‘Project Send It’ is the masterplan propelling Adam Burgess to Paris 2024.
The 31-year-old yoga and breathwork advocate has been announced as one of four canoe slalom athletes set to represent Team GB next summer, alongside Joe Clarke, Kimberley Woods and Mallory Franklin, providing an opportunity to banish the memories of an agonising near miss in Tokyo.
Burgess was 0.16 seconds away from a medal in the Japanese capital, finishing fourth, and feels he has a point to prove as he continues his pursuit of reigning world and Olympic C1 champion Benjamin Savšek.
The Stoke-on-Trent star has had an impressive 2023, helping earn World Championship team silver on home water at Lee Valley, and is backing himself to thrive on his return to the grandest stage of all.
“Throughout my career, it’s been the case that I like pressure, almost to a fault,” he said. “I’ve almost needed to have my back up against the wall to pull out a performance.
“Now, I’m performing whether it’s with pressure or without. I do need it, it’s uncomfortable at times, but only because it feels important to me.
“The harsh reality is that I match the world champion and the reigning Olympic champion in main qualifying and in semi-finals but he's winning a lot more medals and we need to address that.
“We’re calling it ‘Project Send It’ because I just need to send it a little bit more in the final. I need to be be willing to go there and take a bit more of a measured risk.”
Burgess had to put friendship to one side during his battle with Ryan Westley for the coveted selection spot.
Westley secured Team GB’s quota place with his 2023 European Games title in Krakow but Burgess impressed at the 2024 selection series to punch his ticket.
“I really wanted to leave the selection panel with no doubt, so I was there to perform,” he said.
“As his competitor, I was never going to make it easy for him and I’m very happy to secure the spot again.
“It’s super conflicting because, as Ryan’s friend, I would have loved for him to compete at an Olympic Games.
“He’s been one of the outstanding athletes over the past ten years. In 2018, I considered him to be the best in the world.
“We’re both fast because we drive each other, it’s difficult to be quick unless you’ve got that competition within your own nation.
“We have so much mutual respect for each other and I’m really proud of the relationship him and I have despite being rivals.”
Burgess is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – this is vital for their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.
In addition to that unwavering support, Burgess is embracing the unique method optimising his performance – the art of breathing.
He began breathwork, a conscious form of breathing practice, during rehabilitation for a shoulder injury in 2017 and believes the method has helped maximise his capabilities on the water.
He has faced scepticism in some quarters but is on a mission to change perceptions and reckons it could make all the difference on the start line come July.
“When people hear the breath work, their mind jumps to lying on the ground or sitting quietly in meditation,” he said. “I’m interested in functional breathing.
“There is also a performance element and there are certain things in my warm-up that I don’t see any other athlete doing.
“In elite sport, it can be surprising how little is known about optimising breathing. It’s the niche that I find myself in with this knowledge.
“The barrier for most athletes is that their ego gets in the way. It sounds too simple to be true and you might have a physiologist or a coach that tells you one thing and I'm telling you another.
“For me, the proof is in the pudding, I think.”
Sportsbeat 2023