Ironclad commitments
Double duty for these top athletes
YOU wanna know the trickiest part about researching a story on the Coolangatta Gold’s hardest-working stars? They’re all too busy working to talk about how hard they work.
“Sorry, but I’m seeing patients at the moment,” said Dr Nadi Canning, who has finished as high as eighth and will tackle some of surf sport’s biggest names in today’s elite women’s shortcourse race. “Can I call you back after 4.30pm?”
Then there was Hayden White, a genuine contender for the open men’s long course title tomorrow.
When the Bulletin buzzed him a few days out from one of the biggest races of his career, he was in Logan discussing a water management system for a new subdivision.
“You need to be pretty mentally tough and handle stress well,” the 26-year-old later said of juggling a civil engineering career with his dreams of toppling full-time ironmen such as Ali Day, Kendrick Louis and Matt Bevilacqua this weekend.
“Sometimes one demands a bit more of your time and you need to be pretty flexible and that’s something I’m trying to learn to do better … I certainly don’t have much time for a normal life outside of work and training.”
In a sport where effort goes nowhere near matching financial reward for the vast majority of its combatants, Canning and White are prime examples of the incredible commitment required to rise to the top.
Like plumber Jake Nicholson, who finished runner-up in the 2014 Gold, and rising star Grace Rosato, who is establish- ing a career as a flight attendant, the lengths these guys go to put themselves in contention for Cooly glory is incredible.
Then there’s Canning. Having passed her general practice fellowship exam last year, the 30-year-old works full-time at Tugun Family Medicine. Either side of her day job, she clocks up about 3½ hours of swimming, paddling and running before celebrating the end of the week with a three-hour training session on Saturday.
“I’m friends with a few of the semi-professional girls and they always say they don’t know how I do what I do,” the Cudgen Headland Surf Club star said before channelling her inner Nike goddess. “But I just do it.
“It can be daunting when you know you’re racing girls who are doing this professionally and can have a sleep and a massage during the day to recover properly between training, but I do this sport because I love it and likewise for my work.”
As for White, he actually relishes the sense of freedom his career will offer him when he lines up beside his pro rivals for the start of the legendary 41.8km course.
“There is actually pressure on those guys because they’re not getting other income,” the Currumbin Viking said. “They might have sponsors but they often have incentives linked to results.
“They would be relying on the prizemoney this weekend to keep them going for this year and that can go one of two ways – it might make them hungry for it but it may also be too much pressure for them and they could crumble.
“It’s not the be-all and endall if I don’t perform, so I can Coolangatta Gold TODAY: SHORT COURSE COOLANGATTA BEACH Elite men – 7.30am Elite women – 7.30am Open teams women – 7.40am Open teams men – 8.20am Masters individuals – 8.20am
TOMORROW: LONG COURSE COOLANGATTA BEACH Elite men – 7.30am Elite women – 7.40am Open teams women – 7.50am Open teams men – 8.20am Presentations – 1pm relax into the race and that’s when the results come.”
Canning is the first to admit her life isn’t for everyone. Her alarm goes off at 4am.
She finishes training in the dark during winter. One reason she’s “only” doing the 32.4km short course is she literally doesn’t have time in her day to train for the 23km ski paddle that features in the longer event.
Suggest a change of pace, however, and the good doctor makes an instant diagnosis.
“I would go insane if I didn’t train,” she said. “I just don’t think I could do one without the other. I expect a lot of myself in everything I do, hence why I’ve committed to the Gold this year.”