Edinburgh wild water internationalist Cynthia Berry goes hurtling down the torrents of the River Loisach at Garmisch in Germany today in her seventh World Wild Water Championships. Back on the Alpine river where she first competed at world level in 1985 she is hopeful of bettering that first of three team bronze medals.

The Loisach is a rarity in competition rivers in that there is no dam so levels vary, and the weather or snow melt can ruin the best of preparation. ''It's very technical with a lot of rocks,'' said the long time Scottish women's No.1. ''With the wafer thin boats we use they can cause a lot of trouble.''

However, Berry, ranked British No.2 behind Nottingham's Tina Parsons, finished sixth and first Brit in the World Cup race at the same venue last summer.

Her confidence is high for she recently returned from New Zealand where she gained as much from mixing with the visiting world's best as the competition.

In Scotland, the River Tay hosts the Scottish K1 marathon championships.