Imagine you are a world-class athlete. You have dedicated every hour of the
day to honing your skills in your chosen discipline: sacrificed family and
friends and sweated blood and tears to reach the top. Then one day you find
you can’t do it any more. Your body won’t let you.
That is what happened to Anna Hemmings, Britain’s most successful female
canoeist, who was struck down five years ago by a mysterious illness that
had doctors scratching their heads while she contemplated the possibility of
never picking up a paddle again.
“My muscles ached and when I could get to sleep I often had to stay in bed for
14 hours at a time,” she says. “I was so tired I couldn’t even wash my hair.
I was scared; I thought I would be trapped like that for ever.”
Today Hemmings is once again back on the water and is world champion at the
individual marathon canoeing event. She won the title for the sixth time in
2007 and competed in the Bei-jing Olympics although she missed out on the
medal bonanza. But for her, just competing again was victory enough.
Competitive canoeing is different from a relaxing paddle on the Norfolk
Broads. It is divided into several different events. The best known are
probably sprint racing, where competitors race ultra-sleek canoes on flat
water over distances of 200, 500 and 1,000 metres, and slalom canoeing where
they negotiate various gates while paddling on fast-flowing, white water.
However, arguably the toughest event is the canoe marathon, which Hemmings
competes in. Over a distance of 18 miles it requires not only upper body
strength but superb stamina and all-round fitness. As well as paddling,
competitors must get out of the water at various stages and run with their
canoe for short distances. “It goes back to the early marathon races when
there wasn’t a stretch of river long enough for events,” Hemmings says. “It
meant competitors had to get out of their kayaks to run around a lock gate
and then get back on the water again. It’s not easy running with a [16ft]
canoe on your shoulder.”
Hemmings started canoeing as an eight-year-old when her mother spotted an ad
in a local paper for a youngster to try the sport. She joined her local club –
the Elmbridge canoe club in Wey-bridge, Surrey – of which she is still
a member, and quickly began to excel. “I just loved it, being on the water.
It was just fun as a kid, I guess, and I was good at it – pretty quick.
And I enjoyed competing and racing and winning races. I got a buzz out if
it.”
In 1999, aged 23, Hemmings was on top of the world: she became the first
British woman to win the marathon world title and the following year made it
to the semi-finals of the 500m sprint at the Sydney Olympics. Then in 2001
she went one better at the world championships, taking gold in both the K1
(singles) and K2 (doubles) classes.
With her superfit paddling making waves around the canoeing world, Hemmings
secured a new sponsorship deal and was looking forward to her next
championships and the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Then things began to go wrong. In the summer of 2003 she was finding it harder
and harder to exercise. “I just didn’t feel like I had enough energy to race
any more. At first the doctors thought I was training too much but it felt
different to that. I was used to exercising up to 18 hours a week but I
could barely canoe at walking pace for 20 minutes.
“I was diagnosed wrongly at first and then finally I was told I had chronic
fatigue syndrome, or CFS. It’s quite a mysterious illness and the doctors
said there was no real cure.”
Overnight Hemmings disappeared from the competition circuit. “What many people
didn’t know is that I barely had the energy to get up in the morning. I was
advised by doctors to go home and rest. Nobody knew how long for – it
could have been a life sentence.”
In all she was out of action for two years, hardly able to walk to the shops
let along race a canoe, but she says she was committed to making a comeback.
“Canoeing was my life and I was determined to carry on. Even when my body
gave up on me, my mind wanted to get back on the water.”
In 2005 she felt sufficiently strong to begin light training. “The first thing
I did was go running. In January I started with 15 minutes, then 20, then
25, and then after two months I went on to the water, starting with 15
minutes and building up in five-minute increments.
“It wasn’t hard physically at first. Although there were setbacks, it was more
of a mental challenge, the fear of it all coming back or not being able to
do it. The challenge was more mental than physical.” Even so, getting back
to peak condition was particularly demanding. Hemmings is not the tallest of
athletes, but has a physique many body builders would be proud of. “My
power-to-weight ratio is vital because any extra fat only makes the boat
heavier. You don’t have weight categories in this sport so you can build up
bulk and muscle without worrying too much.”
Stamina is also important. “A 100m runner has to keep going for about 12
seconds but we need to be able to maintain strength and speed for longer.”
By May 2005 she had returned to full training. She went on to win gold at
national, European and world levels within a matter of months, plus the
champions award at the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year finals.
She doesn’t know what caused the onset of CFS, but suspects that her punishing
training schedule may have been partly to blame. CFS often affects
high-achievers who put themselves under constant stress. “The triggers for
each sufferer are different but I urgently needed to find some balance in my
life. I was training too hard and focusing completely on one goal, canoeing.
When I accepted I had to make changes to my life, things started to improve.”
Her life is set to become even more balanced: later this month she is marrying
her fiancé, Neil Templeton, a marketing director for a City law firm.
First she has some “antitraining” to do. “If I had a choice I’d choose not to
be hugely muscly, but that’s the way I have to be for my sport,” she says.
“I’ve got about four weeks to tone it down a bit before the wedding.”
THE REGIME
THE DIET We need a good balance of protein and carbohydrates to build
muscle and give us energy. I also eat “good fats” such as avocados and nuts.
When we’re in a training centre it’s easy because food is provided for all
the athletes staying there, but when I’m at home I have to make an effort to
eat healthily. I have carbohydrate drinks, energy bars and protein powders
as well to help keep my weight up when I am training because I am burning so
many calories, and I tend to graze between meals snacking on raisins and
smoothies.
IN THE GYM Over the past couple of years I have really focused on my
strength. You need to be as strong and light as possible. We do sit-ups -
maybe 1,000 a week - bench presses and circuits. We aim to use the back and
torso muscles, rather than arm muscles, to drive the paddle. The arms are
more of a lever to operate the paddle. Training depends on the season: in
the summer we run three miles maybe twice a week. But in the winter we run
three times a week and swim three times a week. We do more weight training
as well.
ON THE WATER From February when the weather begins to improve we spend
90% of the time on the water and just fit in a couple of gym sessions each
week. We do speed training and endurance training. Speed training is short
bursts of speed over 150 metres and takes about 30 seconds to one minute of
hard paddling. Endurance work covers longer distances with fewer breaks.
Each session - whether in the gym or on the water - lasts 90 minutes and is
done twice a day.
ANNA’S GUIDE TO GETTING PERFECT ABS
After illness put her out of action for two years, Hemmings needed focus and
determination to get back to peak fitness: “Mental strength is the most
important thing”
- Marathon canoeing demands stamina as well as pace. Hemmings goes running,
circuit training and swimming to build cardiovascular fitness
- Taller athletes with long arms have an advantage when paddling but at 5ft
6in Hemmings must build strength with bench presses and weights
The core muscles around the abdomen are the most important. Hemmings will do
an average of 1,000 sit-ups per week to improve stability and power while
paddling
It is not arm strength that is most important to top canoeists. “In fact, we
try to use the bigger muscles on our back and our trunk. These are the
muscles which also help you to hold your posture straight in the canoe,”
says Hemmings. For noncanoeists this regime has the added benefit of
producing a great six-pack.
SIT-UPS To increase effectiveness, you can lock your hands behind your
head and twist your upper body so your left elbow touches your right knee as
you sit up. Repeat with the right elbow touching the left knee
ROTATIONS Sit on a bench and hold a 10kg weight to your chest. Twist
the upper body to one side as far as you can go then return to the centre
and twist to the other side. Repeat for one minute. Hemmings does 120 in
that time
LEG RAISERS Hang with both hands from a chin-up bar then raise your
knees to 90 degrees and bring them back down. Repeat 15 to 20 times before a
break. “It’s a lot harder than it sounds,” says Hemmings
KIT BAG
PERCEPTION ACADIA KAYAK £399 from www.perception.co.uk
“Technically speaking, in a canoe you kneel and use a one-bladed paddle,”
says Jason Smith, editor of Canoe & Kayak magazine. “If you sit down and
use a double-ended paddle, that’s a kayak. These terms are, however, used
interchangeably in the UK.” This versatile kayak, one of the most stable on
the market, is a great choice for recreational paddling, from sea-touring to
fast-flowing rivers.
PALM EASY CLASSIC BUOYANCY AID £50 from www.palmequipmenteurope.com
The most important item of kayaking kit is a buoyancy aid. For beginners
these can be rented: check for a label confirming it has the European Union
minimum of 50 newtons of buoyancy. If you are going to be taking the sport
seriously, buy your own. This Palm model is a good, basic zip-up design that
is easy to adjust, comfortable and has reflective strips on the shoulders.
AINSWORTH N100 PADDLE £59 from www.ainsworthpaddles.net
A good paddle should have a thin, light shaft but be strong enough not to
bend under pressure. A decent model costs from about £40 but it’s worth
pushing the boat out a bit further for this one, designed to make a novice’s
life easier.
