mmg.com.au

With Olympic selection trials just weeks away, Puckapunyal kayaking hopeful Kevin Vowles has found form at the right time.

Vowles furthered his preparation at the Victorian 500m and 1000m championships at Carrum at the weekend.

While he didn’t qualify for the finals of either event, that wasn’t really his aim.

The 200m specialist has been battling to get his tempo up to what’s needed for the mad dash, and he reckons he might have just about got there.

‘‘I didn’t really taper for this but the conditions were really ideal and I’ve now found my tempo,’’ he said.

‘‘What I had done was refine my pre-race and post-race preparation to the extent I felt ready, and I was able to bring that tempo I’ve been searching for the whole season to the ideal level for the 200.

‘‘I was really treating this as race experience for the 200. I raced off at the start with a great feel of the water and felt as though I could get the tempo up to 200 pace like I need to do for the Olympic selection regattas. It’s provided me with confidence.’’

Those regattas start in early March, with the third and most important being the national championships in the middle of the month.

Vowles is heading to Sydney to focus on training and the racing over the next few weeks, and is confident he is peaking at the right time.

‘‘With all my experimentation and knowing what works, now I can go into those races knowing I’ve done all I can,’’ he said.

■A raffle is being run to help Vowles’ bid for Olympic glory.

The first prize is a $300 vehicle service voucher from Neil Beer Seymour, 12 bottles of local wine and two bottles of local organic olive oil. Second prize is a $100 Neil Beer Seymour service voucher, six bottles of wine and one bottle of olive oil. Nine runners-up will each receive four bottles of local wine and one bottle of olive oil.

Tickets are $5 each, $13 for three or $20 for five.

They are available by emailing kathryn.rooney1@defence.gov.au with your name, contact number and the number of tickets you have bought after transferring the money to BSB 803-205, account number 3884220.

The raffle will be drawn on Friday.