Nicholas set to paddle her canoe in the desert

Cook Islands Olympic slalom canoeist Ella Nicholas is off to Dubai to paddle in the desert! Al Ain is in the middle of a bone-dry desert and on most weekdays many top international canoeists and Olympic medallists from around the world can be found paddling through the rapids at the Wadi Adventure.

Cook Islands Olympic slalom canoeist Ella Nicholas is off to Dubai to paddle in the desert!

Al Ain is in the middle of a bone-dry desert and on most weekdays many top international canoeists and Olympic medallists from around the world can be found paddling through the rapids at the Wadi Adventure.

Last week Nicholas had planned to return to New Zealand after competing and winning bronze in Australia, however New Zealand Olympian Luuka Jones suggested Nicholas join her at the manmade course near Dubai for a few weeks.

"This opportunity is too good to turn down so I am putting myself in an environment with some of the best canoe slalom athletes in the world and am hoping that I learn heaps,” says Nicholas.

“Luuka and I get on well and as most of the time we are training on our own, it will be really nice to train together."

Nicholas has just finished a two-week block of training and racing in Australia where the races didn’t go as well as she had hoped.

She admits she was getting pretty tired with the heat and the volume of training and this affected her performance. Following the Dubai stint it’s back to Sydney for the Oceania Champs in late February, then return to Christchurch to continue her medical studies.