FLOWSTATE Issue 1

SENIOR ATHLETE PROFILE
NAME:
CLUB:
DISCIPLINE:
AISLING CONLAN
WILD WATER KAYAK
CLUB
CANOE SLALOM
When did you start paddling?
I began paddling with the Malahide Sea
Scouts in 2005 and fell in love with
paddling on Malahide estuary and
completed my Canoeing Ireland level 2
course at the CI training centre under
Conor Ryan in 2006. I joined the CI
junior kayaking school every Saturday
morning during the winter to learn my
level 3 kayaking skills and was invited to
a CI junior trip to the French Alps summer
2007.
How did you get involved with Canoe
Slalom?
In preparation for my trip to the French
Alps in summer 2007 I joined Wild Water
Kayak Club, mainly for their rolling clinics
in St. Joseph’s pool on a Thursday night. I
was taught to roll by Eric Dowdall who
introduced me to Canoe Polo and
encouraged me to attend the U21 Ladies
training days, ultimately leading me to
being selected for the Irish U21 Ladies
team that travelled to the 2007
Europeans in Thurly-Harcourt, France.
During this time I joined the WWKC
Saturday night junior training in the pool
where I met Paul Donnelly, who has
remained a very close friend and mentor
to this day and I hope he’s still around to
teach my kids to paddle!!
As there was not going to be any U21
Ladies competition in the 2008 Canoe
Polo Worlds in Canada, I turned to Wild
Water Racing in the winter of 2008, while
still competing in DCPL and Munster
League for Polo. I was trained by Martin
McCarthy and was selected to represent
the Irish Junior team at the Junior
European Championships in Ivrea Italy
and the Jr Pre-World Champs in
Switzerland 2008. At the Jr Pre-Worlds
I won a Silver medal in the classic event
and won gold in the classic team event as
part of a France-Ireland team with two
French athletes.
In the winter of 2008-09 I began
paddling Canoe Slalom at WWKC with
Simon McGarry, Steve Quinn and Aidan
Rheinisch and made the Junior Slalom
team for the Jr Pre-Worlds in Foix, France
and Jr Europeans in Liptovsky Mikulas,
Slovakia in 2009. In the summer of 2009
I moved to Liptovsky for 9 weeks to be
trained by Michel Cibak, who coached
me from 2009 to 2013 at Junior, U23
and Senior level. During this time I moved
to Nottingham, UK 2010-13 for
University and spent my summers
training with Michel in Liptovsky. In 2014
I moved home to Ireland and began
working with former team mate, now
coach, Eoin Rheinisch.
What are your achievements to date?
• Representing Ireland
internationally in 3 disciplines from
2007 – U21 Canoe Polo, Jr WWR,
Jr/U23/Senior Canoe Slalom
• 2008 Jr Pre-Worlds Gold Medal
team classic and Silver medal
individual classic
• 2011 5th C1W U23 European
Championships, Banja Luka, Bosnia
• 2011 37th Olympic Test Event,
London, UK
• 2012 9th C1W U23 World
Championships, Wausau, USA
• 2015 30th K1W U23 World
Championships, Foz d’Igascu, Brazil
What are your interests outside of
Canoe Slalom?
Returning from shoulder injury in 2016 I
began Track Cycling with Sundrive Track
Team in Dublin and have attended
training camps and races in Anadia
(Portugal), Alkmaar (Netherlands),
Glasgow and London velodromes.
Sprinting down a velodrome at 42 degree
banking at top speed is an adrenaline
rush that I’ve never experienced! While
cycling isn’t the closest sport I could
have chosen for my cross-training, it
gives me the most enjoyment in
cat-and-mouse sprints, lunging for the
finishing line, rubbing shoulders and
digging elbows with my competitors at
top speeds.
I’m also a Leinster rugby supporter and
season ticket holder – if you ever want
me to attend a training or race day on
the weekends, I’ll normally check to
make sure it doesn’t clash with a rugby
match!
Which sporting athlete inspires
you the most and why?
Lolo Jones – USA Olympic hurdler and
bobsled. Lolo has overcome great
obstacles in her family life, financial
situation and adversity to compete at
two summer Olympics and one winter
Olympics. The highlight for me has been
Lolo picking herself up after falling at
the final hurdle at Bejing 2008
Olympics, metres from the gold medal
and then coming back next season and
smashing records. Her social media
accounts are incredibly honest,
inspiring, funny, and relatable and show
the real struggles athletes go through
during training – not filtered and edited
to portray an image she believes her
followers and sponsors want to see.
What is your current training schedule?
Balancing a full time job to fund my
training, going training, social life and
being a normal 25yr old is a real
struggle!
The majority of my training sessions are
done alone due to my unsocial training
schedule, which involves: 7am on the
water at WWKC before rushing to work,
lunchtime gym/watt bike sessions, 7pm
on the water after battling through rush
hour traffic to get to the club after work.
On Saturdays, I generally have a lie
in after a week of early starts,
coffee/brunch, head to Sundrive
velodrome or to Sluice. Sunday is family
day, maybe a spin on the road bikes with
my dad, watching other sports and
falling asleep in front of the tv.
What is the best coaching advice
you have received?
Once you’ve gone through a gate forget
about it. (I used to shake my head every
time I hit a gate as a junior…)
What are your future goals for you
and Canoe Slalom?
Pending selection to the Irish senior
team for 2018, I will this year focus on
the World Cups held in Europe and
racing in the UK Premier division. My
main goals for this year and the coming
seasons is to continue improving,
getting faster, breaking into regular
semi finals at World Cups and World
Championships. To represent Ireland at
an Olympic Games has been a lifelong
goal, but I know there is a lot I need to
improve upon before that dream can
become a reality.
How do you wind down after a solid
days training or competing?
Honestly, the first thing I do when I
come home is dump my wet gear bag on
the floor and collapse into the closest
armchair, sometimes still in sweaty gym
gear, scroll through social media before
having the energy to stand up, hang up
my gear, have a shower, make food and
watching tv/movies before bed.
I try to find the balance between
training and having a good social life. I
find it’s really important for my own
mental health and to get away from
sport, to meet with friends for coffee,
brunch or out for dinner (basically
eating).
If you could offer advice to young
aspiring Canoe Slalom
paddlers reading
this, what would
you tell them?
Just enjoy
paddling and
spending time
on the water
with your
friends!
And stay
safe!!
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