Gisborne paddler back-up for Kiwi canoe crews at Olympics

Gisborne's Zach Ferkins has overcome a heart condition to be named reserve for the New Zealand men's canoe sprint crews at the Paris Olympics. If he was to get the chance to race, he would be following in the footsteps of Alan Thompson, Grant Bramwell and, more recently, Darryl Fitzgerald. Photo / Paul Rickard

Zach Ferkins packed yesterday for an eight-week trip that could be the highlight of his sporting life . . . or simply a great experience at the heart of an Olympic campaign.

Ferkins, 25, was due to leave Gisborne early today and then travel 30 hours to join the New Zealand canoe sprint team in Spain as they prepare for the Paris Olympics starting on July 26. After three weeks in Spain, they have a final camp in northern Italy before heading to Paris.

Ferkins is the reserve for all three men’s team events – the K2 500 metres, K4 500m and C2 500m. The K2 and K4 are two- and four-man kayaks; the C2 is a two-man canoe, in which competitors kneel on one leg and use a single-blade paddle on one side – one on the left, the other on the right – the whole way.

Already in Europe preparing for the Olympic canoe sprint events is another Gisborne paddler, Alicia Hoskin, who is in the women’s K2 500m and K4 500m teams.

Gisborne surfer Saffi Vette will compete in the Olympic surfing competition in Tahiti, while England-based Gisborne judoka Sydnee Andrews and triathlete Tayler Reid have high hopes of being named in the teams for their codes.

Ferkins, son of crop farmers John and Rachel Ferkins, was home yesterday doing final packing for his trip but made time for a final mid-afternoon hit-out on the Waimatā River.

He is looking forward to the Olympics, although the extent of his participation depends on the health and fitness of others.

Asked if it would be a highlight of his canoeing career, Ferkins said it would “definitely be an experience”.

“I don’t know if it will be a highlight. I’m not racing. If I did race, it would be. It’s up there.”

The build-up to the Olympics would be “a really cool thing to be a part of”, even as the reserve. He had trained with some of the team for seven years.

He was looking forward to supporting the team in any way he could, and helping the women, too.

“I will do most of my training in a single (kayak). My single goes at a similar speed to the women’s K2, so I can work in with them.”

Ferkins broke into the New Zealand high-performance squad late in 2018, an achievement that required him to be based in Cambridge with the rest of the squad.

This year he has been a full-time athlete, but in past years he also worked part-time on farms.

Younger brother Sam, 23, was also in the high-performance squad for a spell. He is now working in the family farming business. Zach has similar ideas about his long-term future.

“Once I finish, I will do exactly what my brother does, and be a farmer,” he said.

Asked if he would consider coaching, he said it had crossed his mind.

“Having been in the high-performance environment for so many years, I know quite a lot about training and technique. I’ve definitely got some knowledge to pass down to people, if they want to hear me.”

The coaches at the Poverty Bay Kayak Club – Alan Thompson, in particular – had developed his technique and work ethic.

“What I remember of Poverty Bay was just training hard and never giving up, and that has been what I have been like my whole kayaking career. I think it’s the perfect attitude to have in the high-performance world.

“I’ve learnt from my coaches – and my mum. If I signed up for anything, she’d make sure I did the whole thing.”

Ferkins got into kayak paddling in a typically New Zealand way.

“I was into surf lifesaving when I was young, and started out doing board and swim, and then the ski. I was terrible at the start – I couldn’t sit in the thing – but I picked it up pretty quickly and did a few years at that. Cory Hutchings was my coach and he said I should do some kayaking and I would speed up in the ski.

“I got quite good at kayaking and never stopped. It’s the kind of story of most of the guys I paddle with.”

New Zealand men's canoe sprint team reserve Zach Ferkins about to head out for a training session on the Waimatā River in preparation for if he is needed at the Paris Olympics. Fellow Gisborne paddler Alicia Hoskin is in the women's team. Photo / Paul Rickard

In 2017, Ferkins was diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff Parkinson Syndrome, which can cause rapid heartbeat and in some cases heart failure.

Opting to manage the condition rather than undergo surgery, he made a successful return to paddling.

“I see a heart doctor about it every couple of years for a check-up,” he said.

“If I get sick and run-down I have to be wary of pushing it too hard.

“I’ve only ever felt it when I raced when I had been sick and had a throat infection. I won’t do that again. It feels like you are paddling through mud; everything slows down and gets heavy.

“I’ve heard of quite a few athletes who have it. It might be more noticeable in athletes because you are in tune with your body.”

At the 2020 New Zealand championships, Ferkins won the open men’s K1 1000m and was second in the K1 500m, but he regards as the highlight of his career so far his membership of the New Zealand K4 team last year.

“It was the fastest New Zealand K4 there’s ever been. It felt like something special, and it was just a lot of fun.

“The K4 500 is the hardest event to win . . . the bigger the boat, the more prestige attached to it. You have four people working together perfectly. It’s definitely the most fun to watch because it’s so fast.

“It’s a shame we didn’t get the result we needed at the world champs. It was still a highlight to know we were so competitive in such a tight field.

“We did one minute 19 seconds for the 500 metres. The year before, that time would easily have got us into the final. Last year, nearly 20 boats were doing it. Thirteen boats were within half a second of each other.”

That team, from front to back, comprised Max Brown, Ferkins, Kurtis Imrie and Hamish Legarth.

Grant Clancy has come into the team, and will also paddle with Brown in the C2 500m while Imrie and Legarth will contest the K2 500m.

• As reported by Ian Anderson in The Press, the New Zealand C2 entry gained Olympic qualification in a race against two other crews – featuring a competitor in his 70s and others in their 60s and 40s – at the Oceania Championships in Sydney in February.
• The Canoe Racing New Zealand selection plan entailed using the C2 crew in the K4 team.

The selection plan also entailed CRNZ turning down its K1 1000m quota earned by Gisborne paddler Quaid Thompson, who unsuccessfully appealed to the New Zealand Sports Tribunal over the process.

The organisation defended its selection approach, saying that it was operating under International Canoe Federation rules by using the C2 quota spots to form the priority K4 500m crew, and that the C2 entry could be viewed as a development opportunity.

Anderson reported that New Zealand had never competed in the Olympics in the kneeling canoe discipline, and it had barely any participation at national or club level.