Peter Linksted demonstrated extraordinary patience ahead of his comeback season on the water and now has a World Championships to look forward to.
A dislocated shoulder kept the canoe slalom star from Falkirk out of action for nearly two years and while successful rehabilitation has got the 25-year-old zipping down whitewater rapids again, he used his time off to enrol in a Master's at the National Motorsports Academy.
Though his kayak may not quite reach the speeds where his knowledge of fluid dynamics comes into play, Linksted knows how to play to his strengths ahead of the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in Oklahoma this summer.
He said: “The Worlds are at quite a physical venue. The water pushes against a lot more powerfully than somewhere like [Catalonian course] La Seu, or lower volume places.
“And it's also quite wide and long, more distance to cover, more powerful water. Obviously you want to go with it as much as possible, but there are a lot of times you'll end up pressing against it. It just makes it harder work.
“If I can get into a final and kind of see where that leaves me, happy days. But I've not had the smoothest start this season, so I'd be pretty happy if I can come out of that knowing I've put down a run that I'm very happy with.”
Linksted’s last major silverware came in 2023, when he won C1 bronze and team gold at the U23 European Championships in Bratislava to add to his C1 team silver the year prior at the U23 World Championships.
But the freak shoulder dislocation came during a routine overhead manoeuvre, which he is still feeling the effects of.
He said: “They did surgery on it, and the consultant said it's as good as it will be.
“I’ve done loads of rehab, had some really good stuff around us. I’m still probably a bit more apprehensive, but part of that is just the mental side of, you've done it before, you don't want to do it again.
“It still plays up a little bit and gets more tight than it used to, gets more niggles, but I’m also way more aware of it, and think of it way more.”
Having completed an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering, Linksted decided to fill his free time with a remote Advanced Motorsport Engineering Master's.
Linsted said: “I have thought about some stuff, like we're doing a fluid dynamics module. I was like, I could use this knowledge, and thought about whether I could do something useful.
“But I don't think there's enough speed or money to do any improvements that would actually make a feasible difference.”
Paddle UK is the national governing body for canoeing, kayaking and all other paddle sports. For more information, visit https://paddleuk.org.uk/
