17 February 2013
High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) has recently set up a National Athlete Transfer System which provides support for athletes capable of winning an Olympic medal in a new sport. HPSNZ believes that there is now sufficient evidence showing that athletes can progress in a new sport in a significantly shorter timeframe. This is because athletes can transfer some of the physical and mental skills, physiological attributes, and training ethic already acquired.
Athletes who are between 16-28 years of age and meet a number of criteria can complete an expression of interest to be assessed. See here for more details The programme is being coordinated by ex-Olympic 5000m runner Adrian Blincoe who emphasises that the programme is athlete-driven and born out of national sport organisations (NSOs) identifying gaps in their pathways. This system is just one way to help fill those gaps but does not replace the NSO-led talent identification and development programmes. “Part of my role is to meet with interested athletes, coordinate with providers for testing and liaise with the national sport organisations,” Adrian says. The overall goal of the programme is to help facilitate transfers and have a positive impact on results in 2020.
A number of athletes have transferred previously from one sport to another and achieved great results, including mountain runner turned triathlete Kate McIlroy, netballer turned cyclist Alison Shanks, and rower turned cyclist Jaime Nielsen. In a short space of time, Nielsen has gone on to finish fifth in the Team Pursuit at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Athlete Transfer - How Rower turned Track Cyclist Jaime Nielsen made the switch…
As a 22 year old Jaime Nielsen was showing promise as an Olympic rower, finishing first in the U23 World Rowing Championships as part of the women’s quad boat. As a rower, Jaime was training in multiple ways, and training on the bike was a good variation to the many hours spent on the water.
The opportunity to transfer came up when BikeNZ was running a programme called Power to the Podium, identifying potential athletes. Even though Jaime had done a little cycling at high school, she had never considered she would one day be representing New Zealand at the Olympics on a bike. “I did a few duathlons in my school years and was always strong on the bike, with good leg strength but I didn’t ever consider cycling as I was so committed to rowing,’’ she explains.
In 2009, Jaime competed in the Elite Track Cycling Nationals, just two weeks after her last rowing nationals. “I wouldn’t have been able to give track cycling a go without BikeNZ’s Power to the Podium programme”. I had seen track cycling on the TV but hadn’t considered it a sport you can just rock up and try as it required specialised equipment.”
Nielsen was fortunate to be supported by a number of people during her transfer including another former rower, Sonia Waddell, and Coach Dayle Cheatley. Sonia was getting into cycling at a similar time to Jaime so they joined each other in training and were able to compare experiences. “Dayle introduced me to the track with so much enthusiasm and he was so encouraging and positive, setting goals and challenging me along the way. It was really rewarding when I learned something new or made improvements,” she says.
“The first time I got kitted out in an aero helmet, skin suit, racing bike with disc wheels and did a ‘proper’ Team Pursuit with the girls, I remember following the more experienced riders around the tight corners of the track and trying to copy the way they would sink low into the corners and hug the black line. It was awesome to learn like this,” Jaime comments. “It was so much fun and the athletes and staff from BikeNZ were really encouraging.”
Although the sports are not too dissimilar physically, her body still needed to get used to sitting on a bike for extended periods of time. “I had to get to know how to train as a cyclist, it definitely helped talking with others already established in the sport,” she says. The switch meant Jaime had to have plenty of perseverance to learn how to train in a different sport, be open-minded to new ideas and accept that there were going to be plenty of mistakes made along the way. Even the coaching approach was different. “I was used to rowing where coaches would be out on the water and basically dictate the session,’’ she says. “In track cycling, coaches are there when we are on the track leading up to a competition, but away from the track it is much harder. Most of my training is at home by myself, where programmes are sent by email, but it is up to me to organise my days to get the training completed,” she says.
“The cycling environment has given me the self-discipline to go out training by myself and push my limits day after day, and I’ve got to know myself better and develop some intuition,” she says.
“You have to be honest with yourself, whether you have put in enough training each day, what you could do better and you have to try to look at situations objectively.”
Jaime’s advice to other athletes considering a transfer:
• You have to be open-minded and set no limits for yourself.
• Learn from the people in the sport around you, and enjoy it.
• Be willing to experiment and not always succeed, in order to learn.
• Have patience and perseverance.
