Paddle and persevere
Laughing in the face of the idea that brains and brawn are mutually exclusive, Bachelor of Biomedical Science student Dory Kemp recently competed for New Zealand in the 2023 Canoe-Kayak Marathon World Championships in Denmark.
Originally from Canada, Dory moved to New Zealand with her family in 2009. After joining the Pirates swim team in Karori, Dory first dipped her toes into kayaking eight years later, as part of her training for Surf Lifesaving. She fell in love with the sport, and it has been non-stop for her ever since.
At the recent World Championships in Denmark, Dory raced in two events: the 3.5 km Open Women’s Short Course, and the 22.8 km Under-23 Women’s Long Course. Marathon racing is a true test of endurance, strategy, and strength—participants must paddle 22.8 km around a lake, interspersed with ‘portages’—stretches where competitors get out of their boat and sprint over land to begin another lap, carrying their kayak at the same time.
Dory did admirably in the competition, placing 15th in the Open Short Course final and 11th in the Under 23 Women’s Long Course. Although she is proud of these achievements, especially since this was only her fourth time kayaking a marathon, she says placings aren’t her focus.
“For me, sport is about the puzzle. My focus is getting experience in races, learning racing skills and seeing what I can improve on each time. It’s a game I love playing––hunting down the next work-on and figuring out how to conquer it.”
One of Dory’s biggest takeaways from her time in Denmark was the experience of being in a big racing pack. Although Dory’s home club, the Mana Kayak Club, boasts a strong group of athletes, they participate in many different disciplines. This means that Dory doesn’t often get opportunities to kayak marathon length events. In Denmark, Dory says she was able to learn how to find her position in a group and strategise race movements on the water. She’s excited to see what another year of training and competing can bring.
Despite her success in the sport, it hasn’t all been smooth paddling.
“This year, my coach Mark Watson and I have been working hard on my racing mindset––particularly in being able to give every race my all, without overthinking or psyching myself out when a particular race means a lot.
“There’s a real crossover with academia. It’s like giving a speech to your class versus going overseas to present your research paper, or doing practice experiments, then using really expensive materials in an experiment you only have one shot at. It can feel like an all-or-nothing moment, but you can’t let that change your approach.”
Dory has found that changing her perspective has been a big help. Rather than thinking about outdoing the other competitors, she looks at a race as a puzzle to be figured out. This is also one of the things she has enjoyed the most about studying science.
“I love research, and I love the puzzle of getting to the root of something. I want to make an impact and figure things out.”
She has loved her time at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, especially the flexibility to complete her degree in a way that suits her lifestyle and doesn't compromise her sporting career. Dory has been studying part time alongside her kayaking training and says this works perfectly for her.
“The University Rec Centre has been an amazing support in helping me juggle my dual career paths and it’s also been incredible to get such avid support from the biomedical teaching body. I’ve kind of thought of myself as doing a double degree with kayaking.”
She says both kayaking and studying science require perseverance, mental strength, and a strong motivation towards an end goal. The biggest lesson she’s learnt in kayaking—and in her studies—is the importance of trying again when things don’t quite go your way.
“Sometimes a day goes better than others, and sometimes you feel you’re back at square one. It’s really easy to get unmotivated, but you have to do the same thing you do in science and research, which is to go back to your reason why.
“For me in sport, I’m doing it because I love being out on the water and I love pushing my body to see what I can do. At the end of the day, as long as I’m doing that, it’s all good. It’s the same thing with researching—at the end of the day I’m just trying things to find a solution or work around a problem, and everything you try is one failure away from success.”