SAWLEY’S Jon Schofield is the wild man turned speed merchant.

The 27-year-old swapped the thrills and spills of wild water racing for the power and pace of sprint canoeing to help him achieve his Olympic dream.

Schofield will compete in the K2 200m canoe sprint – the shortest of all the events – with partner Liam Heath. And the pair are genuine gold medal contenders.

Having excelled in wild water racing both as a junior and a senior, Schofield made the switch just five years ago. The lure of the Olympics was too much to resist.

“The Olympics was a big draw for me,” said the former Clitheroe Royal Grammar School pupil. “As an athlete it is the pinnacle, so I wanted to see if I could achieve it.

“I also relish the draw of head-to-head racing, where you can line up and eye the other athletes, it’s a great feeling, a lot of machismo and adrenalin, I love it!”

Schofield and Heath go to London 2012 bang in form having success-fully defended their European crown in Spain – the third successive year they had won the title.

“That was a fantastic victory for us because all the big teams were there wanting to win the last major event before the Olympics,” added Schofield. “So it was a real psychological boost for us ahead of London.”

In wild water racing, Schofield won the World Junior Championship in 2002 and went on to clinch the World Cup series and European Championship at senior level.

But his transition to sprint racing has been effortless.

“Apart from the obvious, the biggest difference was the shape of the canoe,” he said. “Wild water canoes are a lot deeper while those used in sprint racing are a lot flatter. But thankfully there weren’t too many mishaps and I got used to the change pretty quickly.”

So much so that Schofield very nearly made the Great Britain team for the Beijing Olympics - with Ben Brown in the 500m kayak doubles - narrowly missing out on selection but was still taken by the British Olympic Association as a potential competitor for the future.

Schofield has struck up a winning partnership and lasting friendship with Heath. As well as their three European crowns, the pair finished second in last year’s World Championships and have won their fare share of races in the World Cup series.

“Liam and I are great friends. We share lots of similar interests, such as classic Volkswagens,” added Schofield who has a degree in human biology from Loughborough University.

“We spend so much time together that it would be impossible to sustain if we didn't get on. It also means we have the utmost trust in each other.”

Having worked hard for the last five years to reach the Olympics, Schofield knows his dreams could be over in 30 seconds.

“It’s fast and furious and races are won and lost in a little over 30 seconds but that is what I love about it,” he added.

“We are going to try and win gold and if we didn’t set ourselves that goal, then we would be letting ourselves down.

“We have won a medal in every-thing we have competed in this year so winning a medal has to be our aim in London 2012.”