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Brabants advises budding canoeists selected through Girls4Gold

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EIS/Jessica Whitehorn 04 February 2009

Of the 900 athletes who were assessed during Phase One of the Girls4Gold Olympic talent recruitment drive, 26 were short-listed to attend a Phase Two assessment with GB Flatwater Canoeing in December 2008. Of these, seven girls meeting the required performance standards are now taking part in an intensive talent confirmation programme designed to better explore their general adaptability to sprint kayaking.

The talent confirmation programme consists of a series of intensive camps throughout January and February with a training programme to complete at home in between. The main aim of the talent confirmation period is to assess the athletes’ ability to pick up the skills required for sprint kayaking and physiological responsiveness to the training stimulus, whilst also allowing them to experience the reality of life as a high performance sprint kayaker.

Alongside the on-water, gym and cross training sessions, the girls have been spending their time increasing their knowledge and understanding of sprint kayaking. This was helped along by a question and answer session with Beijing Olympic gold medallist Tim Brabants, who gave the athletes personal insights into life as an elite kayaker and his journey to the podium.
 
Mark Hoile, GB Canoeing’s Fast Track Talent Coach, has been impressed by the athletes’ progress so far: “After only eight days of paddling, the progress these athletes have made has been very promising. We have athletes putting down times that are well ahead of the expected progression curve already, which is a really exciting place to start”.

“I’ve been particularly impressed with the way they have risen to the challenge in difficult conditions – we had sub zero temperatures and snow at the last camp! But that’s the reality of being an elite athlete and something they will have to get used to if they are to fulfil their Olympic ambitions.”

Natalie Dunman, Talent Identification Scientist with the EIS and Girls4Gold Project Manager has been equally pleased: “What immediately strikes you when you see these athletes together as a group is their sheer physical prowess – they are in the top one percent of all those tested during Phase One, and we’re now seeing who can master the skill component in particular, and of course who wants it most. We set the bar extremely high at Phase Two, as we are confident of the exact ‘talent recipe’ we are looking for in female sprint kayaking. However, the really hard work starts now and these young ladies will have to prove they’ve got more than just raw talent.”

Kerry Blewett, one of the athletes taking part, described her Girls4Gold journey so far: “I signed up for Girls4Gold because I was curious to investigate my potential in sports that I had never had the opportunity to try before. Growing up I’d always been involved in a lot of sports, and had played water polo to national level, but felt I could go further if I found the right sport for me.

“After attending the Phase One assessment in Loughborough I had no idea whether I’d make it through to the next phase – there were so many good athletes there and so many different tests that I wasn’t sure how I measured up!

“I was really excited when I found out I had been selected to attend Phase Two with GB Canoeing. I was in India at the time teaching swimming and life guarding and flew home especially to attend the assessment day, and I’m really glad I did.

“I’m really enjoying the talent confirmation camps even though it is a very challenging training programme. All of the athletes are really competitive but there is a good ‘team’ mentality as we’re all learning new skills and dealing with the same freezing conditions together! It has definitely been a reality check as to what’s required to take on the Olympic challenge but I’m more up for it than ever.”

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