How yoga helped Staffordshire's Adam Burgess to reach Olympic Games

The 29-year-old has competed internationally since 2008 and has no visions of stopping any time soon, rubber-stamping his spot on the 2022 team with dominant displays in trial races.

Burgess credits his achievements to practice both in and out of the canoe.

Burgess said: “My racing philosophy and the way I approach racing actually came to me in a yoga class.

“I realised one day that in any given yoga pose I know where I’m supposed to look, and I just questioned that I didn’t know where I was supposed to look when I was in the water.

“And now when I race, the only thing I think about it where I’m looking.

“I always say that the secret to performance is just getting out of your own way. The body knows what it’s doing so if I can occupy the mind as to where to look then I’m out of the way and the body can be instinctive and its thing.”

Burgess came fourth at Tokyo 2020 in the C1 event, missing a medal by just 0.16 seconds, and is now using his philosophical approach to dominate the 2022 season. And with one of the top facilities in the world at his fingertips in the shape of Lee Valley White Water Centre, Burgess is preparing for success.

He said: “Fourth place is a hard place to finish at the Games, so it was bittersweet.

“I feel like it was either going to make me or break me and I think we’ve learnt a lot from it, and I feel faster than ever right now and I’m so excited to get out there and race.”

Burgess is now the oldest member of the international team, but such seniority won’t be shifting his rebellious mentality.

“If they think I’m being responsible then they can think again,” he said.

Burgess is the 10th member of the highly successful Stafford & Stone Canoe Club to be selected to represent Great Britain at the Olympic Games.

The latest to try is Christopher Bowers, who is ready to take the next step in the career after banking a place alongside Burgess on the British team for this season.

Bowers, who won world and European bronze in the under-23 ranks, will race exclusively for the seniors this season after splitting his time between the two for several years.

The Stoke ace believes his sixth senior season will prove to be a crucial one.

“I see this season as an opportunity and a steppingstone to be good to go at the senior World Championships,” he said.

“I won’t have quite as many races as I did before. It’s a good experience to have done both and a good balance.

“At under-23 level, it’s very social, very fun, and you’ve got the juniors with you. You can lead them and help them understand what racing is about, as they did with me when I was a junior.

“Seniors is a bit more serious, and everyone knows their business a bit more. They know how they operate, and that’s the focus.”

British Canoeing is the National Governing Body for paddlesports in the UK. If you’ve been inspired by Adam and Christopher and want to try paddling, visit the Go Paddling website https://gopaddling.info