Kayaking: Time out for Fouhy

By DYLAN CLEAVER

A lot of people would be really happy with silver, but I don't think it was my best result. That's why I was disappointed on the podiumI'm taking it easy for a while. I've put everything and then some into it for the last yearOlympic silver medallist Ben Fouhy is to take a break from kayaking.

The K1 1000m world champion told the Herald on Sunday he would certainly make changes before embarking on another Olympic campaign and needed a break to "get some perspective on things".

Fouhy talked at length to this newspaper and admitted he was "off to ride his bike for a while", but would not say when he would return to the sport.

New Zealand Canoeing Federation boss Tim Jago said he was aware Fouhy was dissatisfied with his preparation leading up to the Olympics, but backed the Taumaranui paddler to return to the sport.

Jago said the essence of the problem was that canoeing wasn't resourced enough to give Fouhy the one-on-one coaching he required in the lead-up to Athens.

"What he's looking for is a personal, rather than a team coach," Jago said.

"Ben was asking for one-on-one and more time than (Olympic coach and Olympic multi-medallist) Ian Ferguson was able to give him individually and we certainly didn't have the money to put another coach over there. We had to make do with what we had."

Kayaking received more than $500,000 in Sparc funding in 2004.

Fouhy said the issues were more complex than that. However, he preferred not to comment further on the situation until he had been through the correct channels with the federation. Jago said the the federation was conducting its Athens debrief at the moment.

But Fouhy, 25, is keen to separate himself from the sport right now.

"I'm basically taking it easy for a while," Fouhy said. "I'm going to do some road cycling to keep fit. I've put everything and then some into it for the last year or so and if you do that it's just not sustainable.

"I'm looking forward to just getting on my bike and riding. I had a BMX when I was a kid and I used to ride for hours. I'd bugger off after school and not get home until six, just ride for a couple of hours every day.

"It gives me some time out, keeps me really fit and lets me mentally freshen up for a while."

When asked whether he looks back on his silver medal with pride, Fouhy was surprisingly candid.

"To be honest, I don't," he said. "Obviously a lot of people would be really happy with silver and I am happy for what I achieved for New Zealand, but I don't think it was my best result.

"I felt I did my best on the day and paddled as hard as I could and I trained as hard as I could during the year, but given the nature of how everything panned out, I don't feel it was Ben Fouhy at his best.

"Deep down, that's why I was disappointed on the podium. Not because I hadn't won, but because deep down in my heart I knew it wasn't the best performance I could have produced."

When Fouhy was asked if he could put his finger on the reason why, he said: "Without going into politics, no."

Even if he had an ideal preparation, Fouhy concedes he would have struggled to beat Norwegian Eirik Veraas Larsen.

"That guy [Larsen] was awesome. He was just insane, the way he paddled. But I can be pretty insane too and I didn't feel I was able to.

"It was a really frustrating year. Nothing clicked. It was all really forced.

"The shorter stuff was what I was lacking and I was making some really good ground on that and then we did a K4 race and I injured my back. That really threw me."

To make up for lost time, Fouhy started putting big miles back on when he resumed training in the Poland cold. But he sacrificed weights and lost a lot of the power base he had built up.

"The whole situation with the K4 was really difficult. I was in a situation where I had to paddle the K4 at the European champs to try to qualify [for the Olympics]. I felt compromised and didn't think it was in my best interests before the Olympics but I was pressured into doing it. That affected my recovery from the back [injury].

"It still bothers me like no doubt it bothers other athletes in the same position. "I tried harder than I've ever tried at anything in my life and it didn't work out. That's why I'm struggling to come to terms with it. Wanting so badly to win is what makes you commit at that level."

Some of New Zealand kayaking's dirty washing was brought to light during the Olympics when disenchanted paddler Owen Hughes sent a stinging message to the team and the media after Ferguson had tanked his K1 500m heat to save himself for the K2 1000m.

Fouhy and Ferguson finished well back in their K2 1000m final, but Fouhy said Hughes' comments had not affected preparation in any way.


- THE HERALD ON SUNDAY