Rising star sprint kayaker Jasmine Locke is a 21-year-old pre-medicine student who grew up in Towradgi and discovered paddling at Bulli Surf Life Saving Club. She’s the reason that legendary Illawarra Canoe Club coach Terry Prosser OAM has come out of retirement.
“I gave it away, I retired about four years ago,” Terry says, standing on the bank of the Minnamurra River while all around us young paddlers are carrying boats, warming up, set for their 8am Saturday morning paddle.
“Then Locky – that’s Jas’s father – he said, teach me daughter … you promised me! So I said right-o.
“She’s got that much go in her, it’s a privilege to try and help her. She’s one of the top ones I’ve had.”
Jasmine will soon be off to Italy to represent Australia at the U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships at Auronzo from July 5-9.
“I’m born and raised in Wollongong and I grew up doing a lot of different sports, every sport under the sun – soccer, swimming, running, everything. And I also did a lot of surf club,” Jasmine says.
“I love being in the water. And I love the fact that you get to race yourself [in kayaking]. No one can impact you except for yourself.”
Earlier this year Jasmine represented Australia in the U21 team at the Asia Pacific Cup, at Lake Karapiro in New Zealand from 21-24 April. “The conditions were cold and there was a pretty strong headwind most of the time – and crosswind,” she says.
It didn’t stop her from bringing home a swag of awards, including a personal triumph. “I won the under-21s K1 500m; I was the Asia Pacific Champion and Oceania Champion.”
Yet the win was almost like a warm-up. “My goal and the key event this year is Worlds,” Jasmine says.
In Italy, she’ll be racing in the prestigious K1 500m, K1 5000m and K4 500m. (In kayaking, the figure after K represents the number of athletes in a boat.)
“I hope she does well,” Terry says. “I’d be quite happy if she makes finals, because she’s still only a kid – people forget that.”
Terry has been paddling for almost seven decades and coaching for 52 years. He is a Life Member of Illawarra Canoe Club and in 2019 was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for a lifetime of coaching.
He’s trained world-class sprint kayakers from the Illawarra, including Olympic gold medallist David Smith and Adam Dean, bronze medal winner at 1997’s ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships and currently the U23 NSW Sprint Kayak coach.
“She’s up with them,” Terry says of Jasmine. “She’s got the heart.”
Jasmine trains two to three times a day: “A paddle in the morning, gym mid-morning, and then either a paddle or run in the afternoon, six days a week.
“But some days I only have two sessions.
“Sessions are anywhere from 5-20km, but typically around the 10-14km. I’m on the water for about 1.5 hours.”
She’s building stamina for high-speed paddling. “My race average is around 15.5km/h over the 1:55 to 1:58ish-minute race. In a K4 I have gotten up to 23km/h for a shorter period of time.”
“This is a very hard sport to train in,” Terry says. “Footballers have got no idea what training’s about – they’d kill the footballers, they wouldn’t last.”
The Illawarra has great natural training grounds – paddlers can take their pick of Minnamurra River, Lake Illawarra and the ocean. For her ocean paddles, launching from Wollongong Harbour, Jasmine sets out at dawn. “You definitely see dolphins … and we have some really good sunrises,” she says. “I can appreciate those when I’m in a lot of pain – a nice sunrise!
“There’s so many technical aspects that can help you improve and get faster. Your race technique is always something to work on and I really like trying to just chip away at that.”
The Illawarra Canoe Club recently presented her with a cash gift to help cover her athlete fees and a new Vaikobi paddle bag. Her kayak is a Nelo ‘Quattro’ about 10 years old, her paddle a Braca, supplied by Sydney’s Bennett Surf.
“For clothes, I just wear anything comfortable,” she says.
She’s equally down to earth about juggling pre-med studies at the University of Wollongong and elite sport. “If I didn’t have my study, I’d be doing a lot of thinking about the sport and I don’t necessarily think that’s very healthy, so it’s nice to take my mind off … and the same with all my studies. It kind of worked quite well together."
Jasmine comes from a family of “very determined” paddlers, says Terry, who also coached her father, Michael.
Terry coaches for love, not for money. He’s a self-taught kayaker – he grew up in Port Kembla, started paddling on Lake Illawarra and the Minnamurra River, moving from flat-water into the whitewater rush of slalom, finding rapids to ride for fun. He did many marathons too. And all the while experimenting, finding better ways of paddling – ways that hurt less, he says.
Today, Terry is renowned as an expert in technique. He is the coaches’ coach, sharing his knowledge with local coaches Michael Locke, Simone Elliott, Stephen Ritz and Adam Dean.
“I’m 82 now,” he says. “I look after the coaches.
“I haven’t got that many years to go. So the more I can get into these people, the more I can teach them, and when I go… they’ve got the skills to carry on.”
Adam Dean – who’s retired from competition and now volunteers his time to coach young kayakers – says Terry has taught him lots about technique and personal development, which is vital to help young athletes progress.
“I like the sheer passion that’s involved with being in an amateur sport,” Adam says.
“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.”
Only one in a thousand young paddlers has the potential to reach the top, Terry says. “But you treat them all the same. You bring them in, they’re off the streets. You’re doing good.”
Illawarra Canoe Club will hold a fundraising BBQ at Kembla Grange Bunnings on Sat, 24 June. All proceeds go to the ICC. Contact the club via Facebook messenger @IllawarraCanoeClub
