Source: Canoe Kayak Mag | Author: Mélanie Chanvillard | Translation: Nicolas Scianimanico

A few weeks ago the French canoe sprint teams were training by age and category. The juniors were in Nancy (East of France), the senior kayak men in Vaires-sur-Marne (Paris area) and the kayak women in Cesson-Sévigné (Brittany) under the leadership of Claudine Leroux.

Eight* women trained from Monday to Friday in crew boats, near Rennes and in Mur de Bretagne. This first training camp of the season was focused on cohesion, adaptation and the techniques of those young women in crew boats. "It gives me a picture of the team before the winter training period, explains Claudine Leroux, kayak women national coach. If I put the priority on crew boats, I also wanted to vary the sessions to get out of the specialisation before the beginning of winter. " The training camp was design with a global approach diversifying their training. In gymnastics they worked on coordination, core strength and range of movement. In climbing, they emphasised their sessions on risk taking while in athletics, speed and coordination were at the centre.

There was a change in the K2 and K4 crews to highlight everyone’s abilities. “Rio, and firstly the worlds in 2015 will arrive very soon, it’s tomorrow claims Claudine Leroux. In order to get the quotas, we have to design a strategy and do it, it is very important to determine strengths and weaknesses of every girl. I’ve been able to identify the best front girls for the K4, their predispositions for one place or another in the boat and integrating the U23 girls allowed me to identify these young athletes’ qualities.”

This global approach allows the coach and the athletes to position themselves before the winter preparation. Next meeting is organised for December with the national tests in gym and running before a physical training camp (biking, running, swimming and gym) in Lanzarote in January with a smaller team.

*Sarah Guyot, Sarah Troel, Léa Jamelot, Joanne Mayer, Amandine Lhote, Gabrielle Tuleu, Léa Caurant, Caroline Constancis

Interview Sarah Guyot

Sarah Guyot, the best French paddler had a great season in 2014 winning two titles at the U23 European championships in K1 500m and 200m, and finishing 5th in K1 200m at the Worlds in Moscow. She reviews her season, her progress and her objectives with us.

Sarah, how would you reflect on the 2014 season, was it emotional?
Sarah Guyot: “I’ve had a mixed impression of it because I am happy with my titles and my final in 200m in Moscow, but in 500m, I have regrets and doubts. This year I was better in 200m because I had worked more on this distance, it allowed me to race well. But on 500m I had too many questions and I think that I got lost in my strategy. I have to work on this aspect.

You’ve taken a step forward, since your U23 World Champion title in K1 500m two seasons ago. How do you explain it?
“After the Olympics in 2012, I had to question myself. I changed everything; my way of training, the staff around me, and I reset the goals I had to reach to improve. I reflected on  how I considered canoeing, what I was looking for, and how I see my paddling, which has obviously helped me. I can’t find any other explanation, it was necessary and now its paying off. Since then, in every session, I work on every stroke to go forward, it is a permanent and essential investment.

You’re currently training with the other girls in the French team, as winter is coming, are you tempted to go training abroad in warm regions with foreigners as some kayak men do ?
“Yes I would like to, but it’s not the right time for me because during the winter I put the emphasis on my studies (she is studying physiotherapy). I have three years remaining and I want to think about my studies, it is important. Once I’ve graduated, why not, I’d like to try this experience of training in a competitive environment.

The next season will be decisive for the Olympics and the famous quotas. How do you foresee it?
“It is a key year for Rio but I don’t want to look too far ahead yet. I’m afraid of failing, obviously, but above all I don’t know my strategy yet. I could specialise in a distance, but it is a big decision, I’m not sure I want to lose a distance.

200m or 500, what do you prefer?
“I clearly prefer 200m which I am better at, but it is also because I couldn’t find the right strategy in 500m last year.

To get the quotas, could you be tempted to race in crew boats, would you like it?
“I don’t want any doors to close. Crew racing could interest me but so far I think about fulfilling my potential in single kayak, I will take part in it only if I am in the best crew possible, able to perform the best races possible. It is not simple when you are used to single paddling and good at it, to then consider crew racing again. Although I don’t want to eliminate this possibility.”

Photographer: Julien Crosnier / FFCK