Sprint kayaking is an amateur sport in the Illawarra only in the sense that paddlers are in it for love, not money. In all other respects, the Illawarra Canoe Club is training dedicated and skilled future champions, including Jasmine Locke, who carried the flag for Australia at July’s U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Italy.
“I like the sheer passion that’s involved with being in an amateur sport,” says Adam Dean, the U23 NSW Sprint Kayak coach.
“There’s no money or anything in it to drive people. Everyone who is in it, whether they’re coaching or paddling, is in it for a good reason and that’s to succeed and become better athletes and better humans.”
Rising star paddler Jasmine Locke, a 21-year-old pre-med student at the University of Wollongong, co-captained the Australian team at July’s U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Italy. Jasmine achieved a 12th in the U23 K1 500m and a 10th in the U23 K4 500m.
“She’s got a very good mindset,” Adam says. “She’s on an upwards trajectory.”
There are more young paddlers coming up through the ranks at the Illawarra Canoe Club.
“We’ve got Callum Elliott who’s just come up to the U23s now. He made the U18 world team last year.
“We have Kynan Burke and Tarren Elliott, still in the under-18s. They made the under-16 Asia Pacific team last year; they went to Japan.
“Kia McIlwraith is in the state under-21 team.”
All are young sports people to watch.
“It’s still early days yet,” Adam says.
“Kayaking is a sport where you mature in your mid- to late 20s. So there is still a long road ahead, but it’s great that they’re showing promise, already making junior teams.
“We all train out of Minnamurra. We paddle around five sessions per week on the water and they do three gym sessions, plus they’ll do probably between two and three swim and run sessions as well.
“They’re virtually going training twice a day, nearly every day of the week. They have Sundays off. So it’s a lot involved and a big sacrifice to make for an amateur sport – there’s no money or anything involved. It’s just the self-gratification of making an Australian team.”
Adam’s own kayaking career highlight came in 1997, when at age 26 he was part of the Australian team that won a bronze medal in the K-4 1000m at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.
“My goal was to compete for Australia one day, so to get an actual world championship medal was something else. Something that I’ll never forget.”
Today, Adam is a volunteer, coaching in between running a business and with the help of a supportive family. “I used to compete, so I know the sacrifice that’s involved. I know what it’s like at the other end and needing that constant support from someone to get you to go where you want to go. I fortunately had that in Terry Prosser when I was paddling.”
Terry Prosser – now 82 – is a legendary coach at the Illawarra Canoe Club who has been lured out of retirement to help train Jasmine, a paddler he’s described as “one of the top ones I’ve had”.
Adam, who trained under Terry for six years ahead of his K-4 triumph, says Terry has also taught him “the intricacies of coaching”, including much about technique and personal development.
Pathway to paddling
For teenagers wanting to try the sport, the pathway to sprint kayaking is via surf life saving, Adam says. “That’s how I got into it when I was young. It’s still the same case today.
“Once they start kayaking, it’s a lot more disciplined than surf life saving, so we don’t get a very big conversion rate from surf life saving to kayaking. But once they start succeeding at kayaking, they generally do very well at surf life saving as well.”
In July, Jasmine – who is a member of Bulli Surf Life Saving Club – won Athlete of the Year at Illawarra Surf Life Saving’s Awards of Excellence.
All the club’s young sprint kayakers are very dedicated people, says Adam.
“It’s refreshing to see that there’s still kids that are determined to take on a lifestyle like this. There’s not many kids that do this any more.”
The Illawarra Canoe Club has two divisions: the competitive juniors and an older group of social seniors who paddle twice a week. To find out more or join the club, contact the ICC via its Facebook page.
Read more about Jasmine Locke and her legendary local coach, Terry Prosser, in this article.
