Deb wants to give her all in races Kerr aims for qualification, but also progress
Motherwell’s Deborah Kerr aims to qualify for either the World or European Under-23 rowing championships – but admits she just wants to give her all in Nottingham this weekend.
Qualification for the World Championships in Minsk, Belarus, or the European Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria is on the line during the Under-23 National Championships in Nottingham on June 4 and 5, and Kerr expects tough competition for the places.
However, the 18-year-old, who narrowly missed out on a semifinal place at a World Cup event in Germany last week, says measuring her progress is also important, and is learning all the time from rowers that she has idolised in the past.
Deborah, who will race in K1 200m and 500m, said: “It’s a national championships this weekend so I want to win as many medals as I possibly can, but it’s also a selection race for the World Championships and the European Championships, so it’s quite a big competition.
“I need to qualify, so I need to win. I’d be happy to be selected for either of the championships, but the target is the Worlds, so I’ll be working hard in training all this weekend, but I’ll be focusing on the process rather than the outcome, and I’ll do my best to be selected.
“It’s a good way to gauge where I am; the women at the top are getting faster and faster, so that does give me a target over the next four years and it has been a real eye-opener.
“It has also been a bit surreal, lining up next to my idols, people that I really look up to in the sport, and I’ve taken things back for training, so see what works.
“Everyone’s different, so different things will work for them, but it’s good to be able to take that back.
“In Nottingham I want to qualify, but if I can do the best I can, I can only be happy with that and see what happens.”
Although Deborah was disappointed to lose out on a semi-final berth in Duisburg, by 0.488 seconds over 500m, she was able to take positives from the competition.
“The World Cup was probably the hardest of the three World Cups there is, because everyone was there, so it was quite tough.
“Under-23 is quite a step up from juniors, it’s tough, and I’m not expecting anything less than a really hard race this weekend.
“At the World Cup I wanted to have a really good race for myself, and I was happy with what I did.”