Joe Clarke - Canoe Slalom - K1 category

Introduction 

Hi, I'm Joe Clarke, 18, and I compete in the sport of Canoe Slalom for Great Britain. I'm on the current U23 Great Britain Canoe Slalom team and my aim is to win the Olympics and World Championships!   I began Canoeing when I was 11 and haven't had chance to look back, racing up through the divisions and breaking onto the Junior team back in 2009, it has certainly been one great journey so far, and this is just the start!

Canoe Slalom is a sport for almost anyone so if you think you can tackle the white water and be competitive I will see you there!

February's Blog...
Posted:  18 February 2012 

Once again February has been a very busy month for me much like the months before. But I have had the benefit of a different training venue down in Lee Valley to keep me occupied and to keep me on my toes.

I would like to say much like the previous months it’s been mild as well but I’m afraid that can’t be said for February! As it has certainly been a lot colder and this has definitely made training significantly harder. But training has still been of a very high standard despite my hair freezing during a number of sessions where I have been mad enough to get on the water in -8!

At the moment most of my training on the water and off the water is primarily about power, getting the boat to move fast over the water especially acceleration away from a standing start. So far it's been going really well seeing big gains on my power exercises in the gym and sprint times are getting faster alongside that.

The racing season will start on March 3^rd with the first Premier race taking place in Bala (North Wales). I’m really looking forward to getting back into the “racing” mindset and my arms feeling fresh for the first time in a good few months. But with Olympic and GBR team selection being the main aim I won't be peaking too much for this race so it should be quite interesting to see how I do with this in mind.

January's Blog
Posted:  20 January 2012

First of all Happy New Year to everyone, better late than never!

Last year was a very tough year balancing education and training certainly wasn’t easy and I believe it had an impact on my results.

So I’m looking forward to a season ahead that isn’t hampered by exams or school commitments it will certainly make my life a lot easier.

After having a short break over Christmas and New Year to recharge the batteries and do a spot of skiing in the German Alps I was fully ready and rearing to kick start my training in 2012.

I started the year with Gym testing and Pool testing and I had improved both in the gym and in the pool by significant amounts, which was a nice way to start the year.

With training back in full swing now it's all eyes on the selection races that will be held on Lee Valley white water course in April. I will be racing for a place at the London 2012 Olympics. There will also be the selection for the Senior and U23 teams taking place at the same time.

So between now and April it’s a case of getting lots of quality time on Lee Valley and continuing to train hard towards that Olympic place and then fingers crossed over the 3 days of racing!

I’m really excited about the season ahead where I can hopefully build on the successes of last year and go a couple of places better to put me on that podium!

December's Blog
Posted:  15 December 2011

December has been a busy month with winter training in full swing;  my body is certainly feeling it and is looking forward to the compulsory rest, set by my coach, over the festive period.

The temperatures on the water have certainly been mild compared to last year so training on the water has been going really well and the quality hasn’t been compromised too much by the wind. 

I have started to travel down to Lee Valley, the home of the London 2012 Olympic course, for a few sessions prior to the New Year to get a feel for the water again. In the New Year I will be travelling down for a couple of days each week to access the facilities ahead of the Olympic selections in April 2012.

We have also had pool testing where we test various things such as acceleration, top speed as well as lactic build up after hard physical efforts. We do these tests in the swimming pool because we know that every time we go there the conditions will be the same and we can't always guarantee this outside.

I will keep training until the 22^nd December in Nottingham and then I will travel home for Christmas, spend some quality time with my family, before I head out to Germany on the 26^th for some cross country skiing to fill up my “compulsory rest”! 

If you haven’t already then pop over to my new website www.joe-clarke.co.uk and have a look around! 

November's Blog
Posted:  22 November 2011

October 29/30th saw the racing season draw to an end with the British Open Championships qualifying taking place on Saturday 29th Oct. The top 40 were to go through to the Sunday and I knew that as long as I didn’t miss any gates, then I would progress to the semi-final. My first run went well but had some slight time errors so I was sitting in 3rd place but I knew that I had now guaranteed my place in Sunday’s semi final. 

On the second run I pushed slightly harder in the places that my coach and me had identified during video review and laid down the fastest run of the day. The pressure was on the last few boats to knock me off top spot and after watching the last few boats come down, either making mistakes or picking up penalties, I knew I had won!! This securing my national ranking of number 2 (1st U23) for the next season and qualifying me through to the semi final in 1st place (so I was last off).

Sunday’s semi final course was slightly harder but I felt very comfortable with the course set and pushed hard on my semi-final run to secure myself a place into the final in 2nd place. Then it was time for a quick video review between runs before getting on the water again for the final.

My final run was very fast but coming into the penultimate gate a gust of wind blew the pole into my paddle meaning I had picked up a 2 second penalty, but I kept calm and pushed for the finish.

Unfortunately this touch cost me the win and I finished in 3rd place but a good end to the season nevertheless.

More recently, I have had gym testing, this measures the amount of force I can produce and on specific exercises the amount of weight I can lift. The results I received were very positive showing an increase in overall strength and power since the last time I tested. Out on the water everything is going well and the temperatures are still very mild, let's just hope it stays like this until the New Year!

Unfortunately the Olympic Torch Relay doesn't come through Stone where grew up, but I think it will still have a very positive impact on the community and a long lasting legacy. This will hopefully help to promote sport and get more youngsters active and striving to compete at future Olympics.

This month has been a busy one with a lot of planning going on around the winter ahead and how best to maximise training. After sitting down with various support staff from the English Institute of Sport and my GB canoeing coach we have designed a plan of action running through to the new year. 

Despite all this planning training has been in full swing in the gym and out on the water. Temperatures seem to have dropped at last and the Indian summer is certainly long gone! Winter is certainly on it's way. 

Although winter training has already started for me there has still been a few races taking place over the last few weeks. Last weekend saw the Serpent's Tail premier race, there was a good turn out and conditions were good. I went into the race feeling rather tired after a heavy week's training but put that to the back of my mind and set out to race. 

My first run was fast but I picked up some silly touches (2 second penalties) along the way so placed 6th after first run. But my raw time was quick enough to win.

I knew that if I could deliver on second run then I would be in contention for the win. I laid down a clean fast run with everything going to plan and came home with the gold medal! 

To find out more visit

www.joe-clarke.co.uk
Twitter@clarke_joe

September's Blog...

September has been a very busy month for me, I have moved to Nottingham to access the English Institute of Sport facilities on a daily basis and to access my GB canoeing coach, something that I have only been able to do once weekly before.

After living in Nottingham for only one week and a half, I competed at the Paul McConkey memorial slalom and won it adding my name to some legends within the sport! This meaning I have qualified my place for next year's Olympic selection and have maintained my number 1 ranking!

I have since managed to settle myself here and have started my training towards next year's Olympic selection already, doing some hard physical work in the gym and on the water.

I believe that with me moving to Nottingham and becoming a full time athlete training and racing should certainly excel anything that has come before. There's no limit so for me I have got a very exciting 8 months ahead! Watch this space!

To find out more visit

www.joe-clarke.co.uk
http://twitter.com/#!/clarke_joe