Article from Glos Wielkopolski | Translation to English: Monika Marczak - 

Interview with Marta Walczykiewicz: a KTW Kalisz (Kaliskie Towarzystwo Wioślarskie – Kalisz Rowing Association) kayaker, world champion and two-time runner up at the World Championships on the regatta course in Moscow. 

You have never had a World Championships like that. You won gold in the 4x200m relay in addition to the other two Championships titles. However, this competition isn't considered overly prestigious?
While it's not an Olympic event, I wouldn't overlook it. I have been competing in it since 2007 and I remember that we started with seventh place. Since then, our results have progressed and the team has improved every year. This time, some federations put forward the strongest line-ups and wanted to make up for failures in other events. At the last change-over I had to catch up to the Russian. It seemed that I was behind by a mile, but this was supposedly the best 200m in my career. It's no wonder that I overtook the Russian by so much, and someone even joked that I was paddling so fast that it was like I wanted to kayak back to Poland. Afterwards, I heard opinions that this was just a relay race, but on the other hand I became a world champion because of it.

Perhaps you were even happier with the silver in the K1 200, because earlier races didn't inspire optimism?
Compared with what I'm capable of, the performances at the World Cup and July's European Championships were very average. From the very beginning I believed in a medal in the K4, but a week before the race in Moscow I performed very poorly in training in the K1, and I almost withdrew from my main event. The breakthrough came after the runner-up title in Saturday's K4 and the unusual warm up on Sunday. I trusted my coach – Tomasz Kryk – and two hours before the race I went to the gym, even though I had never done this before. However, this crazy plan worked and I exploded in the final. I placed a comfortable second, and at the same time I achieved a personal best time of 38.8 seconds. Later, we joked that if I had warmed up at night, maybe I would have even beaten Lisa Carrington, because on Sunday afternoon I felt even stronger.

When will you finally also beat the New Zealander?
The coach thinks that I lack strength at the finish, because I often beat her at the start and middle stage of the race. But I can't start poorly, because then I might lose not only to her. I'm beginning to doubt whether the New Zealander is beatable, especially since it's also getting harder and harder to beat her in the 500m. I think that her secret to success lies elsewhere. Her coach and her focus only on the K1. I could also give up team boats, but on the other hand I also find fulfilment in them. At the beginning of the season I said that I wouldn't get into a K4, and six months later I won silver at the European Championships and World Championships together with my friends.

You mentioned your coach. You may not always see eye-to-eye, but the results certainly speak in his favour. The female paddlers are producing better results than the male paddlers. Besides, Kryk makes sure that you don't get too bored...
It's true, because the training is varied and overseen by specialists. We visit different places and usually the same courses. My favourite is the Hungarian Szeged, and my least-favourite is training in Portugal in February, because it rains often, and we do empty kilometres. I feel best 2-3 weeks before the event of the season.

At the moment you don't have to think about camps, and can enjoy your holidays and being home. You probably won't miss the paddle?
I won't miss it, even though this year the holidays will be two weeks longer, because the World Championships used to be at the end of August. I will return to training at the beginning of October. I will be able to enjoy time with my family and friends, and with my new favourite - Oskar. He’s an Akita-breed dog that I took in from the KTW Kalisz club. And the holidays will come in just 10 days. It's a prize from BPI that I received for winning a popularity contest held by your editorial team.

Website Marta Walczykiewicz: www.walczykiewicz.pl/en