For kayaker Mark de Jonge, the 2016 Olympic Games boils down to this simple equation: “Nineteen years of work for 34 seconds of racing.”
The two-time and defending world champion from Calgary laughs a little, after he puts it that way. “It can be a little daunting,” he says.
Yes, just a little.
Sportsnet recently caught up with the world record holder in kayaking’s 200-metre race (33.818 seconds), boating’s version of the 100-metre sprint on land. The 32-year-old de Jonge, who is the favourite to win in Rio, talked about pressure, training, and how his engineering degree helps on the water.
How much pain do you endure in a 200-metre kayak race?
It’s over before you know it, but it’s still pretty painful. It’s about 34 or 35 seconds long, so there’s not really any room for error. If you slip up one little stroke you can go from winning the race to coming dead last. Everything is very precise and has to go off with out a hitch.
You have to be perfect.
Yeah. And you have to really be able to bring it intensity-wise. You’re exploding out of the gate and getting up to top speed. The second half of the race you’re really just hanging on. There’s no pacing at all.
How do the last 50 metres feel?
Like your brain is telling your body to keep pushing but your body just isn’t doing what you’re asking it to. [Laughs.] Things are starting to shut down. It can be a little nerve-racking when people start to close in on you in the final metres. But the good thing is that it’s happening to everyone. You’re just trying to degrade less, I guess. [Laughs.]
Are you keeping track of where other boats are?
You definitely have the blinders on. If you get distracted for a short moment in a 200 it’s pretty easy to mess things up. My goal is to focus on what I’m doing. You can see people in your periphery, though, and that really puts the pressure on. It adds a bit of intensity, but you try to imagine that you’re by yourself out there.
How different are you from four years ago, when you won Olympic bronze?
I’m four years more experienced and I have four more years of training under my belt. I’m slightly stronger, slightly faster—a little bit better in most ways.
What are your workouts like?
We focus on explosive bursts of energy. We’ll do all different types of training, but a lot of it is focused on really high intensity and a lot of rest. We can do a three-hour workout and only have paddled one kilometre total, but we’d be doing it 50 metres at a time, for example.
What’s your mindset like before the race?
I’m trying to relax. It’s pretty easy to get anxious on race day, so you’re constantly trying to keep those feelings at bay. I do that by being calm and chatting with people. Then I’ll get in my boat and run through a pretty detailed warm-up, and eventually it’s time to turn it on. That’s when I start thinking about my race and really focus on the strokes I need to take from start to finish.
You’re an engineer. Does that help on the water?
Overall, it’s allowed me to be more analytical in everything I do. I’m looking at my paddle and my boat and approaching my race with a bit more of an analytical attitude—looking at racing data to see where we can find little gains here and there. That’s been really exciting for me the last few years.
How do you wrap your head around trying to do justice to all your hard work and training in just 34 seconds?
It’s a very interesting concept. But I get a thrill having that kind of pressure. I think you get used to having that adrenalin on race day. Even though you hate it in the moment and you feel butterflies in your stomach, after the fact you look back and you realize that was pretty awesome.
K-1 200-metre heats and semifinals take place Aug. 19
