Rest day, time to catch up!

And so ends the official team portion of the training camp in Australia. Team Head coach Michal S departed for Canada with Sara, James and John leaving Pierre, Craig and Myself to finish off our stint in the southern Hemisphere with coach Toby.

The camp was a success with a great team atmosphere and some awesome work done on the river. I am now looking forward to working with Toby and some of the best international paddlers in the world. In fact, for the next two weeks leading up to the world series race here I will be training in a group that makes up the podium from the 2003 World Championships. Fabian, Helmut and I will be working together to try and inspire and motivate each other to raise our game to new levels. Helmuts wife Vio will also be on the water to keep us honest. I am looking forward to watching these great paddlers and soaking in whatever tricks they care to share.

I was asked to comment on what specific technique I have been working on and the specifics of the training environment.

The technique in this sport has evolved significantly over the past five years, especially since the boats were shortened by 50 cm after the Olympic Games in Athens. This has allowed for a much more dynamic technique with a real emphasis on fast and efficient turns. For me this has meant working hard on running a much tighter line in the downstream gates, and holding the gate line and exiting much faster from the upstreams. Having been winning world cup medals since 1991 I have a very established technique and making these changes has required a concerted effort to stick to the new model. I am starting to feel really comfortable with employing the technique and look forward to firing away come race season.

As for the training environment, I work primarily with Toby Roessingh and Michal Staniszewski at the river. I also work with sport physiologists Istvan Balyi and Jonathan Tremblay for programming the various training phases and work loads. I have been a full time athlete for so long that it allows me to put a very high emphasis on specificity and I try and do as much of my work on the river as possible. This includes doing most of the strength and specific energy systems work there as well. At this stage in my career being an athlete is a lot of fun as the focus can stay very race specific and the need for the long boring monotonous work is past.

On tap now is one more hard week of training followed by a mini taper and the first of the world series races. Definitely looking forward to getting back into the competitive frame of mind. Stay tuned.

End of week 1, so far so good!

We have finished the first week of training and everyone seems pretty settled in. The first few days were quite a treat as the numbers on the course were still quite low. By the end of the week however the sessions were running at capacity and it was crowded. I only got hit in the head by another boat once though so I guess it wasn't all that bad.

Our day off was centered around an epic trip to Manly Beach in Sydney. I have never seen the beach so crowded but we found ourselves a nice little spot and enjoyed the time in the sun and surf. Ben especially enjoyed the topless sunbathers. We capped the day off with a Sushi dinner (nothing beats BC sushi) and faced a tough ride home through traffic.

More and more internationals are arriving daily and I am looking forward to seeing the "competition" in action.

As for me, I am really noticing the new technique that I have been working on the past twelve months starting to become automatic. The environment here is very good for comparative analysis and I know this course very well. For these reasons the changes in technique have been very evident and while learning will always come with frustration, I am really happy with where things are going.

Happy New Year!

I hope the new year finds you all happy and healthy with clear goals for an amazing year. I find myself down here in Australia for what will be six weeks of training and racing to start the year off with a bang.

I feel energized and ready to work hard.

I am looking forward to working with the team as the cohesion amongst the group has never been better. I am also very excited to test myself against and learn from some of the fastest boats in the world. The warm weather and fantastic training environment always attracts a world class field this time of year. It will be a great opportunity to see where things sit for the upcoming season.

watch for updates on the 'ups and downs" of our warm weather training camp.