Three years ago, Ally Clarke had barely set foot in a kayak. Now, she’s poised to compete in one at this year’s Paris Olympics.
The 24-year-old from Pelican Waters has experienced a remarkable and rapid rise in the sport, to earn a spot in an Australian sprint kayaking team that also includes Sunshine Coast’s dual Olympians Alyce Wood and Aly Bull.
“I’m so stoked. It’s quite unreal really,” she said.
“It’s super exciting to make the team.”
A talented surf lifesaver, Clarke’s kayaking journey started as a 21-year-old, when she was spotted training in a surf ski at Kawana by 2008 gold medallist Ken Wallace.
“He came up to me and said: ‘You can paddle a ski quite well – have you ever thought about kayaking?’” she said.
Clarke took to it like a duck to water, earning a spot in the Australian team and moving to the Gold Coast, where the National Centre of Excellence sprint kayak program is.
She was part of the K4 500m crew that claimed silver at the world championships in Canada in 2022 and she helped the crew earn a berth at the Games with a fifth-place finish at the 2023 world championships in Germany.
In Paris, she will be joined in the boat by Bull, Yale Steinepreis and Ella Beere.
“It’s been a journey on fast forward: a really quick three years,” she said.
“I really enjoy it (kayaking) because it can take you overseas and to the highest stage in sport: the Olympics,” she said.
She said the 2024 Games were “absolutely not” on her radar until recently.
“If you would have asked me three years ago if it was even a possibility, I would have said it wouldn’t be – I didn’t even know much about kayaking,” she said.
Clarke believes her surf lifesaving skills helped her adjust to kayaking, but it wasn’t easy and there were times she wondered whether she had made the right move.
“I was able to paddle along for the longer training sessions but when it came to the sprint stuff, I didn’t quite have the strength,” she said.
“The gym load was super different to what I was used to, with lots of reps and heavy weights.
“It was hard for me to get used to the load and I was quite tired for some sessions, and I had moments when I thought I wasn’t cut out for it.”
National sprint coach Rene Olsen helped build her strength.
“Within six months of working with him, my improvements were huge,” Clarke said.
And the gym sessions don’t seem so gruelling anymore.
“Now that I’ve been in the sport for a little bit of time, I’m starting to handle it a bit more,” she said.
Clarke, who was involved in the nippers program at Maroochy Surf Life Saving Club, said she was inspired by Wood and Bull, who also have surf lifesaving backgrounds.
“I’ve always looked up to them,” she said. “They are massive influences on my kayaking.”
“They showed it was possible for surf athletes to transfer to kayaking.
“To follow behind them has been quite amazing.
“I’ve been on their heels trying to accomplish what they’ve accomplished, so it’s super special to now be in the national team with them.”
She said they were close.
“We train three times a day and we get coffee together, and we spend so much time together,” she said.
“They have all that experience. They have been there and done that, so the conversations and I have had with them, and their advice, have been super helpful.
“They’ve been a huge part of my journey.”
Victorian-born Clarke also thanked her family for their support.
She moved around the world with her parents and siblings when she was young, while her engineer father worked overseas, before settling on the Sunshine Coast when she was 12.
“When we got to high school age, mum got to choose somewhere to live in the world, while dad would continue to fly in and fly out, and she chose the Sunshine Coast,” she said.
Clarke went to Matthew Flinders Anglican College and she and her siblings participated in multiple sports.
She said kayaking was “absolutely not” in the family history.
“My parents (Warren and Julie) are from Victoria, so water sports were a bit cold for them,” she said.
“But when we moved to the Coast and the beaches here, they wanted me to do surf lifesaving.
“Dad was so stoked when I was on a kayaking path that could take me to the Olympics. He was like: ‘imagine where this could take you, give it a go and see how you go’.”
He still flies in and out for work but they treasure their time together when he returns.
“Whenever he is home, I try and spend all the time with him,” Clarke said.
“It’s hard, him being away from mum and us, but he’s a huge support, no matter where he is.”
Clarke praised her mother for her dedication.
“She was born to be the best mum,” she said.
“She took us to swimming and netball and surf lifesaving and soccer. She was always so happy to wake up early in the morning and drive us around to sport.”
Clarke, who is set for a World Cup campaign overseas before the Games in July, also works and studies.
She is employed part-time at Oakley.
“I have so many pairs (of sunglasses), so that’s a big perk,” she said.
She is nearing the end of an occupational therapy degree at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
“I have been on hold with it for the last year-and-a-half because I’m in my final year of study and to find 10 weeks to be able to do placement is quite hard. But USC is very supportive,” she said.
While Clarke, Wood and Bull are set to compete in kayaking at Paris, fellow Sunshine Coast athletes Nick Sloman and Chelsea Gubecka will race in open-water swimming.
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