For Jeffery it all Comes Down to This

Robin Jeffery set himself just one goal this year, to perform well at the Canoe Slalom World Championships.

Now the Western Australian Institute of Sport paddler is about to put that aim to the test and he’s feeling good about it.

“I think this has been my best preparation into a World Champs yet,” Jeffery said.

“We’ve had a lot of time here, and just been tapering over the last few weeks, so it’s good to finally feel fresh out on the water and have some zip.

“I think the course will suit me, it’s quite a smooth flowing course, and the eddies are quite grippy, so I can really just keep the power on the whole way down the course, which is what I like to do.”

It’s been a long European summer for Jeffery, his best result a 13th in the C2 in Augsburg, the second World Cup event. Individually a 16th in the fourth World Cup, in Tacen, is the highlight of his 2013 CV.

But those results are all part of a slow build-up to this weekend.

“We started in June, and I’ve been training through those world cups with the goal of really targeting these World Champs,” Jeffery said.

“It’s been a lot of hard training through those early races but I’m now looking to have a big result here.

“My goal is a top ten finish this year, and I think my speed over the season has shown it’s definitely there, I’ve just got to get that last little bit.

Jeffery finished 10th with fellow Perth paddler Kynan Maley in the C2 in London last year. He came home disappointed.

“To be honest I was on a bit of a downer for like two or three weeks, after we got back home, and realised it was all over,” he said.

“But ever since that I’ve remembered looking at the guys who achieved their goals and just thinking, yeah, I want to be in that position in four years time.

“My motivation’s gone through the roof since the Olympics. I think it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and given me a really good perspective.”

It hasn’t been a good start for Jeffery though. A mad-keen Fremantle Dockers fan, he had been hoping to have the purple haze colours on his boat this weekend. To his shock and disgust, he turned up in Prague to find instead the colours of the Geelong Football Club.

Fortunately the Dockers have this weekend off. Jeffery, on the other hand, has his biggest weekend of the year.

– Ross Solly for every4yearz