Olympic hopefuls all in the `same boat,' says kayaker Schmidt
It's the immediate concerns that help take Maddy Schmidt's mind off the long-term ones.
“We have to see if we have to be on the water with 20 layers on,” said Schmidt, the Canadian Olympic kayak hopeful from Ottawa who is currently working out in Shawnigan Lake, B.C., a 45-minute drive north of Victoria.
“We're talking to other people who live and train here. They've been saying the lake doesn't usually freeze over, or if it does, maybe it's just on the edges. We're asking `how crazy does it get?'”
In any other year, Canada's top kayakers would be making like the birds, heading south and setting up shop in sunny Florida for the next few months. For now, though, Vancouver Island is the best option.
Schmidt, 25, was training in Cape Canaveral, Fla., in March when the arrival of COVID-19 chased Canada's kayak and canoe hopefuls home in a hurry.
COVID-19 also wiped out the Olympic trials, scheduled for Gainesville, Ga., last April, where Schmidt was hoping to qualify for Canada's squad for the first time.
Ultimately, Canada boycotted the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, followed soon after by the International Olympic Committee decision to officially postpone the Games.
At the time, Schmidt adopted a healthy attitude about the situation, seeing the big picture in the early days of the pandemic.
“It's a luxurious problem to have,” she said then. “Not being able to compete when people are dying and people are losing their jobs … I'm grateful for what I have. As a world, we've just got to get through this and stay isolated from each other.”
Fast forward eight months and there's now cautious optimism from Olympic officials that the Games will be able to go on — with or without spectators — from July 23 to Aug. 8, but a thousand questions are in the air for the potential Olympians themselves.
“I hope they happen and there has been more positive news about a vaccine,” Schmidt said. “Maybe the athletes are able to get the vaccine in order to go to the Olympics? And then there's a logistical question of how you would do that?
“Would it be an Olympics without spectators, with athletes isolated? Last year, Canada pulled out before everyone else. It's hard to know if it will be safe to go. If it's not (safe) and (Canada doesn't go), that's probably a good call for humanity.”
With the world still in a state of flux, everyone needs to be flexible to juggle their plans and schedules based on ever-changing health conditions in their communities. The potential Olympians are no different, of course, ready to move and act if need be.
While Canada has secured four Olympic spots in women's kayak, nobody has made the team yet. How and when will the positions on the team be determined?
It's also possible an additional two spots could be secured at a continental qualifying event in Brazil in April, but that, too, is subject to cancellation due to COVID-19.
With all that in the air, how does one stay motivated to paddle through the water — and maybe even the ice — with so many unknowns?
“Those are excellent questions,” Schmidt said. “You do what you have to do and you try not to think about it too much because there are too many possibilities. But at the same time, I generally just enjoy training. I enjoy each practice. We're all in the same boat.”
There's some kayak humour in there.
Schmidt hasn't been idle, that's for sure, going coast to coast within Canada.
After returning from the U.S. in March, she isolated for a couple of weeks in southern Ontario with her boyfriend, Simon McTavish, who is also bidding to make the Canadian squad.
Schmidt came home to Ottawa for six weeks, paddling “as much as I could” while building a makeshift gym for weight training. From there, Schmidt and McTavish trained in Mississauga, building another gym for off-water workouts.
There was also a summer training camp in Halifax, which served as an ideal locale because it was part of the Atlantic bubble.
Always active on social media, the colourful Schmidt has documented her past year with a vlog-style diary that is available on YouTube.
If there has been any advantage in the whirlwind of travel and training, it's that Schmidt has been able to continue her schooling.
A kinesiology student at Halifax's Dalhousie University, she is taking two online courses while training in B.C.
The way she looks at her world right now, the water is half full.
“We're lucky we're in an outdoor sport,” she said. “We're unlucky that we live in Canada with the winter.”