John Astbury

Club
Lincoln Canoe Club

Occupation
Student (we dont have jobs)

Favourite Training Venue
Le Temple-sur-Lot

Favourite Racing Venue
Holme Pierrepoint

Favourite Training Session
40 Strokes every 90 seconds x 4 x 3

Favourite Training Camp Location
Le Temple-sur-Lot (Warm, excellent facilities and cheaply priced)

Age started canoeing 16

Equipment
Hodysport Orca Middleweight K1
Nelo Moskito 85 K1
Nelo Moskito 90 K2
Braca II Paddles

What do you consider to be the most important elements to being a top 200 metre paddler?

Speed, power, ability to maintain a constantly high level of power output for a prolonged period of time...EFFICIENTLY

What specific training methods do you adopt to get that all important sharpness/explosive power needed for the 200 event?

I do alot of power work in the gym, which I have to carefully balance with my canoe training, otherwise "as experienced" both can rapidly deteriorate, the weights compliment my paddle sessions, while in boat resistance includes bungee work. At the moment i struggle with the second half of my race, as my local muscular endurance is poor, i am trying to remedy this with longer efforts.

What do you enjoy most about 200m racing

As a sprint distance it is the only "true" sprint, less focus is on endurance compared to 500 and 1000, it is a flat out event that is very exciting to watch and even more exiting to race in.

What do you feel can be done in the UK to promote the 200 metre event, bearing in mind it's exposure and popularity in most other countries and at any major international event?

We need to increse paddling numbers in the 200m distance, with only a few people paddling, the chances of finding that "star athlete" are very limited. Until this happens little success can be achieved internationally

Best Results to Date:

2002 Class Champion - 1st K1 5000m
2004 National Championships - 3rd K4 200m, 5th K2 200m