My life on the Kayak

WEll . . IT’s winter. . the days are short. . work is f****** hard and what shall we do??? TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN!!! In a whim summer will be here and more importantly the world champs in POZNAN!!! Until then it’s some bad ass training as this year I’m also competing in a K2 racing boat with my training partner Matthew Schembri!!

Talk soon!!

Yesterday we had the MOC Sports awards. The discipline of Canoe Sprint was for the first time included in these awards and i together with my girlfriend were both nominated and both won the Bronze award!

It was great to catch up with some of my great friends from Triathlon, sailing and also had the honor to meet with the Maltese world Power boatP! Champion Aaron Ciantar!!

Looking forward to another hard year of training on the water resulting in even greater success!!!

Sorry for the very very very long time to update my blog!!

The med games came along and went past like a dream. . And what a dream it was!! I managed to qualify in both the 500m and the 1000m Final B and placed 7th and 4th respectively.

I managed to set new national records on both distances as well - 500m -1:50 and 1000m 3:58!!!

The med games were such an experience to me because i earned respect of fellow competitors and likewise from Greece, Turkey, Montenegro, Siria and more!! It was so great and i look forward to meet them all again in the future!!!

The med games are coming up SOOOOOONNNN and i shall be leaving on Monday the 29^th. . . I’m finally reaching the end of my journey and believe me it’s gonna be a sprint finish!!!! Training for the med games has taught me so much about myself. . . True, we’re amateurs but even though we have no income from the sport, I’ve made a lot of friendships and strengthened the ones i already had!!! That is truly priceless!!!

My races are going to be on the 3^rd (1000m) and 4^th July (500m) . . . This shall be the first ever participation of Malta in kayaking races at the games. . . . Totally excited and honoured to give my best and represent my country in the best possible way!!

Finally a big thanks for all the support that i had from my Family, the Maltese Olympic Committee, The Malta Canoe Federation, My Girlfriend Nicola Borg Costanzi, My training Partner Matthew Schembri and all the other members of the Malta Canoe Racing Club.

English Version

Two kayakers – Albert Gambina and Dorian Vassallo last Saturday 30 May set a new time for paddling around Malta in a doubles or K2 kayak.  The distance of 42 nautical miles was accomplished in 9 hours and 36 minutes on a north-about route paddled in their VKV Anita K2 kayak. 

The round Malta paddle was preparation for crossing the Malta Channel, an event  planned for the 19  June.  This Pozzallo to Valletta challenge together with the circumnavigation of the Maltese archipelago held last April, are part of the Kayak for Cancer events, whose aim is to raise funds for the Malta Cancer Foundation.

The Gambina/Vassallo team would like to thank their sponsors VKV and Sullivan Maritime Ltd as well as the VTS section of the Malta Maritime Authority for their assistance.

Maltese Version

Is-Sibt li għadda 30 ta’ Mejju, f’kayak ta’ bit-tnejn jew K2, iż-żewġ qaddiefa  Albert Gambina u Dorian Vassallo qadfu madwar Malta f’ħin rekord għal din it-tip ta’ kayak.  Damu 9 siegħat u 36 minuta biex qadfu id-distanza ta’ 42 mil nawtiku bil-kayak VKV Anita K2.  It-tluq u l-wasla kienu min Marsamaxett b’rotta li ħadithom f’direzzjoni kontra l-arloġġ. 

Din il-qadfa kienet tħejjija għal 19 ta’ Ġunju meta hu maħsub li ssir dik bejn Pozzallo f’Sqallija u l-Port il-Kbir.  Din l-isfida, flimkien mal-qadfa madwar il-Gżejjer Maltin li saret f’April, huma parti mill-attivitajiet tal- “Kayak for Cancer” li għandhom l-għan li jinġabru fondi għal-Malta Cancer Foundation.

It-tim Gambina/Vassallo jixtiequ jirringrazzjaw is-sponsors tagħhom VKV u Sullivan Maritime kif ukoll is-sezzjoni tal-VTS fi ħdan l-Awtorita Marittima.

What a day. . . we’re somewhere lost in Porto. . . the gps is having the time of its life making fun of us and seein the expression on our faces trying to find our way to the nelo showroom in Vila do Conde. . . Suddenly it came back to life and after only 4 hrs of driving we saw the light!!!

The Mecca of kayak production!!! This place is neatly situation on the riverside in Villa Do Conde. . .From there we were escorted to the NELO Factory and finally the moment arrived!!! I just could not contain myself. . I was like a child on christmas morning!! Seein all those craftsmen preparing and finishing kayaks, and andre’ running amidst everyone as if he was directing an orchestra!!!

This place was simply amazing and seeing how the boats are made every step of the way was very intriguing!!!

An experience which i will never forget!! A big thanks goes to the nelo staff who were extremely busy but who also made the time for us and showed us around!!!

As in all modern sports, kayaking entails very high tech equipment and choosing the right equipment may prove to be just as hard as the sessions which we do on the water and in the gym day in day out!!!!

My choice of equipment for this year’s season is complete!! I’m opting for a Vanquish 3 XXL and as a paddle i’m gonna be using a bracsa 4 Max. Thanks to Nelo, They’re shipping me over a model which i’m gonna train with till the games!!! It’s a mighty boat and by far the most comfortable i’ve used in racing!!! Being quite a big guy, finding a comfortable boat is hard to find and surely this one is the best i’ve felt in so far!!!

Paddlewise, i’ve trained with a bracsa 1 in winter. Since we train in the sea, i wanted to emulate freshwater conditions so i used a bigger paddle to feel that little extra resistance in the water. On the training camp i’ve switched to a bracsa 4. . The hard sessions i’ve put in in winter just did the trick!!! Not feeling much of a difference when paddling in fresh water now and i in the words of my great coach Tibor Virag (2 time world marathon champion) - ‘ I’m Beating the Water!!!’

Now it all boils down to man power and keeping my cool!!!

This morning i started the day with a relaxing 12km paddle, working solely on technique. . . It was really nice!! Just paddling and enjoying the scenery!!! Was pondering. . . AM I IN KAYAK HEAVEN???? Simply the best way to start the day!!! Following the paddle i had a 30 minute run!! Again . . . The scenery is breathtaking and i simply lost track of time. . . I only looked at my watch cause my stomach grumbled, when i realised it was 10am and i didn’t have breakfast yet!!! Had just 30minutes to head back to the hotel, shower and create mayhem in the dining area!!! Right, arrived at the hotel, showered (At least i bothered to!!. . hehe) and rushed down for breakfast!!! It was 1025. . . had 5 minutes to devour whatever gets in my way. . .Well i managed to pack it in with 3 baguettes, 8 eggs, a bowl of fruit, 2 croissants with cherry jam, 1 cup of coffee and 2 glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice!!! You know what they say about breakfast being the most important meal of the day. . .Bulls***!!! To me, all 6 meals are important :D. ..  k . . .by the time i was done i went for a walk and it was just about time for lunch. . . COOL!!!! This is truely heaven!!!

In the evening i had another double session which consisted of 4 x 2000m time trials, 2 of which at 80% and the rest 100%, followed by a gym session. . .The weather in the afternoon took a turn for the worst and surely the conditions weren’t on my side, having a constant nagging wind hitting me from the side and front. . In any case in my first time trial i did 8:53 and in my second i did 8:52. . I was like. . what the hell dude?!?!?! that’s a PB, followed by another PB!!! .  . NARLY!!! These time trials weren’t on a fixed 2000m course but on a 1000m course which meant i lost time to do the 180 degree turning. . In my first time trial it was 15 sec and in my second time trial it was 21 sec. . . What the hell . . . Enough with the ifs and buts. . . 2 pb’s are 2 pb’s and i’m proud. The last time i did 8:59 was in hungary and after i was finished i spent two days not being able to walk properly!!! Today after the time trials i went and did the 4th session for the day in the gym. To me that’s a victory on it’s own since it shows that i’m taking the training in my stride!!!

Till next time!!

On monday 20th April i came to Portugal for the first time ever and guess what??? It’s AWESOME!!! The people over here are so nice. Everyone is willing to help and thank God for that!!! One instance was at the train station. . .For some reason or another the train ticket indicated i should wait at platform 5. . . .I just asked a person if i was at the correct place and they rushed me to the correct platform, which by the way was facing the other way!! Godd thing i kayak and not fly planes!!!

Anyway it took me 14hrs of travelling to arrive at the NELO training centre in Cinfaes, oh and without a paddle which was still lurking somewhere in Milan airport. . . It just felt like home!! Everyone made sure i was comfortable and the best was yet to come!! In the morning i received a call from nelo to see what the situation with the paddle was. Theyjust offered me to bring me a replacement paddle!!! What more could an athlete ask for?! One more thing. . . .Will i be using a vanquish 3 kayak?? The response from nelo was. . . Of course. . What are your exact specs so we’ll deliver the boat to you!!!

Today i  got the boat and i just can’t wait to try it out in the evening session!!! I’ll also be testing out a Gpower paddle which a Latvian athlete has lent me. . .Felt really good!!!

Yesterday we had the first race of the season for this year!!! I competed in a K2 boat with a friend of mine - Matthew Schembri (16) and it was not only great racing for us but alot of fun as well!! For us it was the first time we raced in a K2 boat and we did much better than we had originally anticipated!!! We won the 3 lap race (about 8.5km) in 39:46, the 1 lap race (2.7km) in 12:34 and also the sprint!!! AWESOME!!!!

From these races we really learnt alot and we are looking forward for some more K2 racing in the future, possibly even abroad!!!