On the Road to Beijing

My countdown to the 2008 Beijing
Olympics began on January 6 when I read in the paper that there were 215 days
to go until the Olympics! At that stage 215 days seemed a lifetime away with
our base training still in full swing and yet here I am with only 37 days to
go, amazing!!

On 13^th June, the
official announcement went out that our sprint kayak/ canoe and slalom teams
that qualified for the Beijing Olympics are now part of Team South Africa and we are going to the Games!!! If I told you I
am over the moon that would be an understatement of the highest degree! I am
thrilled!

On 18^th August 2008, I
will be racing down the Shunyi Rowing/ Kayak regatta course in Beijing in the South African women’s K4 with
three of my best friends, Michele Eray, Nikki Mocke and Jen Hodson! We have
been through a lot together and we have become a very close team with great
respect for one another. It has been a special time in my life and the
friendships made will hopefully last a lifetime.

I left South
Africa on 26^th May to train and race in Europe for 5 weeks. 
I’ve been based at Csepel Canoe-Kayak Club in Budapest where we lived above the clubhouse
in really nice accommodation. With a view of the river from our balcony, its no
more than 10 minutes from waking to training.

Early in June, we raced in Szeged, Hungary
at the first World Cup event which saw many of the top countries holding there
final selections for positions at the Games. We too had an incredibly exciting
selection race in the K1 women’s race, where Jen and Bridgitte raced for the K1
spot in Beijing.
Jen took control from the start and in an awesome race she crossed the line just
ahead of Bridgitte and 4th overall! An incredible performance and fantastic for
women’s paddling in South
Africa.

In the K4 we missed making it through
to the A final by the smallest margin, just 0.04 of a second. Our crew was not
firing on all cylinders as all of us had had some ailment or another leading up
to the race. All round we were not in the best form but it was a good start to
the season and we are already at a better level than we were at the same time
last year.

The 2nd World Cup event took place
in Duisburg, Germany, 14-16 June. Our heats were
first up and after using the race to try a new strategy, we just missed making
it directly to the A final again. Fortunately, we had a great race in the semi
finals and this time we got through and finished 9^th.

Monday was back to Hungary for a week of hard training and then to
the 3rd and final World Cup in Poznan,
Poland from 25^th
– 29^th June.  It was a good
weekend of results from Team SA and our K4 finished 6^th in the 500m
final.

I am currently home in South Africa
for 2 weeks. I needed a change of scenery and it’s wonderful to be in a
familiar environment again. I return to Hungary for our final 3 week
training camp before the Games! We fly to Beijing,
China on August
6th and will be flying the South African flag high, for all of you back home!
The opening ceremony will be on the 8^th and we race from 18^th
to 24^th.

Please watch out for the latest SA
Paddler Magazine, our K4 made the cover and inside you will find updates on our
progress. Also, Fitness magazine and SA Sports Illustrated feature articles on
me and the SA Sprint team.

Finally, I must
thank my sponsors, who have made this all possible: