November 20, 2015 – SkiTrax caught up with Canadian XC Ski Team athlete Devon Kershaw as he prepares for the World Cup season launch with his squad in Sweden. He finished 33rd at a recent early season event in Beitostølen, Norway. We find out how Kershaw is feeling heading into another year of competition as well as his big goals for 2015-16.

Devon Kershaw © Nordic Focus

How are you feeling with the season just ahead?
Devon Kershaw: I am feeling good ahead of yet another racing season. God, the years are going by faster and faster as I get older it seems! After being quite ill last spring, some effects lingered into the 2015-16 season. Mainly, I had to be patient with how we laid out my training season. It was very conservative the first couple months (on the advice of the medical staff), so I didn’t do much intensity until July and even then, no real hard intervals until later in August. With that in mind, things have gone pretty well throughout the training season and every month I’ve been feeling better than the one previous – so that’s been encouraging. I still have some terrible workouts here and there which is never fun, but generally things have been getting better and better.

How has your training gone and did you do anything different?
DK: The training has been good – as I wrote above, I needed to be patient this year with regards to my health issues that lingered from the spring (recall: I had both whooping cough and pneumonia starting from the Ostersund, SWE World Cup weekend which wrecked havoc on my body putting a premature end to my 2014-15 season). Lately though I have been able to train as planned which has been nice. I am still training with a decent load, but after this week ends, the hours drop and it’s 4 weeks of World Cup racing in a row before another training week over Christmas.

What’s your focus this season?
DK: My focus this season is of course the Canada Tour. That’s the number one priority for me. I want to be at my best for those last two weeks of the World Cup season in March. A top 15 overall result (in the Canada Tour overall standings) and one or two stand-out performances (top 10) there is what I am looking for. Aside from that, I am hoping to have some good individual races at certain points in the season. Mainly where the schedule shows distance classic races and a few key mass starts later in the year.

For this year though, I am just really grateful to be back training normally and that feeling of those butterflies in my stomach and the searing pain of that last lap during my first race last weekend (in Beitostølen, which was my first ski race since January 2015) really felt like a new start of sorts. It was very difficult last spring (being sick for weeks and weeks without any improvements, and watching ski races on TV pass me by). And I had some darker days where I wondered if I could come back to the starting line at all (especially after three weeks of antibiotics!). But with this new season just beginning, I am motivated and still love the challenge, the training and the competitions – so the passion is still there and my goals are laid out for yet another season of racing.

Is there SkiTour Canada buzz in the air yet over there?
DK: For our team it most certainly is! We are all really excited to race the World Cup tour at home in Canada to close out the 2015-16 World Cup season. A lot of us have that as a focus (either a good overall result, a top individual day result – or a mix of both) for the year. Also, it’s good for the sport – which admittedly is very small – to have races outside of Europe that really matter (where everyone needs to travel because so many points are on offer). If FIS wants to market their elite xc skiing race series as “World Cup” then it has to get out of Europe yearly. Last season had no races in Asia or North America – so it was more of a “European Cup” – which is of course where the tv ratings are (but if we followed TV ratings all races would be in Norway and Poland when Justyna is competing) so it’s nice that they recognize that it’s important to bring races to other markets.

All the athletes from abroad that I’ve talked with so far are thrilled to travel back to Canada to end the year. People are really excited see some different venues and everyone I talk with loves the Canadian Rockies – so they are keen to get back to Canmore as well. Personally, I am really looking forward to see and experience the vibes in Quebec – especially with Alex getting better and better. Of course any time you have a big name from the home-crowd, that draws attention and an electric atmosphere which is the best atmosphere to race in! The World Cup in Quebec City some years ago had a phenomenal atmosphere – so to have that in Gatineau, Montreal AND Quebec City (for the province) will really showcase the passion for xc skiing that the province has – which in Canada is unparalleled (with media interest, participation, etc).

What’s the energy like on the team?
DK: The energy on the team is great. The reality is that at the beginning of every ski season it’s always high energy and excitement in not only our team, but all xc racing teams worldwide. Everyone wants to put their training into racing, and our team is really chomping at the bit to to get the World Cup season started.

I feel like the team now is in a good place from my perspective too. It’s a good mix of some younger, up-and-coming athletes (like Emily, Michael Somppi (the Nor/Am leader), Graeme and Jess), some more “veteran” skiers – let’s admit it, we can even say “older” haha in Ivan and I. And our leader and shining star of the team, Alex, who is coming off his best training season ever. When you add in Len who is coming off a season without major knee trouble for the first time in years, it’s exciting to see how things shake out over the next 5+ months.

From a staff perspective, there have been some changes, and of course budget issues haven’t been super easy to negotiate for everyone, but the techs are fired up as always, and the coaching staff seem energized as well. It’s helping that here in Gallivare, SWE the conditions have been the best we’ve seen in years. The skiing is top-shelf and that’s allowed for great training as some of us are putting the last bit of “kilometres” before the season begins in earnest (ie. next weekend in Kuusamo for the World Cup openers) and everyone is getting a lot of testing done in these colder Scandinavian conditions which should help us down the road and figure out our new skis for the year.

Thanks for taking the time to update us and good luck with your season.
DK: Thanks.