Kayaking: Fouhy back in finest form

Ben Fouhy says his record justifies the changes he made in his training last year. Picture / Richard Robinson

Ben Fouhy's blistering world record K1 1000m time has the Olympic silver medallist primed for an assault on the world championships.

Racing at a World Cup regatta in Poland, Fouhy beat Olympic rival Adam Van Koeverden, of Canada, in a stunning performance that saw him finish in 3m 24.495s. His time was almost 0.001s under the previous best set by Norwegian Olympic champion Eirik Veraas Larsen in 2004.

Van Koeverden finished 0.096s behind Fouhy, and Sweden's Markus Oscarsson finished third, more than 4s behind Fouhy.

Fouhy was also fourth (1m 41.808s) in the K1 500m, only 0.9s behind race winner and defending Olympic champion Van Koeverden.

The 2003 K1 1000m world champion said recording a world record justified the changes he made in his training last year.

Fouhy called last year "an experimentation year" in which he was using a different training programme and different blade on his paddle.

"I'm paddling quite well at the moment. I've done a truckload of work in the last year and half and it's just starting to show itself now," Fouhy told Radio Sport.

"I couldn't have asked for things to go much better [in claiming a world record].

"Last year was disappointing but it was part of a plan also.

"We planned to do a lot of developmental work last year, and it compromised my performance at the [2005] world championships.

"It was disappointing, but that was the reality of sticking to our plan, and the work I did last year is starting to pay off now.

"I've still got a lot of work to do, but it's very positive to have a race like that and know that you haven't lost touch."

After bursting on to the scene with his remarkable triumph in 2003 where he also set a world record, Fouhy responded with silver in Athens.

But his 2005 world championships floundered with a fifth in his specialist race and he failed to reach the K1 500m final. Having the extra workload of competing in the K2 1000m also affected his performance, and dropping the event has been crucial to his revival, Fouhy said.

"It takes a lot of pressure off. It means I can keep my mind on the one event.

"The K2 had a phenomenal amount of potential but at the same time you can't do two things."

He also attributed a fast course to aiding his world record time, while encouragingly, his latest campaign produced times consistently faster than in 2004.

With his morale-boosting performance in Poland, Fouhy's sights were now being trained on a podium finish at the world championships in Hungary in August as he again cements himself as one of the world's best.

"To know that I'm back and at that top level, it's very reassuring to know that I haven't dropped out of the picture."

- NZPA