Canoeing: Kiwi Para-canoeist making waves

Scott Martlew placed second at the world champs. Photo / Carolyn Cooper

Scott Martlew will be one to watch at the canoeing national championships next week.

While much of the focus will be on double Olympic champion Lisa Carrington and her close rivals Caitlyn Ryan, Aimee Fisher and Kayla Imrie, Paralympian Martlew is making his own waves in the sport.

He was second at the world championships last year in the KL2 200m, becoming the first Kiwi Para-canoeist to win a medal at that level in seven years. He pushed perennial favourite Curtis McGrath (Australia) to the limit before the six-time world champion prevailed over the final stages.

Martlew, who lost a leg in 2010 following complications resulting from a rugby injury, will be a strong medal contender at this year's pinnacle events and is tracking towards a big result at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

The 26-year-old has always been rated a top paddler, and will be competitive among his able bodied colleagues on Lake Karapiro next weekend.

But things changed dramatically for Martlew last year, when he was reclassified into the KL2 category, after competing for more than six years with KL3-rated athletes. The revision recognised the height of Martlew's amputation and also his partial trunk impairment.

"I've always thought I was in the wrong category and so did my coach," said Martlew. "We did question it to the various national bodies but we were told we were in the right category. But last year, they [the international federation] agreed to change it. I'm just looking forward and I try not to dwell on it too much."

Martlew is on a relentless schedule, packing in training sessions either side of a full work day as an estimator at Downer. He paddles 110km-150km weekly on the Avon River and is up before 5am six mornings a week.

"I have been working at this for so long now," said Martlew. "To have everything unfold how it did this year with reclassification, then being able to put up a good performance and end up on the podium, everything is starting to pay off now."

Martlew's dedication and drive continue to impress long-time coach Leigh Barker.

"He's pretty tough," said Barker. "He doesn't see he has a disability. He sees it as a challenge. He trains like an able bodied person and he's competitive with able bodied people in New Zealand.

"He has got medals in open men's events. He has got medals in the K2, he's got medals in the K4 and he regularly makes their finals. In 2017, he got fourth in the K1 1000."

Martlew will have a packed schedule next week, as he competes in the K1 200, 500 and 1000, the K2 1000 and the K4 200 and 500 across the three days of the event, which starts on Friday.