This week sees David on a very hard week of training, as he puts in every effort to prepare for he Australian Open which takes place from the 19th and 20th of February.
The event is an International Canoe Federation world ranking race and it will attract slalom canoeists from around the globe. David tells us, “The training has been going well and there are lots of other top guys out here training too. I did a session last week with World Champion, Tony Estanguet of France: It’s good to get the chance to train with some of the other top internationals every now and again”.
The opportunity to train in Australia with the benefit of warm weather is very important for many of the top slalom canoeists. The majority of the sport’s top seeds are based in the colder climate of northern Europe. However, ‘hot weather’ training may be a more accurate term in a year in which Australia is experiencing some very extreme weather systems. Explaining, David said, “The last week has been brutally hot for training with the temperature having been above 40 degrees on lots of days. The afternoon training sessions in that heat have been exhausting. On a day off training I managed to get to the beach and had a go at surfing, but I think I’ll stick to canoeing! It’s starting to cool down this week, so it’s nice to have a bit of a break from such extreme heat”.
The Australian Open will be held at the Penrith course near Sydney, where David and fellow C2 team-mate, Richard Hounslow are based.