The first day of Marathon World Championships is underway and Masters Marathon World Cup has come to an end in Crestuma Portugal. On Wednesday was Masters K1 which was 21.5 Kilometers with 5 portages. John Depalma and Abel Hastings competed for the U.S.A. in this event. Abel started the race and after one lap dropped out, Abel said he just wanted to get a feel for the course on the masters race so he would be prepared to race Saturday afternoon for the Senior Men's K1 race. John Depalma placed 13th. John having a good race, the wind speeds around 25 mph made it very difficult to control the boat's, and ride wash in the tailwind.

     On Thursday was masters men's K2 where John Depalma and Shaun Koos raced K2 placing 10th  with a time of 1:35:46.73 . There was still heavy winds on this day so Overall good performance for our Masters! Last night was the Opening Ceremonies for World Championships. Stanton Collins was waving our Flag high and with pride, it was a beautiful ceremony and very exciting to participate!

      Today was the first day of events in World Championships and the weather was much better. Its was about 68 degrees overcast and 5 mph wind. The course is very challenging even with good weather with the portage being a little over 200M and the entrance to it being on a very steep slippery dock, this course is the ultimate test of strength,endurance, and perseverance for any paddler. Austin Schwinn had the first event Junior men's K1 at 9:30 in the morning. This was a very competitive event with 32 athletes many who competed and did very well at Junior sprint worlds. Austin raced very hard but got hit by another boat at the start and had trouble getting back to the group. Austin finished 28th with a time of 1:45:30.06. A good performance from Austin.

      Tomorrow is Junior men's K2 with a 9:30 am start Portugal time. Stanton Collins and I will compete in this Event for the U.S. and in the afternoon John Depalma and Abel Hastings will compete Senior men's K1. That is what is and has been happening in Crestuma we will keep you updated the next two days as the U.S. fights for the Gold!!!

-Tanner Easterday