CANOE/KAYAK: It’s probably a good reflection of the current mindset of 2012 Olympian Alana Nicholls that when she took a rare break from training recently, she longed to get back on the water.
“You would think I would have enjoyed it, but I just wanted to get back into my kayak!” Nicholls said from Portugal this week.
“It was worth it though.”
Nicholls, who competed in the K1 500 and 200 at the London Olympics, has not had a happy time of it since 2012.
Illness and injury has dogged the 29-year-old at almost every turn, but through it all she has refused to give up on her dream of Rio 2016, and a chance to erase the disappointment of London.
Finally this year it appears Nicholls’s patience has paid off. At the Australian Canoeing Championships in Penrith, the Perth-based paddler returned to the best form of her career.
She won the K1 200, the K1 500, the K4 500 and the K2 200, setting personal best times and restoring her self-belief.
This weekend Nicholls gets a chance to test her form against an international field at the first Canoe Sprint World Cup in Portugal. She hasn’t contested a World Cup since the Olympic year.
She’ll contest the K1 500 and team up with Jo Brigden-Jones, Naomi Flood, and Bernadette Wallace in the K4 500.
She won’t race the 200, and realises she might not again.
“I love the 200, but for me to want to race it I would need to believe that I would be competitive in the finals,” Nicholls said.
“It hasn’t been a focus this year, but it’s not off my radar.”
Nicholls has high hopes for the K4.
“After our performance in the K4 at the second Grand Prix, I’m really interested to see how we shape up against the ‘big girls’ in Europe,” she said.
“It makes sense to give this boat a try. And my body is holding up great. This is the first World Cup that I’ve made it to since 2012.”
Nicholls knows if she gets to Rio, things will be different from London. There she missed the 500m final, an event in which she was considered a medal prospect.
“One thing I’ve learnt is that everything can change in the blink of an eye,” she said.
“Racing at the Olympic Games is so foreign to any other competition, and I feel better prepared leading into Rio.”
ROSS SOLLY FOR AUSTRALIAN CANOEING
