05.06.2009

Rothwell back in action at Lake Burley Griffin

Two months out from her senior world championships debut, race walking young gun Jess Rothwell heads to Canberra this weekend for the Lake Burley Griffin Race Walk Carnival.

It’s a far cry from the city streets of Berlin but for Rothwell, every step is a significant one on the road to her first world titles campaign in August.

“This weekend will be a good training hit-out, it would be nice to finish reasonably highly against some of the open girls and I think that’s possible but I’ve been a little bit injured so I’m just really starting to amp up the walking training now with more specific work and looking for a good hit-out as part of my preparation for worlds,” Rothwell said.

A short layoff due to injury has done nothing to quell the enthusiasm of one of the rising stars of the race walking circuit, named Asics Junior Athlete of the Year by Athletics Australia at the close of the 2008/09 season. 

“I’ve been doing a lot of cross training and I’m gradually now building up and increasing the walking volume and at the moment we’re starting to do a little bit more specific work on the track, getting that high-end speed in but also maintaining a bit of the cross-training because I’ve learned that’s really good and prevents a lot of injuries,” she said.

A huge 2008 saw Rothwell place fourth in the 10km walk at the world junior championships and fifth over the same distance at the junior World Race Walking Cup.

Now there seems no stopping the 19-year-old Victorian as the clock ticks down to August.

“It hasn’t really sunk in how significant the event actually is,” Rothwell said.

“It’s funny, you don’t really think about how big it is until you get a little closer to the time and it’s only really hitting home now how big it is. I’m not too nervous, I will be closer to August but I’m more excited for the whole experience and really looking forward to it.

“I’ve learned a lot about racing and how races pan out from competing last year and although they were 10km races and Berlin is going to be a 20km race and a completely new experience, I learned last year how to race better and all the little technical things that go on at the start of a race.

“You just have to treat it like any other race and get out there and enjoy it.”

While she’s still very much a newcomer to the senior world stage, Rothwell knows all too well the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of race walking.

“I raced in China one year and at the start it was a narrow track we were racing on and there was a bit of hip and shouldering and in one of the junior races a girls gave me an elbow but I suppose it’s just other athletes trying to psyche you out and I think it actually makes the whole experience a bit more fun,” she said.

So with elbows at the ready, Rothwell is looking ahead to Berlin as the starting chapter of her senior race walking career.

“Ultimately it would be fantastic to finish top 12 or even better, I think that’s a reasonably big ask for my first senior team at the world champs but I think if I’m racing well on the day anything is possible,” Rothwell said.

“Ultimately I’m just looking to enjoy it all and gain a little bit of experience and keep building towards future races.”

Following Sunday’s race she will spend three weeks in the altitude house at the Australian Institute of Sport before departing for St Moritz, Switzerland, for a second round of altitude training ahead of Berlin.

“I’ll stay in Canberra after the race this weekend and do altitude training for about three weeks and then head back to Melbourne for a few days before I go to St Moritz in July for some more altitude work, then it’s into the team camp in Cologne and on to Berlin,” the jet-setting Rothwell said.

“I haven’t done a lot of altitude work before so it’s all a bit new but at the moment I have an altitude tent over my bed which has been a bit of fun and I haven’t had any negative effects so it will be interesting to see whether the physiological adaptations benefit me and hopefully they will.”

For Rothwell, her arrival on the national stage couldn’t have come at a better time, the sport hitting a purple patch in recent years with no signs of slowing down.

“Walking’s really strong around Australia at the moment which is great, we have wonderful people like Jared (Tallent) performing so well and Cheryl (Webb) coming back and good juniors coming through the ranks,” she said.

“It’s looking very strong and I think the whole Australian team in general is really stepping up.

“We have great young athletes like Tristan Thomas coming through and Adam Rutter in the walks and I think what (Athletics Australia High Performance Manager) Eric Hollingsworth is doing with the program is really good.”

Rothwell will be joined by fellow world championships team members Jared Tallent, Chris Erickson, Adam Rutter, Claire Tallent and Cheryl Webb at Sunday’s Lake Burley Griffin event.

World youth championships representatives Dane Bird-Smith, Sean Fitzsimons, Paige Hooper and Shannon Jennings will also compete in Canberra ahead of the world youth meet in Bressanone, Italy, in July.

In what has been a big week for race walking, World University Games team member Tom Barnes finished 18th in the fifth leg of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge in Krakow, Poland, last weekend, completing the 10km course in 42:51 behind race winner Valeriy Borchin (RUS) in 38:11.

Barnes will contest the 20km walk at the University Games in Belgrade, Serbia, from July 1-12.

In other athletics action on the cards this weekend, Berlin-bound track athletes Brendan Cole and Lauren Boden will line up in the 400m hurdles events at a meet in Geneva, Switzerland, while world championships long jump representative Fabrice Lapierre contests the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon in the USA.

On Tuesday Collis Birmingham (5000m) and Kaila McKnight (1500m) will line up in the Folksam Grand Prix in Goteburg, Sweden, with Jana Rawlinson in action in the 400m hurdles at the IX European Athletics Festival in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on Wednesday.