Direct route beckons

CANOEING

GISBORNE’S London Olympic hopeful Darryl Fitzgerald will head a five-strong local assault on the Oceania Canoe Championships at Penrith, Australia, in March.
For the 21-year-old it is the last chance to take the direct route to London as he and Auckland’s Steven Ferguson compete to book a place in the K2 1000 metres or K2 200m events.
“We have met the International Canoeing Federation’s criteria for London but we have to win either the 1000m or 200m at the Oceania championships to meet the New Zealand Olympic Committee’s criteria,” Fitzgerald said.
He will travel to Australia with Jasper Bats (21), Fitzgerald’s younger brother Jarrod (16), Henry Ellingham (17) and Kim Thompson (16). Jarrod Fitzgerald, Ellingham and Thompson will compete in the u19 division, and Bats in the u23s.
“There are a lot of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’,” Darryl Fitzgerald said.
“If the Aussies win the 1000m and 200m, we could get the 200m spot depending on the NZ Olympic committee.
“But that’s not the way we want to go. We want a clean berth — through winning the 1000 and 200 races. It’s going to be tough, the Aussies have beaten us and we’ve beaten them in recent regattas. It will come down to who wants it most on the day.
“I’ve been training full-time for the past three years to make the Olympics.”
What happens if Fitzgerald and Ferguson fail to qualify?
“That’s not a scenario either of us are interested in,” Fitzgerald said.
“We’ve done the work, put in the hard yards, now it’s time to get the rewards. It has all come down to one race — the 1000m — but as far as we are concerned there is no pressure.
“The last thing we want to do is put unnecessary pressure on ourselves. Steve and I and our coaches have worked hard since the world champs in Hungary a few months ago and we believe we have it in us to win the 1000m.
“Last year at the Oceania champs we won the 1000m and were second in the 200m.”
Jarrod, like his brother and K2 partner Ellingham, came into canoeing from a surf lifesaving background but both are concentrating more on canoeing.
“Our aim is the 2016 Olympics,” said the Campion College student, who won the under-17 K1 500m and 200m titles at the national championships and, with Ellingham, won the K2 1000.
“That was a good result for us, it gave us a lot of confidence.”
Gisborne Boys’ High School student Ellingham is following in the footsteps of his father Andy Abrahams, a former New Zealand canoeist.
“It’s our first Oceania champs so we don’t know what to expect, but it’s exciting,” Ellingham said.
“Our dream is the Rio Olympics 2016. It’s a long way off but it all starts here and now.
Bats, from Levin, has also targeted Rio as a K1 1000m paddler.
“My build suits the longer distance,” said Bats, who moved to Gisborne three years ago.
“The 200m is more explosive.”
Bats came to Gisborne after travelling around the country looking for a good place to improve his canoeing.
“We’ve got a great group of people involved in canoeing here — our coaches and the paddlers. We all get on well and push each other in training.
“It’s great training here in the summer, then in the winter we get to compete in Europe.”
Although it is Bats’ first Oceania champs it will be his fourth competitive trip to Australia.
Gisborne Girls’ High School student Thompson is the only girl going from Gisborne, and will be taking on paddlers up to three years older.
But the youngster — daughter of Olympians Alan (for New Zealand) and Liz Thompson (for Australia) — is undeterred.
“It doesn’t matter who you race against; you have to beat them,” she said.
“Mum and Dad don’t put any pressure on me so I don’t take any notice of what other people might say about being their daughter.
“I’m going with the intention of winning but, being realistic, it is also about gaining experience racing at a higher level.”
At this stage Thompson is unsure which event she will be competing in — K1, K2 or K4.
“That will be sorted in training camps before we go to Australia.”