KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's top paddler Ben Fouhy will go it alone this year in his bid to get back on the world championship dais and qualify for next year's Olympic Games.
Fouhy, world champion in 2003 and silver medallist at Athens a year later, has parted with his coach Mark Sutherland after an ordinary World Cup campaign in Europe.
There was no bust-up, just a realisation that things had progressed as far as Fouhy felt it could.
"There's absolutely no animosity towards Mark," he said yesterday. "Mark helped me with quite a few things, which was really good, but other things didn't work out quite as well. You're always trying to improve things and I've been fortunate in the last few years that I've been able to do that."
Fouhy pointed out he coached himself last year, during which he recorded the world's fastest time in his specialist K1 1000m event, and set course and personal best marks over 500m in England.
But he has plenty of work ahead in the next few weeks before setting off to the world championships in Duisberg, from August 9-12.
Fouhy had a shocker at the first World Cup regatta in Szeged, Hungary, last month, finishing down the field in the C final, after which he parted company with Sutherland, but picked himself up to get third in the second regatta at Gerardmer, France.
He's taking a positive view of the experience. Szeged was only the second time he'd missed a podium finish at an international meet, the other occasion being the world champs of 2005 when he was fifth.
"It gave me the opportunity to watch the race from another perspective and understanding of the competitors I was racing against," Fouhy said. "Obviously I was disappointed, even going to the French regatta was quite hard.
"If it had been a non-Olympic [qualification] year I probably would have gone home. At Hungary I just felt knackered. I felt crappy in France too, but managed to pull it together. This is not the year you can feel sorry for yourself, so I just had to get on with it."
Fouhy, 28, reckons he needs to find the right balance between fitness and technique. He puts himself in the Arthur Lydiard camp - that is, clock up plenty of kilometres, rather than work on sprint-based fitness.
The most important aspect for him is getting the engine working but making sure his technique is spot on. It's a fine balancing act.
"Improving my technique might get me another second. But while I concentrate on that, if I lose two seconds of fitness ...
"I've not been a lazy bugger, but I just haven't been as ruthlessly conditioned as I have been at certain stages."
Beijing looms as a decent-sized carrot. He, K1 500m paddler Steven Ferguson, K2 1000m pair Ferguson and Mike Walker and a women's K4 500m are New Zealand's best chances and must make the top six at the worlds to ensure places at the Olympics.
Before Hungary, it would have seemed a doddle for Fouhy. He should still be fine, but the next few weeks' work at Lake Pupuke will be crucial in getting him primed for the job.
FOUHY'S FOUR FINALS
* 2003 World champs (gold)
* 2004 Olympic Games (silver)
* 2005 World champs (5th)
* 2006 World champs (3rd)
