Brad Morhan - After a challenging 2013, London Olympic bronze medallist Bridgitte Hartley is aiming for a strong start to 2014 in the first sprint World Cup event of the season in Milan. She has been in Europe since mid-April preparing to take on the world's best.

Compared to 2013, her preparations have been much better, Hartley said from Hungary, where she has been working with her coach Nandor Almasi. "Last year I had a lot of bad luck, but it was at the end of a long build up to the 2012 Olympics, so I feel like my immune system was weak after I got chicken pox. This year I have had a great build-up, with some skiing in January in Norway and swimming with the Seals Club in Pietermaritzburg.

"I have managed to stay fit and healthy, so my paddling training has been going great. I had a good local camp in February with six international girls in Port Edward."

A move to Natal Canoe Club, where Hartley has been a familiar face for a couple of years already, has also been a huge bonus, she said. "The club has such great facilities with everything all in one place! Besides the water condition [which at times can be problematic], it's a great place to train.

"We also have someone helping in the gym with programmes and assisting with strength and conditioning training, which is a huge help to push my limits in the gym."

Addressing the importance of her preparation time in Europe before the start of the World Cup season, Hartley said: "Spending some time with my coach Nandor is always important for him to help with technique.

It's not easy going to Europe from a warm South African climate, so it's important to acclimatise to the cooler changing weather conditions and hopefully have some international training partners to judge my speed and training condition.

Being so far from home, when Hartley takes to the road it is often for long periods of time. There are pluses and minuses, she admitted. On the positive side, she explained: "I travel to have a lot more training partners as they help push me harder. The paddling venues are very beautiful and it's great seeing new countries and meeting up with my friends from other countries at competitions."

On the negative side, she spoke about missing home, friends, family and her boyfriend. "It's always stressful before I can just settle down and focus on training, so the first week or two are always challenging until I work everything out," she shared. "I hate not having a washing machine all the time and doing hand washing as I have a lot of dirty clothes from training! The language barrier makes things limited too."

Happily, for Hartley, she can cross one of those negatives off of her list for the first two World Cup events in Milan, Italy, and Racice, the Czech Republic. Her boyfriend and fellow Natal Canoe Club star Andy Birkett will be contesting the K1 5 000 metres at both stops and recently jetted out of South Africa to join her overseas.

The Milan World Cup takes place from 2 to 4 May, with the Racice World Cup following from 16 to 18 May.

Also read the Milan World Cup Preview: World’s Fastest Paddlers Set For Milan

Event website: www.milanworldcanoesprint.com