The Olympic Games are starting in 10 days from now, so it's all sort of becoming a bit
more of a reality. The last four years have gone by pretty fast, it's been a long journey
and a lot of ups and downs and now we're getting the last preparations about to jump on the
plane and head to London, join up with the New Zealand team, which is going to be quite
an inspirational moment to get that new uniform and represent New Zealand and London, which
is where our country originated from as well. So yeah, all in all, it's going to be a great
experience and a really good time.
So four years ago I missed the qualification for Beijing, which was pretty tough on myself
and Kai. It was the first time I'd ever tried something and missed out. So yeah, I spent
a year and kind of wasn't really sure if I'd keep paddling Slalom because there were a
lot of opportunities to go on creaking and in the white water side of things. So I sat
down with Dad and had a chat to him and he was just retiring from work, so worked out
perfectly that he finished up working and could come on board as sort of a manager,
sort of coordinator and I guess in a way a bit of a coach, not such a technical coach,
but more of somebody there that just has an understanding of sport and how I work and
how I react to things just to make sure that the same thing didn't happen in four years
and I'd find myself four years later watching the Olympics on TV. So that was something
Dad was keen to do and the whole time he was saying, like, don't feel like you have to
have me here. It's a team and this kind of thing and basically we work really well together
and it's been positive and positive and the results seem to be getting better and getting
to London was the first big step and now that we're there we've got ten days to fine-tune
everything and hopefully it's going to go one better in the competition there.
My background in kayaking is quite diverse. It's a lot different to most of the other
guys racing in London. I tend to get out with the Kiwi boys and run a few creeks, run
a few rivers and try and get the adrenaline rush that kind of got me hooked on kayaking
in the first place. So of course it's Olympic year and there's a lot more on the line so
I've done a lot less but I still love getting back to the roots of kayaking and why I do
it and that's why I went to things like the Timbermountain Games in the USA and the last
few years I had trips to Mexico, to Zambia and just getting amongst and enjoying a whole
different aspect of kayaking.
So what do you do? You can hide, you can run on camera, but it seems it is true. Once
the set's cheap, the people can't win. And how can we know truth? Right there in front
of you. Why did we see it through? Easiest thing to do. We just come down to stay full
of the journey, filled in with downpour and what they can't stand.
Thank you.
