FINAL SPRINT
Gold Coast surf crew making flat waters of Tokyo their own in K4
THEY are a crew of surf life surfers who plan to put their bodies and hearts on the line to do Australia proud in their K4 sprint racing in Tokyo on Saturday.
A crew with a veteran who has had two back surgeries in two years and another who had shoulder surgery so he could continue to paddle after the Rio Olympics.
A crew with two paddlers who were so gutted by their failure to make the K2 final on Thursday they could barely speak afterwards.
Now this patched-up, battle-hardened crew of Riley Fitzsimmons, Lachlan Tame, Murray Stewart and Jordan Wood are hoping to end a rollercoaster five year ride to the Games on a high.
Tame, who has put his life on hold, relocated his family to the Gold Coast from NSW and had shoulder surgery after Rio, was so emotional after the crew advanced into Saturday’s semi-final he could barely talk.
It was left to Stewart, who had to have an additional back surgery earlier this year because of the Games postponement, to explain the obvious emotion of the crew going into the semi-finals.
“To sit down with these three blokes and tell them you are going to be out a minimum of six to eight weeks is massive, it’s massive. It shows how we all want to do it for this crew,’’ said Stewart of being unable to paddle earlier this year while recovering from his second back surgery in as many years.
“No matter what has happened up to this point, we are going to give absolutely everything out there.’
“Come tomorrow, we will concentrate on the semi-final first, but come the final, look out I reckon.’’
The K4 crew finished second in their heat to book a spot in Saturday’s semi-final.
The crew said they have been inspired by the “Aussie grit” shown by their Olympic teammates in Tokyo.
“Lately we have been saying, let’s do it like an Aussie.’’ Fitzsimmons said
“Be like an Aussie, show them some good old Aussie grit.
“That’s what is motivating us at the moment.’’
Meanwhile, Gold Coast’s Bernadette Wallace helped make history by competing in the newly included C2 class.
Two days before her 32nd birthday, and with her kayak legend brother Ken watching on, Wallace and crewmate Josephine Bulmer raced the heats and quarter-finals of the C2 500m. The pair missed the cut for the semis but will now race in a B Final on Saturday.
“It’s the first time the C2 has been on at the Olympics and we are just trying to catch up with the rest of the world,” Wallace said.
“I feel we put in a really big fight today,’’ Wallace said.