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.