Canoeing: Hours of travel make paddling extra-tough

By EUGENE BINGHAM in Athens

On the final run-in to his eagerly awaited Olympic debut, world champion paddler Ben Fouhy has chosen a slightly different route.

The New Zealand medal hopeful moved out of the Games village this week, preferring instead to stay at a house closer to the Schinias canoeing centre northwest of Athens.

Coach and Olympic legend Ian Ferguson said the K1 1000m world champion wanted to cut down travelling time of up to four hours a day.

"In the heat, it's a bit too much and he doesn't like the travelling, so we moved him into our halfway house."

Fouhy's K2 1000m partner, Ian's son Steve, has remained in the village but goes by car instead of bus, cutting travel to 40 minutes.

Next week, the canoeing team will swap with the rowers and move into their new rented house overlooking the coast, eliminating the travel problems.

Apart from the change of accommodation, the rest of the Olympic preparation has been smooth for Fouhy, Ian Ferguson said.

"Everything's going to plan. He is still trying to figure his way around getting his mind to convince himself that he is definitely going to win. It's always this way when you are at this stage, you're wondering if you are or not."

But Fouhy had been performing well in training, including time trials where he'd gone faster than ever before.

Before moving to Athens, Fouhy said he was concentrating on making his own race fast, and ignoring what others were doing during the competition.

"That is the hard part," said Ferguson. "That's where most people stuff up and start thinking about other people's races.

"Ben is physically and mentally strong."

The K2 double has had the slight setback of Steve Ferguson suffering back spasms. He has tried to pull out of the K1 500m race, but the regatta rules state that if he forfeits one event, he would have to withdraw from them all.

So to preserve his back for the K2 1000m, he will paddle the K1 500m at a medium pace, ensuring he does not qualify for the next round.

But the double combination is going well, Ian Ferguson said.

"They are feeling good about it and they are both good 1000m paddlers."