Canoeists aiming for five golds

Press, 23 September 1988, Page 22

Canoeists aiming for five golds

PA Seoul New Zealand canoeists have moved into the Olympic village from their lakeside rural retreat believing they can win the five gold medals on offer next week. The canoeing manager, Bill Garlick, and his charges moved from their Chung Pyong lakeside camp to the village on Wednesday evening. Soon after his arrival in the village Mr Garlick referred to the five gold medals — KI 500, K2 500, KlOOO, K2OOO and R4OOO — on offer next week. “We grabbed four in ’B4 we’d like to grab

five this time ... it’s not a tall order,” Mr Garlick said. “Given the right conditions I believe we can have a good shot at all five.” The Los Angeles gold medallists, Paul MacDonald and lan Ferguson, will begin the medal seeking campaign in the Kl5OO and K2 500 on Monday. Mr Garlick said the team stayed in its lakeside retreat five days longer than originally intended. Team members were in a similar positive frame of mind to Los Angeles when the move was made from lakeside accommodation

into the village. “The extended stay proved to be a good

move because we went right to the point where the team started to taper within one or two days.” The canoeists had come out of the camp fit, happy and ready to race. They will train on Seoul’s Han River for three days before moving onto the canoeing course proper for just two sessions prior to racing. “That’s not a problem really. We would have liked a little more time but the course is a mirror image of anything we’ve raced in Europe,” Mr Garlick said. While the team had

decided to use conventional paddles, Mr Garlick called a post scrutineering press conference for this afternoon — to possibly display some new equipment. Mr Garlick said one minor problem with the lake was it became misted out in the morning.” However, it did not prevent satisfactory time trials on the makeshift course being completed daily. “Even after two weeks the guys were not bored with the camp. Generally after 10 days anywhere they’re saying it’s time to move on. Not this time,” Mr Garlick said.