Goodison plots his golden course

The purpose of next month’s world laser championships for the well-decorated Paul Goodison is to fine-tune his preparation for the Olympic Games.

If a second world title were to come his way he would certainly not drop anchor and look the other way. But in the week that he turns 34, the Rotherham helmsman who grew up sailing at nearby Ulley Reservoir, has his heart set on defending the Olympic title he won in Beijing.

He said: “The goal is still to do well in Perth but having already been selected for London 2012 I have to look at the big picture and use the event as a chance to test some of the techniques I’ve been working on in pressurised race situations, to see how automatic they have become.

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“I am really looking forward to the three weeks of training in warmer climates with a good training group prior to the worlds.

“I’m sure a lot of guys will be really fired up as the worlds is a key part to their selection for the Games, so it will be good to train against guys that are a little heavier and really optimising for the Perth conditions.

“It will be fascinating to observe how they perform under huge pressures.”

Next year’s Olympic laser races will be contested at Weymouth, where Goodison now lives, giving him and the British team a unique advantage.

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Having already sealed London 2012 qualification affords the 2009 champion the luxury of planning his training regime around the Olympics.

Goodison said: “I’ve been working really hard in the gym over the past month building up my strength, but by doing that I’ve had to compromise some of the cycling that is usually such a big part of my programme.

“I’m hoping we will start seeing the benefits of that strength work on the water in Perth and it will be interesting to see how the decreased level of bike work translates into a seven-day regatta.

“That’s the beauty of being selected early.

“You are able to schedule your training into blocks, whereby you can concentrate on improvements in certain areas for specified periods of time before bringing everything together to hopefully peak when it matters most.”

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Beyond the Olympics, Goodison is determined to broaden his sailing skills into the big boats that compete in the round-the-world races.

Predominantly a single oarsman, the shift in mentality in working as a team may take a while to adjust to, but he has experience of the discipline and he had his appetite whetted recently when he attended the start of Volvo Ocean Race in Tenerife.

“That was just incredible,” he said. “Although I went to the stopover in Portsmouth last time, I’ve never been to the start and I just couldn’t get over how professionally everything was set up and run, and how it was all so much bigger than I expected.

“The biggest thing that struck me was all the teams had these massive Formula 1 style tents and trailers, very impressive.

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“The Volvo Ocean Race is something I’ve always said I fancied doing for about 24-48 surreal hours before I quickly change my mind and talk myself out of it.

“But chatting to some of the guys who were doing the race, the amazing challenge of it all, and how revved up they all were before setting off I think it’s definitely something I want to do in the future now.”

But not until a second Olympic gold is draped around his neck.