Kayaking: Athlete paddling his own canoe

Ben Fouhy. Photo / Robert Trathen

Ben Fouhy is on a purpose-built lake in San Diego, paddling some big kilometres, the first official strokes in his comeback to top-level kayaking.

Fouhy, 31, will race at this year's world championships in Poznan, Poland, next month after coming to an arrangement that will see him prepare outside Canoe Racing New Zealand's high-performance programme.

He will do so with Grant Restall at his side. The kayak team manager at the Beijing Olympics has been appointed Fouhy's campaign and performance manager.

"I've always had a lot of trust and respect for him," Fouhy said.

The former world champion and Olympic silver medallist admitted it was a weight off his shoulders to now be able to concentrate on paddling after a tumultuous year that saw him quit the sport after a falling out with national coach Ian Ferguson.

Fouhy was comfortable with that decision, but was coerced back to kayaking by outside parties who did not believe it was in the country's best interests to have one of its top athletes sidelined.

"I love paddling, I'm not a fan of conflict," Fouhy said. "I really enjoy the sport, it's been good to me. The positive thing about this whole situation, although it wasn't pleasant at the time, is that it's allowed Grant and I to pull together a team of people we trust and respect and share the same passion for the sport. It's a nice feeling."

Fouhy and Restall, in conjunction with Sparc and CRNZ, have come up with a programme Fouhy feels will give him the best chance of success looking ahead to London 2012.

CRNZ chief executive Paula Kearns yesterday welcomed the development.

"We are delighted to have Ben back in the sport and ready to compete again at the very highest international levels for New Zealand.

"We have agreed that Ben will train outside of our domestic high performance programme in an arrangement that will prepare [him] for his best shot at winning a medal at the 2012 Olympic Games," she said.

Sparc high performance general manager Martin Toomey said New Zealand wanted to see its best athletes performing on the world stage.

"So it is great to see Ben back in his boat for the 2010 World Championships and focused on delivering success for New Zealand in 2012," he said.

Fouhy, who is training with up-and-coming paddler Zac Franich in San Diego, said he had realistic expectations for Poznan. Although he was not so explicit, the time spent out of the boat has ruled him out of serious medal contention.

"You always aim high but this year has been what it's been," he said. "This will be my first big race since the Olympics so I'm pretty realistic. Whatever I do at the world champs, I'm very confident I'll be able to improve on it."