest I had ever gotten from Toulouse to Amsterdam. Then in Amsterdam my dad was waiting for me and we went to visit my mom at the rookie competition in Maurik. 

It was great to see part of the rookie tour in Maurik, since my first rookie was in Maurik too. Also I did a camp there once, which really inspired me to get further in waterskiing. And of course the Europeans were in Maurik once, which was an inspirational experience. It was really awesome to see the coaches, to whom I could look up to during the camp and in my journey thereafter. They were really impressed about what I had achieved since they knew me. It is good to realise at some points where I’ve come from, because at some points I feel like my progress is not going fast enough.

After the rookie competition I drove to

Handel with my mom, which was fun because I wasn’t allowed to drive for 4 weeks, since I’m 17. I will be in Handel for 2 days for a clinic with world champion Ryan Dodd. It is really amazing that a world champion wants to give a clinic in the tiny country of the Netherlands! He is able to make his living from jumping competition, so he is extraordinarily good in jumping. From the three sets I am doing per day, I will therefore be jumping twice. I’ve already done 2 sets which I can write about, since my blog is a day late. The first set I slalomed, even though I didn’t cut the rope past 16, I thought it was a really good set. I enjoyed the way of coaching and afterwards, my last 16 meter pass felt very easy.