2018
For the second time I was allowed to go to Olympic Hopes with the Dutch selection, this year in Poznan, Poland.
I improved my personal record (PR) on the 200m K1 there! For the first time I managed this distance in under 50 seconds.
I also achieved a good result in the 1000m K1.
At the beginning of 2018, the national coach announced that the Irish canoeing champion Jenny Egan (3rd K1 5000m World Cup 2018) was offering her canoe for sale and that it would be perfect for me.
Together with my parents I raised the money for it. The canoe was then transported via-via from Ireland to England and then to Leiden. A few weeks later I was able to pick up my canoe in Leiden and take it back to Groningen.
In the following weeks I trained very often in my new canoe, also with the Focus Groups, to be well prepared for the coming canoe competition season.
During the international canoeing competitions in Essen, Germany, I reached the finals three times. In the K1 on the 1000 meters, in the K2 on the 500 meters and in the K4 on the 500 meters.
We came third in the last class.
I started the Youth Regatta in Zaandam with great enthusiasm, where I won a gold medal in the 500 meters together with Thura in the K2.
But soon my body started to protest and that resulted in a shoulder injury, which prevented me from participating in many canoeing competitions.
For me, the first part of 2018 was all about recovering from a shoulder injury.
Through a lot of physiotherapy, regular taping of my shoulder and doing exercises, I managed to regain the strength in my shoulders.
I did try to sail a few canoeing competitions this year, just to be able to sail, not to win.
At the Dutch Canoe Sprint Championships on the Bosbaan in Amstelveen/Amsterdam, despite my shoulder injury, I participated in a K1 three times on the 200, 500 and 1000 meters.
I was 4th twice and 5th once, results I could be proud of.