Editor’s Note: Bellingham native Jonas Ecker, 21, is writing a diary for CDN as he heads to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, set for July 26-Aug. 11. Ecker, a 2021 Sehome High graduate and five-time Ski to Sea competitor, and Seattle’s Aaron Small are roommates and full-time University of Washington students. The pair qualified for the Games’ sprint kayak Men’s K2 500-meter race and individually in the Men’s K1 1,000-meter race. Olympic heats begin Aug. 6. The medal race for the Men’s K2 is Aug. 9. The Men’s K1 final is Aug. 10. This is his fourth entry. See week three’s entry here.
Week 4 – July 1, 2024
So what’s the typical day look like for an athlete training for the Paris Olympics in sprint kayaking? I’ve shared the flow of the past few weeks of my life with readers through this diary, but not the specifics of one day and there is no better representation of my training than a walkthrough of my schedule at a training camp.
My day kicks off with a 6:30 a.m. alarm and a quick snack, followed by a short drive to the boathouse for the first water session. This first session is a 20-minute individual paddle. Aaron and I launch from the dock and head off in opposite directions. Being able to include this session in my training regime helps me wake up my body and independently establish a high standard of technique for the day. The speed and intensity are irrelevant, it’s all about mentally and physically setting myself up for a productive day on the water.
After returning to the boathouse, it’s a quick shower and back up to the main campus for breakfast and a short rest before the first real workout of the day. We head back to the boathouse around 9 a.m. for a short dryland warmup and are on the water by 9:30 a.m. These are usually the best conditions of the day as the temperature is in the high 60s and the water is perfectly glass. The morning workout often focuses on specific aspects of our 1,000-meter (in single kayaks) or 500-meter (in a double kayak) race plans, building confidence and comfort at the relevant speeds. Once the morning work is done, it is back to the boathouse for another shower and a snack before visiting the onsite USOPC (U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee) Sports Medicine Clinic. After some contrast therapy — cycles of immersion in hot and cold tubs to help muscles recover — and stretching, I head to lunch around 11:45 a.m. and then back to my room for some more rest before going back to the boathouse around 2 p.m.
At this point, there is a little bit of déjà vu. We run through another short dryland warmup before hitting the water around 2:30 p.m., this time focusing on building speed endurance and lactic tolerance. After the afternoon workout, it is back to the boathouse for another shower and snack combo before heading back up to the main campus for some stretching or lifting before dinner.
We round out the day with another meal in the dining hall around 5 p.m., followed by some down time in our rooms. Most recently, Aaron and I have been watching U.S. Olympic Trials for Track and Field as well as keeping up with the new episodes of “The Bear.” I start to wind down around 8 p.m. with a call home and some stretching before lights out by 9 p.m.
This can all sound like a lot or a little to fit into a day, depending on your lifestyle, so let’s break it down by the numbers. In my typical day, there are three main meals, at least seven instances of snacking, three showers (four if I lift), and four hours of training or recovery activities. It is often the same routine day in and day out, but that is what it takes to see progress.
Because scheduling and competition heat times vary, fans seeking to watch Jonas Ecker compete at the Paris Olympics should consult the following online link to NBC programming: https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/how-watch-canoeing-2024-paris-olympics-tv-and-stream-info-schedule. His events are the Men’s K-1 Sprint (individual) and Men’s K-2 Sprint (with Aaron Small). Note that although Ecker competes in kayak, NBC lists the sport as Olympic Canoeing, which encompasses both canoeing and kayaking.
Ecker joins a handful of Bellingham-raised Olympians that include: Jake Riley, marathon, 2020 Summer Olympics (held in 2021), Tokyo; Angeli VanLaanen, freestyle skiing halfpipe, 2014 Winter Olympics, Sochi, Russia; Fred Luke, men’s javelin, 1972 Summer Olympics, Munich; Roy Rubin, men’s coxed four rowing, 1960 Summer Olympics, Rome; Paul Jessup, men’s discus, 1932 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles.
To watch the competition, the sport is listed as Olympic Canoeing, which encompasses both canoeing and kayaking.
