Paddler Profile - Kirsty Holmes

By jim on Monday, May 3, 2010 - Related Tags:- dream, kirsty

Hi my name is Kirsty Holmes and my sporting background is predominantly in Ironwoman racing. I grew up with the ocean being a huge part of my life having lived on a yacht with my parents and my sister where we travelled the pacific when I was 4 – 6 years old. It was during this time that I developed a love for the ocean. It is where I feel most at home and to this day is still my biggest passion. Dad was heavily involved in the surf lifesaving movement being a former Ironman himself, so Nippers was a natural progression for us.

After a seven-year lay off I started back training when I was 20 and raced in the open competition. This was a relatively late start for me and as a result it took me a few years to get any decent results. During the early days of racing I relied on my surf skills to get me through and then in 1994 I qualified for the professional Ironwoman series and spent the next 10 years on the professional circuit in both in the Uncle Tobys/Meadow Lea Super Series and the Kelloggs Nutri-Grain Series where I competed with and against fellow bloggers Kelly, Shuey and Jimmy. Three of the funniest people I know.

The ski leg was only introduced into Ironwoman races in 1999, so I began paddling a couple of years prior to this. It was the fourth discipline we had to master and add to the already demanding training load, however I found it came naturally to me and along with the board leg, became my strongest disciplines.

In 2004 I retired professionally as I found I no longer had the drive or ’the fire in the belly’ to put in the 25 hrs a week training required to compete at an elite level in the sport. I had achieved all my goals and there was really nothing else for me to prove and so I lacked any motivation to continue. I craved a bit of normality and I really just wanted to go surfing. My Ironwoman days are now confined to a supporter, and a very nervous one at that, of my brother Zane as he dominates the men’s series.

About a year after I had retired and with a lot of waves under my belt I found myself feeling a little refreshed, and to do something again. It was about this time that I was approached to try flat water kayaking to try and make a team boat for the K4. My initial thought was that ‘I’m not interested’ however after some reflection and convincing I decided that a change in sports and a new challenge may have been just what I needed.

To cut a long story short, after a year I found flat water paddling to be quite frustrating and realized fairly quickly that it would take a few years and many miles to master. At that stage I certainly didn’t have a passion for it, nor did I really enjoy the competition side of it and the biggest thing of all…I missed the ocean! I had just come off a ten-year grind and I knew that without passion, the dedication and commitment for the hard work required to master anything just wouldn’t be there. So there ended my flat water days. My time on the river however, was not all a waste. It was here that I was able to refine and improve my technique and I continue to use that benefit in the ocean races today.

During the ten years I competed seriously in the surf, I achieved most of my goals, including winning the Open Ironwoman title and Open Ski Race titles twice and competing for my country on a number of occasions.

I was fortunate enough to travel much of the world in various teams and form lifelong friendships whilst doing it. At the end of the day achieving personal goals is very satisfying, however it’s not the results that you remember. You remember the great friends you met, the great times you had the awesome places you went. Which is what has brought me back to the sport of Ocean paddling. The opportunity to travel to new places, meet people, hang out with friends all whilst maintaining a reasonable level of fitness and a healthy lifestyle is the draw card for me.

Once a competitor always a competitor, so I have to admit that whilst my level of training is nowhere near where it used to be I still don’t train to come second and still have that desire win races. I feel I am still improving in my skill level on the Ocean skis and even though my training is scaled back to 4 sessions on the water I’m probably doing more ski paddling than ever. As an Ironwoman we averaged about 2-3 ski sessions a week whereas I can now focus solely on paddling and find that I’ve probably improved a little.

My goals for the rest of the summer is to finish well in the last two long distance Ocean Races of the season here in Sydney and Perth and then I’m looking at focusing on the short course races at the Australian Surf Titles (to be held back at Kurrawa this year) in the ski and board events. My main motivation for this is really more so I can catch up with old mates!! I look forward to updating you on the various races coming up and am happy to answer any questions you may have.