National marathon champion Hamish Lovemore has set his sights on the ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Portugal that get under way this week after spending almost two months in Europe training and preparing with elite marathon racers in Denmark and Portugal, and sharpening his sprint skills at the Under 23 sprint world championships in Hungary.
With the marathon world title deciders getting under way in Ponte de Lima on 29 September, Lovemore is looking forward to reconnecting with his South African team mates after a lengthy stay in Europe to prepare for the two events that he will be racing.
“It’s been a really long trip,” he said from Portugal. “I am going into my seventh week now, and I am looking forward to seeing familiar faces and good friends. It has been quite a hard couple of weeks.”
The European campaign started with Lovemore partnering Clint Cook in the famous Sella Descent in Spain, from where he moved to Silkeborg in Denmark where he settled into a training group with Danish marathoners like Thorbjørn Rask , Nikolai Thomsen and Søren Maretti, who hosted Lovemore at his home for three weeks.
“They have got arguably one of the strongest marathon squads at the moment as well as some really good sprinters,” said Lovemore.
From Denmark Lovemore travelled to the Hungarian paddling mecca of Szeged where he took part in the Under 23 sprint world championships.
“I managed to crack an A final in the 1000m K1 which was a pleasant surprise to me,” said Lovemore, adding that his priority was always going to be the 5000m race.
“The 5000m final didn’t got according to plan and I made a mistake missing a buoy on one of the turns and had to turn back,” recalls Lovemore. “All things considered I was happy to come away with a third in the end.
Rask’s sportsmanship was a talking point of the event as he slowed down the pace of the front group to give Lovemore a fair chance to catch up after he was forced to turn back after missing the buoy.
“I could have easily gone harder,” said Rask after taking the gold medal. “We have trained together for the last three weeks, so I thought we must have a fair race and it would be fun if he could get back.”
Lovemore was happy to get onto the podium, and said that the mishap now served as extra motivation for his Under 23 K1 marathon world championship plans.
“I was hoping for a win but if anything it has fired me up for the main event, which is the marathon worlds. That’s the reason for this trip and all this training,” he said.
“I feel like I am in really good shape and the training has all been great,” he added. “It is important to try and limit the mistakes that come with marathon racing.”
The final leg of his European training campaign took him to Portugal, where he has been training on the world championship course with the current world champion José Ramalho.
“Training with him and getting time on the course has really given me confidence,” said the Euro Steel racer.
Lovemore says that, despite making a big new network of friends through his training campaign, he knows that friendships and loyalties will have to be put aside when the Under 23 K1 and senior K2 racing gets under way this week.
“We have all become good mates but racing is racing and it will be down to business,” said Lovemore. “I will be racing Nikolai (Thomsen) In the Under 23s, as well as Ronan Foley from Ireland who trained with us in Denmark. We will do our thing on the water and will be good mates off the water.”
ICF CANOE MARATHON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
PONTE DE LIMA PORTUGAL
MASTERS CUP PROGRAMME
Monday 26 September
9:00 K1 Men 65-69
9:05 K1 Men 70-74
9:05 K1 Men 75+
9:10 K1 Women 65-69
9:10 C1 Men 60-64
9:10 C1 Men 65-69
11:000 K1 Men 35-39
11:05 K1 Men 55-59
11:10 C1 Men 35-39
11:10 C1 Men 40-44
11:10 C1 Men 45-49
11:10 C1 Women 45-49
11:10 C1 Men 50-54
11:10 C1 Women 50-54
11:10 C1 Men 55-59
13:30 K1 Men 45-49
13:35 K1 Men 60-64
13:40 K1 Women 35-39
13:40 K1 Women 40-44
13:400 K1 Women 45-49
16:00 K1 Men 40-44
16:05 K1 Men 50-54
16:10 K1 Women 50-54
16:10 K1 Women 55-59
16:10 K1 Women 60-64
Tuesday 27 September
9:00 K2 Men 65-69
9:00 K2 Men 70-74
9:00 K2 Men 75+
11:00 K2 Men 35-39
11:05 K2 Men 40-44
13:30 K2 Men 45-49
13:30 K2 Men 50-54
13:35 K2 Men 55-59
13:35 K2 Men 60-64
13:40 K2 Women 35-39
13:400 K2 Women 40-44
13:40 K2 Women 45-49
13:40 K2 Women 50-54
13:40 K2 Women 55-59
13:45 C2 Men 35-39
13:45 C2 Men 40-44
13:45 C2 Men 45-49
13:45 C2 Men 50-54
13:45 C2 Men 55-59
16:00 K2 Open 35+
16:05 K2 Mix 35-49
16:10 K2 Mix 50+
ICF CANOE MARATHON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Thursday 29 September
9:00 K1 Junior Women
9:05 C1 Junior Women
11:00 K1 Women – Short Race Heat 1
11:25 K1 Women – Short Race Heat 2
11:50 K1 Men – Short Race Heat 1
12:15 K1 Men – Short Race Heat 2
14:00 C1 Junior Men
16:15 C1 Women – Short Race Final
16:45 C1 Men – Short Race Final
17:15 K1 Women – Short Race Final
17:45 K1 Men – Short Race Final
Friday 30 September
9:00 K2 Junior Women
9:05 C1 Under 23 Men
14:30 K1 Under 23 Women
14:35 C2 Junior Men
16:30 K1 Under 23 Men
Saturday 1 October
9:00 K1 Junior Men
9:05 C1 Women
11:15 C1 Men
13:45 K1 Women
16:15K1 Men
Sunday 2 October
8:50 K2 Junior Men
8:55 C2 Men
11:15 K2 Women
14:00 K2 Men