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IFCS Team Selection World Cup 2008 Report
By Greg Derrett
Wednesday 7th May
At 8 am the convoy began, leaving Evesham to head towards London around the M25 and down to Dover. Arriving at the ferry around lunch time the
convoy was 5 vehicles strong, consisting of 4 vans with a cage for each dog and a mini bus with team members and grooms. Several of us had been
on previous teams and felt this was by far the best way to travel and the distance to Belgium also helped with this decision.
The team was
Toy 12”
Jean Young & Megan
“M” Adams & Tia
Dave Alderson & Libby
Mini 16”
Wendy Fairlamb & Scout
Dawn Weaver & Chelsea
Karen Bugler & Ace
Midi 22”
Dawn Weaver & Minky
Jane Powel & Keeta
Angela Williams & Pi
Maxi 26”
Chris Cole & Cap
Mark Powel & Trigga
Dave Alderson & Spice
Team Management
Greg & Laura Derrett (Team Managers)
Shaun Hunt (Team Coach)
Tace Allen (Sports Massage Therapist)
Pete van Dongen (Team Vet)
After leaving Calais and a leisurely 2 hr drive we arrive at the town of Kortrijk in Belgium. You’re always slightly apprehensive when booking a
hotel and clever photography on the internet can be deceiving but we were all smiling as we checked in. Lovely big rooms and excellent facilities
including the pool, sauna and sun beds were to be well used on the small amount of down time we had.
2 minute walk into the town centre and there was a great choice of cafes and restaurants. The food was good but the beer was fantastic and after
the days travel the Belgium beer was well sampled.
Thursday 8th May
Up for breakfast early and the team management drove the 10km to the venue to check things out. Ingelmunster Stadium is a football stadium with
seating all around and the 2 rings were set up in the middle. Thus making the layout was perfect. Also the running surface looked just perfect
for agility. An air conditioned room with security guards was to be provided for the dogs to be crated and we marked off seats in the stadium
for the Brits to invade!
After sussing the venue out we went back to the hotel where the team could be found having an extremely relaxing morning around the pool.
At 12.15 the team as a whole headed off back to the stadium with our first appointment with the vet. All dogs were measured and all fitted nicely
in their height categories. We had measured the dogs several times before, during and after the qualifying year and so were sure we would not
have any problems. All dogs were passed fit to compete and then we got to start the training session. ½ hr in each ring was far more time than
we needed but a nice relaxing training session allowed the dogs to get the feel of the equipment. When you compete abroad the equipment is
sometimes different, the old frame tyre appears, the weave spacing is different and here the contact surface was made of rubber. No problems were
found and all dogs were working well. The only problem was the glorious weather with temperatures nearing 30 degrees the dogs and handlers were
hot! Back to the hotel where Tace worked her magic hands, massaging dogs and people.
We had a team meeting at 5 to make sure all competitors knew and understood the rules and then the team management and a couple of the competitors
went to the welcome dinner. Draws were made in front of the audience so it was clear it was random with some more sampling of the beer and then
back to the hotel. Pete Van Dongen travelled out on Thursday to meet up with the team. Arriving at 11.30pm, the importance of a team vet came
into play immediately. Ace was lame and Pete was put to work in the reception within 5 minutes of arriving. I would like to take this opportunity
to thank Pete. Your support and expertise is invaluable to me when travelling abroad and we are very grateful to have you.
Friday 9th May
All dogs were sound as we headed to the venue with the first run of the day, a fun Power and Speed. There was no medal on offer but there was to
be a prize giving. In the team meeting the night before I had told the team we hadn’t come to win the Power and Speed fun event we had come for
medals so to use the P&S for training, getting used to the competition environment etc. After 9 out of 12 runs being E’d or faulted I was
beginning to regret my team talk! Dave Alderson stood up with Spice though and had the first run of what was to prove a great 2 days for him.
Spice stormed round winning the 26” division.
Another quick team meeting reminding everyone about foreign course design and we were back out for the first important run.
Individual Agility
This not only counted as a gold medal on its own but scores from it were also to be combined with the individual Jumping, snooker and gamblers to
produce the All Around World Champion. I’m not going to detail all the runs, just the highlights as the GB team completed 102 runs over the
weekend. The Toys and Minis all had faults except Dawn & Chelsea who came in 5th with a nice clear. The Midi’s produced our first medal with
Dawn and Minky storming round to get Silver. Last height was the Maxi’s and Dave & Spice were our only clear but Spice was flying and won the
Gold by over a second. We were on the podium in the first event and The National Anthem would be heard. It was a good start.
Jumping Biathlon
This jumping is combined with the agility on Saturday to produce the Biathlon World Champion. For Laura and I as team managers this is where we
wanted the medals as this is the same format as FCI individual except 5 faults is 5 seconds. Midi was first height to run and Dawn & Minky
stormed around to win it, Angela and Pi had a great time but with a pole down, but could still be in contention. Then the Maxis and Dave was just
firing. Another win for him and Spice, 3 out of 3 wins on the first day, Spice looking as good as I have ever seen her and she was the only dog
in all heights to beat the 30 second barrier. Mark and Trigga also had a good clear putting him in 4th and a nice place for the Biathlon
contention. The toys went next and Sports Psychology experts would shudder when listening to my words of encouragement to Dave “OK Fat man get me
a clear in under 30 seconds or else” It worked, and Libby flew round clear in 30.11 becoming the second fastest dog of the day and 2 seconds
faster than anyone else in the toy division. Finally the mini height and Karen and Ace put a nice solid clear round in and then Wendy & Scout
flew round winning in 30.91.
The day ended with the ceremony for the P&S and the Individual Agility. Pedigree was the official sponsors of the event and bags of dog food were
given out to all people who made the podium. The anthems were played for the P&S as well as the agility. As Dave and Spice stepped on the podium
I was slightly apprehensive. Each country had had to provide their own national anthem and I had found 2 different versions. The team were given
the option and choose the “Brian May” version! If you have not heard this I think it’s the best God Save the Queen there is and actually gets the
hair on the back of your neck standing up, as a national anthem should. This went down well with the crowd and was the end of what we considered
a good day.
Saturday 10th
This was to be a long day with all dogs having 4 runs and the chance of 5 gold medals in each height up for grabs. First run was Gamblers.
Individual Gamblers
Shaun Hunt was with us not only to help run the team but due to his ability on games. The team and management came up with several courses then
we put our heads together and came up with the best course. There was a jackpot in the course if you completed tunnel, jump, weave behind a line
and also the actual gamble was a distance gamble. Due to the sizes we had slight alterations to the course to work for all but at the end of the
event it was clear that as a team we had picked the right course. The gamble was all important and unfortunately as a team only 2 dogs completed
it. This did though bring a gold medal for Wendy and Scout who accumulated more points than any other dog in the event. Jane & Keeta also got
the gamble but had problems on the course loosing several points. A big well done to Jean and Megan who was one of the few dogs who managed the
bonus send away twice in the course. As the only Westie at the event it was nice to see the distance control she had.
Agility Biathlon
Part 2 of the biathlon and we had big hopes. Some of our dogs didn’t run this as they were E’d in the jumping and others used it to maintain good
criteria on contacts. Running order was the reverse of the jumping biathlon result so all our medal chances were running near the end. Marilyn
and Tia had a nice run coming 5th in the agility section. Then it was Dave and Libby with our first gold medal chance. By the time he ran we
knew he only needed a clear as he had a 2 second lead in the jumping and those running before him hadn’t really looked like getting closer. I
think though this backfired as Dave looked to go for the clear round. Libby, not used to this, jumped off her dog walk and got E’d. It was a big
disappointment but Dave had Spice to come so needed to forget it and concentrate on her straight away.
On to the mini’s and Ace put in another good clear but due to the heat and perhaps the lameness he had suffered he wasn’t firing as Karen wished
and came 11th overall. Wendy & Scout were running last and fingers were crossed hoping she could perform the clear to bring in the gold. A
nervous finish and I think the shout of “Scout!” was heard by those competing at Tonbridge Wells in the UK, still resulted in a great clear,
winning the class and gaining the Gold in the Mini Biathlon.
Finally the midi’s, and Angela and Pi went flat out, with 5 from the first run they had nothing to loose. A good time but another 5 faults put
her out of contention. The Russian dog in 3rd put in a very good run and Minky’s lead of 0.2 from the jumping was in doubt. Dawn put in a great
run but had she got the gold? On our own calculations it was down to a hundredth of a second and put her in silver. When the official result was
handed out later we were thankfully wrong and Minky had won the gold by 0.01. Dawn was not there to hear this so the team decided not to tell
her.
The Maxi’s went last and we had 2 medal contenders. Mark and Trigga lying in 4th put in a great run and went into the lead overall. 3 dogs to
go and the next to run from the USA was clear but much slower than Trigga which meant we were guaranteed at least a bronze. The Russian in 2nd
place put in a very good clear with the fastest run so far. This time Dave couldn’t be cautious and tactics were to go win it. He did, with a
fantastic run that meant we had 3 out of 4 gold’s in the biggest event and also a bronze. “well done's” all round then on to the snooker with
the team management smiling.
Individual Snooker
At the previous WAC in 2006 the results for the All Around had come out quite quickly but here they were very slow on the computer. This was
disappointing as we couldn’t see tactics for the All Around. Some knew they were just going for the individual gold whilst others played safer
with the All around in mind. Chris and Cap had not had the greatest weekend so far and was one of our real hopes in the games. He didn’t let us
down with maximum points and a silver medal. Dawn and Chelsea played safe going for 1 point less than maximum but still ended up with the bronze.
Karen & Ace just missed the podium with a 4th as were Dawn and Minky. There were also top 10 places for Jean & Megan, Marilyn & Tia, Jane & Keeta,
Angela & Pi.
Individual Jumping
At this point they still had not caught up with results and we really were not up to scratch on what place people were in in the All Around. We
thought that most were behind so we really had to push. Later on we found out Chris had crept up into 2nd place and if we had known this he might
have just made sure of a tunnel entrance that he moved away from causing a 5 faults and he would of definitely been on the podium. In the other
heights we wanted golds and we weren’t let down. Dave & Libby, Wendy & Scout & Dave & Spice all won gold. Jane & Keeta just missed the podium in
4th and Dawn and Chelsea were 5th. With some small calculation we worked out Dawn and Chelsea had got 3rd in the All Around. No one else managed
the podium for the All Around. The way it is scored the games really are important so for those of you that are interested in 2010 start working
now at those skills needed!
Final individual medal count
Individual Agility
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Gold
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Dave Alderson and Spice
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26”
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Silver
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Dawn Weaver and Minky
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22”
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Individual Jumping
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Gold
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Dave Alderson and Spice
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26”
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Gold
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Wendy Fairlamb and Scout
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16”
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Gold
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Dave Alderson and Libby
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12”
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Individual Snooker
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Silver
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Chris Cole and Cap
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26”
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Bronze
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Dawn Weaver and Chelsea
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16”
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Individual Gamblers
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Gold
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Wendy Fairlamb and Scout
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16”
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All Around (4 individual classes combined)
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Bronze
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Dawn Weaver and Chelsea
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16”
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Biathlon
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Gold
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Dave Alderson and Spice
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26”
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Gold
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Wendy Fairlamb and Scout
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16”
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Gold
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Dawn Weaver and Minky
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22”
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Bronze
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Mark Powell and Trigga
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26”
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An excellent result which at the time of writing we believe team GB was 2nd in the medal table to the Russians. 3 out of 4 Biathlon Gold’s was
also very satisfying.
Sunday 11th May
The Team day and we had 2 teams entered. Selection is too complicated to write here but all 4 heights have to be represented. There are 3 runs
and you can bring reserves in for injury and tactics.
Unfortunately some of the non English speaking countries had trouble understanding the rules and there was quite a lot of confusion in the
morning. Once all sorted the event began and team GB lined up as
GB 1
Dave & Spice - Maxi
Mark & Trigga - Maxi
Dave & Libby - Toy
GB 2
Dawn & Minky
Wendy & Scout
Dawn & Chelsea
We didn’t have the best start with each team getting elimination in the agility. Off to the jumping where we made the tactical change of Minky
for Jane and Keeta. Thankfully, for the team management, this worked but again each team had an E and our chances of a team medal had vanished.
The relay was to be the last run of the WAC and again we used our reserves bringing Chris & Cap in for Spice and Angela & Pi for Keeta. We knew
we had to push to try and move up the places and we had the boys versus girls. Sadly for me the girls won between our 2 teams but neither team
moved up the leader board. Tace spent most of the journey home stating “girls are better than boys”. It was a disappointing end but the medal
ceremonies throughout the day kept the team spirit very high. Brian May was heard 7 times on Sunday and memories of Wendy playing air guitar on
the gold medal podium will not be forgotten. Also Dawn’s face and the various expressions during the biathlon ceremony will always be remembered.
Believing she had the silver, when the silver medallist was announced and it wasn’t her name, doubt, anger & confusion turned to a big smile as
she was announced in gold. I even think there were tears showing at the end of the anthem!
Monday 12th May
The celebration meal and drinking session in the Irish pub Sunday night left some of us looking a bit rough as we loaded up for the home journey
but this passed off with out event and all dogs returned to GB with no passport problems. (Thanks again Pete)
Well done to all the team, medal winners and non medal winners, you were all part of a great team and contributed to the success we had. A
special well done to Jean, you were brilliant in the circumstances you were faced with and the team management were very proud of you.
We would also like to thank our Sponsors for making the trip possible:
GRS Contractors, Gro Well Joint Aid, S.D. O’Connor, JAPA Sound, Dragon Veterinary Centre (Cheltenham), Potter Adams Lts (Accountants Wellington
Somerset), Burns dog food, The Agility Club, JDA Agility Equipment, Deane Veterinary Centre, Donyat DC, Shakspeare Glass (Taunton), The Mount
Veterinary Hospital (Wellington Somerset), Fairlamb Training Day, Paul Wood and all those who supported the Raffle.
Roll on IFCS WAC 2010 and you never know it may be closer to home.
Photo gallery
Click a photo for a larger version. Please note each image is between 2 and 3 MBytes!
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