He was thrown in at the deep end by his boss less than 18 months ago and the rest is history.

Whitwell, 33, joined the Border-based Warriors and later, when a vacancy came up on the team to race in China, found himself on the same plane as last year’s Auroras.

“My boss at the Albury Entertainment Centre got me paddling and I just started talking to some of the guys in the Australian team on the trip to China and it all went from there,” he said.

“There were 72 of us at a three-day training camp last October, we had to meet certain benchmarks — benchpress your body weight 10 times, continuous chin-ups, kettle bell and a run.

“Then they threw you into a boat and timed you over 200 metres, have a minute’s rest, then paddle back the other way 200m.

“After that it was a series of trial and error experiments with right and left paddles, testing different combinations and I was in the final 22.”

But the hard work didn’t stop there.

Whitwell’s paddling sessions are monitored by a smartphone app — uploaded to the coach automatically.

There is a trip to Indonesia next month as part of a smaller Australian squad, another camp in Queensland and then to Welland, about half an hour from Niagara Falls, for the world titles against 60 international teams.

“The 500m race is like a 200m running race — it’s not a flat sprint but controlled speed that leaves you completely spent,” Whitwell said.

With all trips being self-funded, Whitwell will this morning host a series of activities in Albury’s QEII Square to raise money for his campaign.