Anyone who has used the summer weather in recent days to go canoeing across one of the Bavarian excursion lakes knows what kind of marks ambitious paddling against the waves can leave in the untrained: sore muscles in the shoulders and arms for several days and blisters on the palms of the hands. Ambition alone is not enough, you also need a good portion of muscle strength and, above all, technique to be a useful canoeist. So maybe you should leave the exhausting paddling sport to the professionals and look to Augsburg these days: There, at the Canoe World Championships in the legendary Olympic ice channel, the top athletes will show you how to do it right. Since Wednesday, athletes have been racing through the oldest man-made canoe slalom course in the world. On Thursday, the native of Augsburg and multiple Olympic medalist Hannes Aigner (photo) didn’t let the shreds fly during the first heat in the kayak singles, but the beads of water did. Not only does it look more spectacular than any hobby canoeist on Lake Starnberg, it is also significantly more successful. On the very first day of the World Championships, Aigner and two teammates won the first gold medal.
Let the professionals do it – Bayern
