N.Z. skiers should be better

Press, 7 May 1980, Page 24

N.Z. skiers should be better

By

TIM DUNBAR

I When the New Zealand 1 Ski Association’s alpine 1 director, Mr Andreas 1 Hefti, was in Christchurch I recently he made a startI ling remark about the ! ability of the Auckland i skier, Scott Kendall. i “Scott should be under ■ 30 F.I.S. points,” said the /former Swiss national . Olympic coach. j That statement was re- ! markable because KenJ dall’s F.I.S. (International ' Ski Federation) racing : start points on the latest list of February 10 stood at 70.68 for giant slalom • and 118.46 for slalom. ! F.I.S. points, by the i way, determine a skier’s . starting place in a race : and are the international j standard of alpine ski racing performance. They are i based on race results, and like the handicap | system in golf: the lower

the better. The racers with the lowest points have their runs before ruts make the ccturses more difficult. (A racer’s points are based on a comparision between his time and the winner’s). Kendall, aged 20, was one of three men in the New Zealand ski-ing team which contested the Lake : Placid .Winter Olympics in February. - . -y, •.';/■ .. He was the: only one to complete. /two runs in ■ either of the: two islalom ■ events, finishing a credi- - tabletwenty-sixth in the

special slalom. Such a high place is, of course, rather flattering in view of the restricted fields and teams in an Olympic event, as opposed to the World Cup. “Scott had a good first run,” Mr Hefti said, “. . . but he could ski so much better.” “If you see him in training he could be a man in thirtieth best in the world. “When you see him racing. . . that’s not Scott,” said Mr. Hefti, coach of the New Zealanders at Lake Placid. He said that the whitefaced appearance of the young Aucklander in races showed how tense he was, without the ability to relax.

“Very often he loses 50 per cent of his possibility in the starting gate.” In the men’s giant slalom Kendall had an excellent first run. (being less than 4s behind the pace . at the half ; way mark), only to ski off the course just six gates from the end. “He tried very hard, he trained very hard — but it didn’t work for him the best,” said Kendall’s coach. Going on to the other team members, Mr Hefti said that the downhill specialist, Stuart Blakely (placed thirty-second), had raced well, especially considering the car accident in October which had severely disrupted his training build-up. “I’m surprised Stuart held them (the overseas racers) as well as he did in the cold atmosphere with a lot of pressure on him.” ’ As for the third male in .the team, Mark Vryen- < hbek, Mr Hefti was disappointed by his failure to finish the first run in

either the slalom or the G.S. “Mark wasn’t in form at the Olympics. He didn’t improve as he should,” Mr Hefti said. “He needs more punch and character.” The 50-year-old Swiss was more pleased with the performance of Anna Archibald in the women’s downhill. She was placed twenty-sixth in difficult conditions. She performed right up to the standard she had maintained all season but she would like to go 3s better. “She was never at the extreme limit, taking the extreme risk.” In the slalom,. Fiona Johnson had “a good first run — probably her best of the season.” Unfortu-:

nately, on her second run she touched a pole and knocked her glasses out of place. “She was probably too tense. It’s sad; it was the second-to-last gate.” Both Miss Johnson (aged 19) and Miss Archibald (aged 20) finished the giant slalom. “Fiona was disappointed not to do better,” Mr Hefti said, however. “It was not her day; it was not good enough for her.” Over-all, the coach said he was happy with the attitude of the New Zealand women’s team, but had a discipline problem with the men. “They were surprised I was strong. They will learn — or leave.” Before the New Zealand A and B teams left for training and racing in Europe at the end of November the 15 members were physically tested at the University of Canter-" bury by Paul Carpinter and the former national women’s champion, Robyn Willis. “They were really a big

help. I would like to use them again,” Mr Hefti said. “Physically, the people were in good condition in Europe.” Now that the Olympics are over, Mr Hefti is keen to find the right New Zealander as alpine coach and revert to an administrative role as alpine director, “setting up the programmes right from physical training up to ski racing.” He is looking ahead to the 1984 Winter Olympics at Sarajevo but bemoans the fact that “we have no money” to properly prepare for them in Europe each northern winter. “We need at least two coaches for the men and two coaches for the women. And then buses to carry them around.. Who pays for it?” '/ The bare minimum funds “to do the right thing” is $50,000 a year — and this is an elusive figure at present '••/ ■; ?