Over the Christmas period, the News’ sports team will be re-sharing some of the most popular stories from over the course of 2024.
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Narre Warren South kayaker Bradley Buissink represented Australia at the under-18s marathon kayaking world championships in Metkovic, Croatia, in September.
The 17-year-old spent 10 days in Europe competing against kayakers his age and a year older, coming 27th out of 37 in the K1 singles and 17th out of 23 in the K1 doubles.
It was Buissink’s first time competing on the international stage and he is setting himself for a better finish next year, when he will be among the oldest competitors in age-capped field.
“It was a great experience to see how I compared to all the other countries around the world and it was an eye opener to how much I can improve and how much I will improve,” Buissink said.
“I got to learn new techniques and methods throughout the racing.
“There were a few mechanical issues throughout the races but considering all that I think the results were pretty good.
“I’m confident I can build up enough endurance and strength to be very competitive with the top guys next year.”
Buissink took up kayaking at the age of eight after watching his Dad take out the esteemed massive Murray Paddle, an annual kayaking event held on the Murray River.
Three years later, Bradley become the youngest competitor in history to complete the event, where racers paddle 400kms across five days.
It followed three years of training thrice per week, and since 2019, his training load has doubled as he’s looked to take his sport to the next level.
“I have to do much more refined exercises; I do a different variation of the bench press called the forward press.; there are more explosive moments,” he said.
“Another big one is a bench pull; the opposite of a bench press (which I do) as explosively as possible, and a lot of running to keep my cardio fitness up.”
Buissink started his journey at Patterson Lakes Canoe Club before transferring to Fairfield Canoe Club, which have supported him more recently as he has trained up to six times per week.
While Buissink’s specialty has been in longer-distance racing, with the marathon world championships raced across more than 20km, he is transitioning to Kayak Sprinting – an Olympic event.
Competing at the kayak sprinting under-18s national championships this year in Penrith, he finished in the middle of the field, but was the highest finisher among the 2007-born paddlers, positioning him well for a podium finish next year.
“My primary focus is to work on sprint as much as possible,” Buissink said.
“My goal is to try and make it to the 2032 Olympics.
“It will give me enough time to mature age-wise and strengthen my body to my peak and it’s a home Olympics.”
