Bachelor of Science at UNP, and more recently a Post Graduate Certificate of Education through UNISA
Favourite Paddle:
MaxPaddle M333
Favourite Boat:
Vajda
Favourite Race:
Dusi
Sports:
At school I dabbled in a bit of everything - cricket, rugby, swimming etc (with limited success!), but running was my real passion. I got my Natal Colours for athletics and cross country every year from standard 3 (grade 5) to matric. I only started canoeing as a rather skinny 15 year old at Maritzburg College, and remember finishing near the back in several of my first school boys races! My canoeing only really started to improve after high school, and since then I have channelled most of my “sporting energy” into canoeing. I still do a fair amount of running training (particularly during “ Dusi season”), and also enjoy mountain biking and spending time fishing off my fishing ski (although occasionally getting smoked by a big wave at backline is’nt all that fun!)
I enjoy long walks on the beach and poetry recitals…. Just kidding! Until recently I was a teacher by profession ( I taught for three superb years at Maritzburg College, where I also had a hand in coaching some of the leading junior paddlers in the country – check out Andrew Birkett's profile on this website, he’s a name to watch out for in the future!), but I now work as a sales representative in the dairy industry (farmers are less admin than school boys!) I’m 30 now and starting to lose my hair, so I suppose my days of competitive canoeing are numbered. I’ve began to embrace the social side of canoeing, but still enjoy selecting the odd event to race (six weeks before the 2008 Drak, after not paddling at all for a year, I was issued a challenge by the College boys I was coaching at the time and handed them all a humiliating defeat!)
Training Tips:
Training Motto 1:
"How can you ever expect to get through a hard race, if you can't even get through a hard training session?" Don’t be afraid to really push your body and train hard. Put in the mileage!
Training Motto 2: “Speed, speed, speed!” Once you have got a bit of mileage in the tank, start focusing on your speed. In canoeing speed is a vital ingredient for a good result. Think about how influential the start of a race is - your speed off the mark sets the tone for the rest of your race - it will determine what bunch you get onto and ensure that you have paddlers of a similar (or better!) level around you to work with. Interval training is an essential part of your training regime, and should never be neglected.
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