Klauss (r) and Péché
It’s not often that canoeing appears in the Pink ‘Un, but the Financial Times has done the sport a credit this week with a decent article on how some paddlers apply the principles of management with their training programmes. The article is well worth a read.
The FT reports how Matthieu Péché and Gauthier Klauss have applied their studies about project management and teamwork to their bid for an Olympic canoeing medal in London shortly.
The men are studying for a Masters in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and are also racing for France in the slalom C2 event in Lee Valley.
It turns out that academics at a French management school, ESC Pau, have helped the canoeists by moving the course to fit their training regimes. (The pair actually chose Pau because it is home to the leading French whitewater course. Pau is also the home course of French double gold medal slalom paddler Tony Estanguet – about whom more can be found on the Royal website here).
In the run-up to the Olympics Mr Péché and Mr Klauss, who came second in the Canoe Slalom World Cup in 2011, have been training at Lee Valley for some time
“We aren’t going to the Olympics just to take part,” Mr Péché told the FT. “We are going for gold.”
Perhaps the French C2 crew’s toughest opponents will be the Czech Hochschorner brothers who are defending Olympic champions. Britain’s also got a C2 in the slalom and is hoping for great things…….let’s see what happens!
(Picture credit: FFCK [French Canoe Kayak Federation])
(There’s a pretty good picture of the French in action here).
