2015 ICF World Championships Slalom
 
1
2
3
K1M
CZ J. PRSKAVEC
PL M. POLACZYK
US M. SMOLEN
K1W
CZ K. KUDEJOVA
DE R. FUNK
DE M. PFEIFER
C1M
GB D. FLORENCE
SI B. SAVSEK
GB R. WESTLEY
C1W
AU J. FOX
CZ K. HOSKOVA
ES N. VILARRUBLA
C2
DE ANTON/BENZIEN
FR PICCO/BISO
FR KLAUSS/PECHE

Canoe Sprint

Interview with sprint Head coach Scott Oldershaw from Canada

canoe kayak sprint scott oldershaw head coach canada interview icf sportscene poznan world cup mark adam van koeverden

This interview with Scott Oldershaw was conducted by Yuliana Salakhova at the World Cup in Poznan, Poland and proofread by Lou Lockhart. 

What is your position in the National Canadian Canoe team and what are you responsible for?
My position is called head coach of the national team. My job is to work with the other coaches, make sure they have what they need to do their job, take charge of team selections, plan for competitions and that kind of thing.

What can you tell me about the Olympics 2012? Are you happy with the results of your team?
Yes, we won 3 medals, so, for us that was good. That was our target to win three and we achieved that. Maybe it would have been good to have some more boats qualify as we missed some events. It’s better to have boats in all events unless you have a small team. So we had good results for a small team.

canoe kayak sprint scott oldershaw head coach canada interview icf sportscene poznan world cup mark adam van koeverdenWhat about the Olympic result of your son Mark Oldershaw? You have a dynasty of canoeists in your family: your father was paddling; you and your brothers were paddling…
Oh yes, all our family are canoeists.

And Mark was the fifth of your family to go to the Olympics and the first one to win a bronze medal...
Yes, Mark is the first Olympic medalist in our family. I was very happy - proud as a coach and as a father, of course, so that was very exciting for me.

 

Your father also went to the Olympics in London, I think…
Yes, my father was in London. He went to three Olympics: London, Helsinki and Melbourne. So, my father was the first and my two brothers have also been to the Olympic Games too.

Is Mark planning to go to Rio?
I think he is pretty sure he wants to go to Rio, yes. This year he is training a bit easier than before, giving himself a little bit of a break. But I think he really wants to go to Rio. I think if he hadn’t got a medal in London he would have finished but now he wants a better medal!

What about the result of Adam Van Koeverden? Didn’t you expect him to get a gold medal?
That was good. Well, it’s always what you want to get, what you work for and it was a good result, he did a good race.

What’s new in your team this season after the Olympic cycle?
Well, we are trying to get ready for Rio so we have some new coaches in our team, and new paddlers trying to make the team.

canoe kayak sprint scott oldershaw head coach canada interview icf sportscene poznan world cup mark adam van koeverdenHave you changed any of the crews?
Yes, we’re trying some new crews in K4 and K2. Adam is trying K2 now and we’re trying different C2’s. So, for sure we’re trying to do some better things, experimenting.

What are your main targets this season?
This season we’re trying to build our strength in some of the events that we weren’t very strong in, to try to get better. We’re also starting to identify some younger paddlers who will be good in Rio. We’re not expecting our medalists to achieve such good results this year because it’s a down year so if they don’t have medals this year it is not a problem.

What’s your medal plan for the World Championships this year?
We know that these guys are on target for medals in the next few years so we are not aiming for medals this year. It will not be disappointing if we don’t win a medal this year. We are aiming to improve our results for the crews as all our medals have been in singles.  We need some medals in doubles and fours.

What’s your plan for the 3rd World Cup [Poznan]? You have a really big team here.
Oh, yes. We have a big team here and there’s not a lot of depth in the competition so I think we will get 3 or 4 medals here, I hope. I think C-1 Mark, K-2 Adam, and C-2.

What’s your plan for Canada for U23’s?
Well, we’ll do the best we can. We don’t have any real stars in the U23’s yet but some will compete well.

And what is your opinion on the development of talented athletes? Some people think that the most important thing is their natural talent and others think that the athlete has to be hardworking, training everyday. Or maybe there are special stars who are born to do special things, to show us all another level?
I think there are special stars in singles. I think most people in singles who get on the podium are not a product of their system, they are just born that way. I think the system produces the good crew boats and the singles people are just good. Of course they need help, good coaching and support but I think they also make their own way and shine by themselves and if you have them you are lucky but often they work outside the system. Many of the podium singles people are always a little bit outside of what the team does, that’s just the way they are. Their personality makes it so hard for them to work in the team all the time.

canoe kayak sprint scott oldershaw head coach canada interview icf sportscene poznan world cup mark adam van koeverden

Most top single canoeists and kayakers prefer to train together in one international group, for example, they train together in the winter period. What do you think about that?
Yes, for some it’s important to be in a good group training hard.

In Russia you’re not normally allowed to train separately from the team. If you are in the national team you have to train in the team. What about Canada?
Yes, in Canada we are getting more like that but we always allow more flexibility for the people who win medals - they don’t have to be with the team if they don’t want to be. Some want to train more with the team. My son Mark likes to be with the canoe team as he needs their support, as the next C-1 guy is very close. Adam is training in Europe with other Australians and Sweeds but not with other Canadians as there’s a big difference between him and his closest rival. Different personalities need different things.

Both Adam and Mark seem to be good friends from a long time ago.
Yeah, from the club when they were 12 years old they have been very close. The other medalist, Mark de Jonge likes to be in a group too and he is also very competitive. Adam has had to go somewhere else to find people to push him hard because in Canada there is a big difference between him and second.

What about Adam trying K2? Was it yours or his decision?
Both, we both thought it would be good to try something different. This year if he had just gone K-1, same as always, there would have been nothing different, so instead we thought to try something new, something different.

What about Mark? Doesn’t he want to try C2?
No, I thought maybe it could be good but he didn’t want to have to commit so much time to a partner. That wouldn’t be fair to his partner because Mark just wants to do his own schedule and not train so much. He just wants to be on his own, to train when he wants and to wake up when he wants. With a partner it’s more difficult. But in the future I don’t know, maybe.

canoe kayak sprint scott oldershaw head coach canada interview icf sportscene poznan world cup mark adam van koeverdenMany people worry that canoeing may be scratched from the Olympic program, what do you think about it?
I don’t know. It worries us. It’s not good that we were already on the list to be voted out. That was a surprise for people. We survived this time but maybe next time it’s going to be a real problem. As they said at the meeting, we have to gain more TV coverage and unfortunately in the US it is a little known sport.

And some people think we need to add another women’s event, for example C-1 women, what do you think?
Yes, I think it needs to be done, but the competitive level is still not ready. So, it’s kind of what comes first:  do you wait until they are competitively ready to add them to the Olympics, or if you add the event to the Olympics, will they become competitively ready as a result?

I think both our countries (Canada and Russia) don’t mind if the C1 women’s event is added to the Olympic program.
Oh yes, if it’s in for Canada that is good, and for Russia it is good also, but how fast will everyone catch up? I think probably in 2020 they will be there. There’s pressure to have equality, but it’s also a question of whether canoe events will survive. Some people would like to get rid of canoe events because not many countries do it. But that would be sad. I think if they bring in women’s canoe, something for the men has to be taken out. I think it will be K-4 and that would be sad.

What do you think about the boat design? Now many athletes try to do something different with their boat, to be individuals.
I think it’s good, it’s exciting! Athletes get excited about the boat design. It’s like a new toy. They spend a lot of effort trying to make a nice design and I think it’s good. And people who make the boats spend a lot of time trying to make these fancy designs. It’s a lot of work but they do it because they know the athlete really looks forward to seeing it. I know at home when the kids buy boats they make fancy designs and everybody wants to see, they can’t wait to see what the design is, so, I think it’s more exciting then just a plain boat.

Wikipedia

Scott Oldershaw (born February 23, 1954 in Toronto) is a Canadian sprint kayaker who competed in the mid-1980s. He was eliminated in the semifinals of the K-1 500 m event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He later became head coach at the Burloak Canoe Club in Oakville, Ontario, leading them to national titles in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2007 and is coaching Olympic gold medalist Adam van Koeverden.

He is a son of Bert Oldershaw, brother of Dean Oldershaw and Reed Oldershaw, and father of Mark Oldershaw, all of whom have represented Canada in the Summer Olympics.