Paddlers' last stop before Beijing
27 June 2008
The high-flying South African sprint canoeing team is approaching this weekend's races in Poznan, Poland, as a final dress rehearsal for the Olympic Games.
The squad posted the best ever results by South African sprinters at a charged World Cup regatta in Duisburg, Germany, two weekends ago, where all of the Olympic hopefuls raced into their respective A-finals.
Goal
"My goal this weekend is definitely to get a medal, or at least be in with a shout of a medal," said Shaun Rubenstein, who will once again contest both the 500 metres and 1000 metres men's K1 races.
"While my results in Duisburg were good, I felt that they were not to my potential, so now I want to finish the World Cup season off with very good races.
"My training this week has gone really well," Rubenstein added. "I feel like I am back to my best form."
Podium
Jen Hodson, who blasted back into Olympic contention when she raced tantalizingly close to a medal at the Duisburg World Cup, is also determined to use the Poznan World Cup to go one better and get onto the podium.
"I am really fired up to get onto that elusive podium," said Hodson. "There will be no fourth places this time round!"
Hodson said she and the team had battled with the heat-wave conditions at their training camp, and were looking forward to the cooler weather forecast for Poznan.
K4
She also said that the women's K4, which she anchors, had made strides in their training ahead of the Polish World Cup. "Our starts are improving with every practice, so I'm excited to see how we can do," said Hodson.
"It's the last race practice before the Olympics, which gets the adrenalin going a bit," said admitted. "The next time we race it will be a race that we have been training for, for the last four years."
Bridgitte Hartley, who will once again race the non-Olympic 1000 metres women's K1 race, is also excited about her new combination with Michelle Eray.
"I see this weekend as another challenge to see how well we can combine in the K2, and to fly the South Africa flag high," said Hartley.
"There is still a lot of time to improve the combination, which is still very new. I know it has lots of potential to improve before Beijing."
Pressure
She also added that the pressure of her shootout for the K1 berth in Beijing with Hodson had brought out the best in her. In Germany earlier this month she flew past a number of established sprint stars to clinch a silver medal in the 1000 metres A-final.
"I have discovered that I seem to thrive under pressure," said Hartley. "Even though I get very nervous, as I did in the last two World Cups, I actually have exceeded my own expectations."
The SA team will return to South Africa for a short rest before returning to Szolnok for a final training camp. They then jet off to China for the Olympic Games in August.
Juniors excel
Meanwhile, the South African junior team has just returned from taking part in the Bochum regatta in Germany, where 16 nations sent their top juniors to compete.
The squad flew home, buoyed by having reached 15 A-finals and a further 6 B-finals against very tough competition.
The results, which are the best ever achieved by a South African junior team in a notoriously competitive regatta, were topped off by two medals.
Stuart Waterworth was the toast of the team after winning a silver medal in the 500 metres A-final, while Western Cape rising star Milanie Van Niekerk underscored her rise in the sprinting ranks by winning a bronze medal in the under-16 division.
Source: Canoeing South Africa
