Tim Brabants

Progress towards 2012 "This year has gone exactly as I hoped it would. Coming back into the sport in February after 18 months out to focus on my medical career didn't have a negative effect on my progress, and I made the finals in everything I did. The only thing I would have liked to improve was the silver I won at the world championships in Poznan in the 1,000m. I wish it had been gold – and it was very close – but it just didn't happen on the day. Taking time out from the sport wasn't a problem at all. I kept fit in the meantime, so the physical aspect wasn't a struggle, and mentally it's all there – you just need to dust off the cobwebs and get back into it again, which training and competing helps you to do. I was excited rather than nervous to be coming back to sport. We've been using this cycle of combining the two jobs since the Athens Olympics in 2004; it's a tried and tested formula that alternately gives my body and brain a bit of a rest. If it works, then why change it? I train on the 2012 course every afternoon, so it's one that I'm already very familiar with. Of course, it will change dramatically as we get closer to the Olympics and they build grandstands. Will it give us an advantage? Not really: our sport is so changeable depending on weather conditions that you have to be prepared for anything." Biography Born 23 January 1977, Chertsey, Surrey Educated Salesian School, Chertsey; University of Nottingham Outside canoeing I love a bit of DIY, car renovation and maintenance. I like surfing and I've had a few flying lessons – if I ever had enough money I'd like to get my pilot's licence Favourite food Favourite band Mumford & Sons Favourite book Troubles by JG Farrell. It's about an Englishman back from the war staying in a hotel in Ireland, with all kind of weird things going on If you hadn't been a sportsman... I'm not even sure I'd be a doctor if I wasn't a canoeist. My family are all engineers and I thought I would be, too, but the fact I got involved in sport and learned more about the human body meant that I had an interest in medicine Key statistics Major honours 2000 K1 1,000m Olympics bronze 2006 K1 1,000m World championships silver 2007 K1 1,000m World championships gold; K1 500m, silver 2008 K1 1,000m, Olympic gold, K1 500m Olympic bronze 2010 K1 1,000m World championships silver 2010 World championships final standings 1 Hoff Ger 83pts 2 Brabants GB 79 3 Wallace Aus 77 4 Yurenia Blr 75 5 Gustafsson Swe 59 Main rivals for 2012 Max Hoff Has won past two world titles over 1,000m Aleh Yurenia Rookie won world bronze over 1,000m in 2010 Training I need to go faster in 2012 than I did in Beijing, but my programmes are pretty standard and won't change specifically for 2012. We write each one two weeks in advance and keep adapting as the season progresses. I will take part in all the competitions I would usually do in 2012 – competing is the best kind of training there is for me – aiming to have small peaks at, for example, the Europeans, and then tapering two-three weeks before the Olympics to peak in the final. Olympic countdown April 2011 Regatta, Nottingham May Regatta, Nottingham 6-8 May World Cup race one Poznan, Poland 20-22 May World Cup race two Racice, Czech Republic 27-20 May World Cup race three Duisburg, Germany June Regatta, Nottingham 17-19 June European championships, Belgrade, Serbia 18-21 August World championships, Szeged, Hungary April-June 2012 Three regattas, Nottingham May Three World Cup races to be confirmed Olympic Games 2012 venue The canoe sprint takes place at Eton Dorney lake near Windsor, where the rowing events will also be held In numbers 3min 24.412s Brabants' personal best over 1,000m, set in the heats in Athens 2004, which is also the world's best time 200m New event at London 2012 that will replace the 500m event in which Brabants won bronze in Beijing 12 Number of flatwater canoeing medals that will be up for grabs at Eton Dorney during the London Games