Nick Harding | @nickhdg - By winning 2 golds at the 2014 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships Moscow in August, Great Britain's Jeanette Chippington now has 8 world titles to her name. After a solid season she looks back on Russia and her swimming days past as well as to the immediate future as the Rio Paralympics approach.

“Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I am 8-time world paracanoe champion, and being relatively new to the sport (3 years) I still feel I have got a lot to learn.”

Paracanoeing sensation Jeanette 44, from Maidenhead 41km West of London, races flatwater sprint over 200m in single kayak (K1) using a paddle with two blades, and in single 'va'a' outrigger (V1); a canoe with two hulls like a catamaran, the athlete uses a single-blade paddle with a handle.

Jeanette has had Transverse Myelitis, affecting the spinal chord. She competes in the 'Arms' (A) category where athletes only have use of their shoulders. Previously she had to race up into other categories including: 'Trunk and Arms' (TA) – upper body only, limited hip rotation and weak limbs, and 'Legs Trunk and Arms' (LTA) – functional use of of three.

Paracanoeing career results:

World Championships:

• 2014: two x gold K1W (A) and V1W (A) [Moscow, Russia]
• 2013: three x gold K1W (A), V1W (TA) and V1W (A) [Duisburg, Germany]
• 2012: three x gold K1W (TA), K1W (A) and V1W (LTA) [Poznan, Poland]

European Championships:

• 2014: gold K1W (A), V1W (A) [Brandenburg, Germany]
• 2013: gold V1W (LTA) [Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal]
• 2012: gold V1W (LTA), bronze K1W (LTA) [Zagreb, Croatia]

'W' indicates the women's event.

Reflecting on 2014

Proud of becoming double world champion in 2014, Jeanette said her most memorable race at the 2014 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships Moscow was the K1 (A) 200m final.

“I put myself under a lot of pressure as this is going to be one of the Paralympic events for Rio so I knew I had to perform. Warming up before my race I could not help thinking how amazing it would be if I was to win a world champion medal on the Olympic course [from the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games],” she said.

“My race was a straight final and therefore there was no room for error. When the start bucket went down I put my race plan into action. All the hard training paid off winning the gold, but what was extra special was to win knocking a second off my PB that I set a month earlier at the Europeans in Brandenburg.”

Jeanette puts in the time, effort and dedication to her training. It will continue into the forthcoming winter months. She really enjoys the challenge training brings, this has been an important factor in her world and European successes this year.

She also puts her performance this season down to the hard work being done by GB Canoeing; she is a member of its Podium Potential Programme funded by the UK National Lottery.

“The standard of the Great Britain Team is going from strength to strength. As a team we are very lucky to have the backing of UK Sport Lottery Funding. This provides us with expert coaching, strength and conditioning coaching, psychological support and nutritional expertise.”

Team GB's paracanoeists won 6 gold medals and 3 silvers at this year's World Championship, topping the overall medal table.

Competition is now red hot. Athletes from all over the world are getting better and better with every stroke, particularly as a result of these national training programmes, amongst other factors.

Jeanette admitted that if she had just relaxed at this year's World Championship, confident in her own ability like she did in 2013, she would have only won bronze!

From swimming to canoeing and onwards

Jeanette has been paddling since 2011. Her achievements, for example medals, personal bests and consistent results, are a reflection of what can be achieved in a relatively short period of time.

She inspires new paracanoeists to take up the sport but is also a role model for athletes making the transition from other disability sports.

Before paddling, Jeanette had been a Paralympic swimmer for 20 years; she competed at five consecutive Paralympic Games (1988-2004), winning a total of 12 medals and two golds (1996: 100m freestyle (S6) and 4x50m freestyle relay) – a formidable record in itself.

“I retired from competitive swimming and was looking for another sport to take up for a hobby. I was introduced to kayaking by a friend and fell in love with it immediately. It was only ever meant to be a hobby but after 20 years of competition and training it must have still been in my blood.”

There are of course parallels between the two sports, as any multi-sport athlete will say. For Jeanette, the two key similarities are 1) commitment and 2) dedication to training.

She admits, “The joy of kayaking is that you are outdoors experiencing the change in seasons and not pounding up and down a chlorinated swimming pool!”

Paracanoeing will feature for the first time at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, a prospect in itself has increased disability participation in the sport.

Jeanette did not mention her desire for gold at this stage – it is just a little too soon to be thinking about the podium.

“My short term goals are to make selection for the GB Team in April next year and then selection for the Worlds 2015. My ultimate goal would be to make the Team for Rio.”

However, deep down, every paracanoeist is probably now starting to believe, 'Maybe I could be the first ever Paralympic gold medallist in my event,' Jeanette included.