Teneale Hatton was named as part of the Tokyo Olympic Women's Canoe Sprint Team on Friday. Photo / Greg Bowker
Teneale Hatton was named as part of the Tokyo Olympic Women's Canoe Sprint Team on Friday. Photo / Greg Bowker
If it wasn't for the Covid-19 lockdown last year, kayaker Teneale Hatton probably wouldn't be going to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
While the pandemic has caused all kinds of disruptions for athletes, the nationwide stoppage in March and April 2020 provided the spark for Hatton's unlikely return to thesport.
After several years in the wilderness, Hatton's improbable comeback was completed on Friday, when she was confirmed in the women's canoe sprint team heading to Japan.
Hatton is part of the K4 crew, along with Lisa Carrington, Alicia Hoskin and Caitlin Regal (nee Ryan), with 2016 Olympian Kayla Imrie narrowly missing the cut.
It was an incredibly close call for the K4, as the selectors rotated combinations, with the difference a matter of centimetres at times.
"[It was] very small," national coach Gordon Walker told Newstalk ZB. "[Sometimes] hundredths of a second. It's not a case of 'this boat was miles better than the other boat'.
"At times it was maybe 16 centimetres between the two boats at the end of 500 meters - so it was very, very close."
Hatton, who edged Imrie for the fourth seat, sympathises with her training partner, who will travel to Japan as a reserve.
Teneale Hatton, Alicia Hoskin, Lisa Carrington and Caitlin Regal (nee Ryan) were named as the Tokyo Olympic Women's Canoe Sprint Team on Friday. Photo / Greg Bowker
But it's also a joyful time for the 2012 Olympian, who virtually gave the sport away after missing the cut for the Rio Games. Hatton returned to her surf ski roots, which also offered more flexibility, alongside her job as a paramedic with the St John Ambulance service.
"I still loved paddling but I just needed something different," Hatton told the Herald on Sunday. "I started working full time and traveling with surf ski so there was a bit more freedom with it."
Hatton enjoyed success in the ocean events (she won a world title in 2015 and claimed bronze in 2019) and the balance with her career, before a lightbulb moment last March awoke an Olympics dream.
"I guess it was kind of due to Covid," said Hatton. "I'd been thinking about it for a while but during lockdown last year, obviously there was no travel, and I was just training away at home."
As she worked away on an erg inside her home gym, Hatton had time to ponder her sporting future.
"As soon as we got out of lockdown, I jumped in my K1 and I was like 'you know what, I love this, I'll try and give this another whirl."
Hatton met with Walker to confirm her interest and began training again, though a hand injury stymied her comeback for a few months.
The 31-year-old admits that she was more focused on the next Olympic cycle rather than Tokyo, aiming to use the time to get herself in the mix for the Paris Games.
"My big plan was looking towards 2024," said Hatton. "I thought after giving it a solid 12 months, I'd have an idea of where I can go with it.
"I wanted to see if I was going to be able to get back in the mix. It turns out that I can, which is really cool, but it was more of a long-term goal."
In that context, Hatton admits it was "overwhelming" when she got the news, immediately conveying the message in a tearful phone call with her parents.
Hatton has been on unpaid leave from her job since last November, to devote herself fully to the six day a week training schedule, encompassing 10 sessions on the water as well as gym work.
She was an outsider, given her lack of time in the boat, though the withdrawal of 2016 Olympian Aimee Fischer from the programme last December narrowed the odds slightly.
Hatton, who still holds the K1 1000m world record (set in 2014), also had to adjust to the shorter distances.
"Coming back from especially ocean ski, which is a much longer distance, like 30 [kilometres], changing to 500's has definitely been a challenge," said Hatton. "It's that sprinty, fast twitch stuff which is taking a bit to get used to."
At the back of the boat, Hatton and Regal will provide the power from the engine room, with Carrington and Hoskin setting the pace in front. Hoskin and Hatton will also compete a second boat in the K2 200m, though mainly for experience purposes.
"I'm learning every week," says Hatton. "Every time we jump in the K4, I'm learning and getting more comfortable with it, and I guess that's exciting. I'm looking forward to the future; I've got so much more to learn and to be able to give."
