2023; The Storyboard.
In February of this year Paddle Australia held its 2023 Australian Team selection races. Starting off the year well I am happy to say I have qualified to represent Australia at my 5th senior World Championships, whilst also retaining pole position as the number 1 ranked c1m in Australia. With a big year to come, this progress I have made and continue to make excites me as we near closer to the international season. The 2023 tour gives me 8 big opportunities to line up against the best in the world and compete for my country. Across world cups, world ranking races and the biggest race of them all, the World Championships in London, I get to show everyone what I am learning and what I’ve got.
This is what the 2023 tour looks like:
World Cup 1; Augsburg Germany. 2nd – 4th June
World Cup 2; Prague Czechia. 9th – 11th June
World Cup 3; Ljubljana Slovenia. 16th – 18th June
World Ranking Race; Epinal France 24th – 25th June
Mid-Season Training Period
World Cup 4; La Seu Spain. 1st – 3rd September
World Championships; London UK. 19th – 24th September
World Cup 5; Paris France. 5th – 8th October
The major focus this year is all around the World Championships in September. This event in London holding so much importance within our sport, as it is the pinnacle event each year, but 2023 being a pre-Olympic year this adds more importance to the event. Olympic quoter spots for countries will be determined and some domestic Olympic qualification points can be distributed. This is the event everyone peaks for, this is the event that everyone wants to win, this is the event that is make or break.
With my focus being all around the World Championships this year, I will be structuring my training of all my other races a little bit different this tour. Tapering and loading will be all centred and structured around peaking at the perfect time in September. The first three World Cups will be used to refine and then build upon my race routines and racing style. This means not trying anything drastically new or experimental, but really building and pushing myself with the routines and aspects I am already confident in. I will start to identify and build these aspects during my pre-season training in Australia and in the UK so as World Cup 1 approaches I can really push myself.
With a big mid-season break this year, I will be returning home for some regeneration and relax time. Whilst I will still be training and maintaining fitness during these two months, but relaxing and having some down time is important before returning overseas for the rest of the tour.
The second half of the tour is where training starts to taper and focus starts to narrow. World Cup 4 in La Seu gives the perfect oppotunity to refine and build confidence going into the biggest event of the year in the following weeks.
We all arrive in London, UK and all the major preparations are done by this point. For the next 2 weeks training it is all about managing energy, gaining confidence on the water and making sure we feel in a good place. After the World Championships we have one more race of the season, World Cup 5 in Paris France. This race is interesting as it being used as the test event for the venue for next years Olympic Games. This race will be an exciting way to end the year and will be a good way to gain more experience and confidence leading into early 2024 where Australia will hold its domestic selection races for the Olympic Team.
With a big year ahead, lots of travel, lots of races, lots of content planned both writing and filming, I am very excited to get this year underway.