Will and Rudi with Team Scotland at World Agility Open 2024
The World Agility Open of 2024 was one of truly mixed emotions for Will and Rudi as they proudly represented Scotland for the third and final time as a partnership. It had long been decided that this would be Rudi’s last event before his retirement from competitive agility after the most incredible career.
Will himself was still recovering from glandular fever but was determined to see Rudi bow out at the very highest level. There were no expectations of a medal, but more a wish to give Rudi the finish to his career that he deserved. For this special spaniel to even be selected to run here when well past his 11th birthday is a testament to his ability.
The Build Up
The RAW team set out on the Saturday before the competition started and, after an overnight stay in Kent, took an early morning trip through the Eurotunnel.
After travelling through France, surviving the traffic of Belgium and enjoying the peace of the Netherlands, the team arrived on Sunday evening.
Monday & Tuesday
Monday and Tuesday saw Will and Rudi taking things relatively easy to recover from the journey as well as taking part in Unofficial Training with the team in the outdoor arenas and Official Training indoors.
Wednesday
The opening ceremony was on Wednesday. It was worth taking in the arena before the teams arrived:
The arena soon began to fill with all of the teams until it was Scotland’s turn:
Thursday
The first day of competition for the RAW Agility pair had three runs. The first was their Snooker run. The team choose their own course around obstacles designated as colours with the aim being to rack up as many points as possible within the course time whilst keeping to the allowed sequences of colours. The team started well, but in the closing sequence, Rudi took the wrong side of a fence. The point accumulation stops at this moment and the team have to head for the final jump to stop the timer:
It was a decent start, but the total of 26 points was not enough to see our pair into the final of the Games competition.
The second run was the first part of the pentathlon. The aim here is to be high enough up the leader board after two rounds (one jumping and one agility) to make the cut to qualify for rounds three and four.
The number of high quality competitors our pair would be facing was clear even at the course walking stage!:
Agility round 1 was in the main arena and a steady, well handled clear round was exactly what was required:
The final run of the day was part 2 of the Pentathlon – the first jumping round. A relatively early elimination (with Rudi looking pretty tired) meant the team had to wait to see if they had qualified for the next stage. Their clear round in the main arena was good enough to see them through to rounds 3 and 4!
Friday
Will and Rudi were again going to be busy with three more rounds scheduled. First up was part 3 of the pentathlon – another agility round in the main arena:
Another great round in the arena (the pair do seem to perform really well in there!) saw just one error with a missed dog walk and 5 faults.
The second run was the jumping round of the biathlon. This was outdoor in the warm weather and Rudi was clearly affected. After a slow start, an early elimination followed meaning the team would not qualify for the agility run that acts as the biathlon final.
The team needed to be in the top 20 positions in the pentathlon after 4 runs to qualify for the final event the next day. Given the relative speed of Rudi and the position they were in after three runs, this was extremely unlikely. So, part 4 of the pentathlon was going to be Rudi’s last ever competitive run.
Will was delighted that the jumping course had been designed and was to be judged by one of Will’s favourite judges, Natalie Grace. It was a lovely course for Rudi to finish on and Rudi responded, overcoming some fatigue on what was still a warm day to produce one final clear round:
What a super way to finish a stellar career – at the World Championships, with a fantastic judge and going clear.
There were plenty of celebrations and not a few tears from supporters and Scotland team members as Rudi took the final jump.
Will and Rudi, in a pentathlon class of nearly 100 of the world’s best pairings finished in a very creditable 35th place.
There was the option to take part in the Bonus race the next day, for teams that had not reached a final, but Will took the very wise decision not to run Rudi – he deserves as much as any to finish on a high.
Saturday
A day of rest for the RAW Agility team and the chance to cheer on team mates and to watch some incredible skills and speed from the best handlers in the world.
Sunday
The closing ceremony and the chance to swap shirts with fellow competitors from around the world. Will had three shirts to swap and was aiming for shirts from three different continents – successful swaps with USA, Belgium and South Korea meant it was mission accomplished!
The team had a great week and it was reassuring to see Will up and about and socialising in addition to running Rudi around challenging courses. Will enjoyed himself and enjoyed catching up with friends and making new ones.
Thank you to all of those in Team Scotland- great company and support for everyone. Thank you to the team management Alan Short and Eilidh Murray for organising everything and making sure we knew what to and when!
Finally, a quick mention of appreciation for the incredible accommodation used by the RAW support team just 5 minutes from the WAO venue.
The Hei & Bosch Guesthouse In the most tranquil and beautiful setting with friendly hosts and dogs and set in the forest for stunning walks and scenery.
To see much more about the World Agility Open, you can visit their website: https://www.worldagilityopen.com/
willbacchus.com 