Our Bratislava blogger, Noemie Fox, takes us to the opening ceremony of the 2017 ICF Junior and U23 World Championships and catches up with some other famous daughters.

Last night’s opening ceremony took place by the Danube River in the Eurovea square. Tim Anderson was the flag bearer for Australia and was joined by 47 other nations.

Seeing as more than 400 paddlers will be competing this week, the crowd was a big mix of athletes, family and spectators.  Following the speeches and anthems, a Brazilian Capoeira performance turned the ceremony into a vibrant dance celebration. A few Brazilian paddlers rose to the occasion and showed off their skills on stage. Meanwhile, the less talented dancers kept to the moshpit.

One of the great things about opening ceremonies is that they always bring people together. I caught up with my great friends Camille Prigent (FRA), Selena Jones (GER) and Amy Hilgertova (CZE). We are the second generation of the K1W international girl squad.  Our mothers used to be competitors and now we are also racing against each other. We’ll all excited to carry on the tradition and be on the start line this Thursday!

As always, there are a few last minute preparations that need to be made before the race. The ICF has recently enforced a new regulation on boat stickers to achieve a consistent standard across all competitions. As boat manufacturer stickers can't exceed the assigned space on the boat, a lot of competitors had to remove the logos on their boats. A few broken nails later, my boats are now compliable but are definitely in need of a polish!