Joel Naukkarinen lives a mountain life in the middle of Kuopio. An experimental and ambitious lifestyle aims at one thing.
Rower Joel Naukkarinen, 30, is a special man. He's not the only elite athlete in the world who is completely dedicated to his cause, but there's probably no one else who does things the same way. Naukkarinen is an athlete, doctor and doctoral researcher who lives his life in the “high place camp” that has been going on since 2017.
Naukkarinen answers the phone in the middle of a bike ride at an altitude of just under 4,000 meters. In the middle of the interview, he changes sports from cycling to skiing. All this is happening this time in Kouvola.
At home in Kuopio, Naukkarinen lives constantly in high mountain conditions. He sleeps and trains in his own alpine hut, i.e. in a room whose oxygen level he can adjust to match his desired altitude above sea level. He also has an alpine room in his original home areas in Kouvola.
There have been many different tunings over the years. Naukkarinen has had an entire apartment converted into an alpine tent, and on the other hand, a smaller rig installed at the end of the double bed on his side, where he stuck his head when he went to sleep.
This is all aimed at one goal. Naukkarinen wants to test his athleticism to the best of his abilities – and win Olympic gold.
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“In a way, I manage to break the connection between the body and the brain and be in the mental landscape of my choice throughout the performance.”
Naukkarinen trains in his own “alpine hut” in the heart of Kuopio.
Nosy made headlines on Sunday as the new world record holder. He broke the ME time of the indoor rowing marathon (42,195 meters) with a time of 2:20:06.9. In indoor rowing, Naukkarinen is now a double ME man, as he also holds the 100 kilometer world record.
“It was a good bet. I've been preparing for it for an outrageously long time. In 2015, I set a Finnish record, and since then it's been fairly clear in my mind that one day ME would click”, Naukkarinen rejoices.
Two hours and twenty minutes of maximum power rowing is quite an achievement. To an outsider, it looks rather monotonous, because the scenery doesn't change when rowing.
Although for indoor rowing there are virtual models projected on a TV screen, similar to cycling, that can be used to visualize yourself in the water, Naukkarinen does not use these on long runs. He relies on a different method.
“I try to sink as deeply as possible into such a state of my own and through that get into a flow state. That way you can tolerate an amazingly heavy load and feelings of
discomfort, such as pain and monotony,” Naukkarinen opens.
He says that he likes to listen to music during performances, but finds other “extra” things more disturbing to the performance. Metal music usually roars in the ears, but softer Finnish rock is suitable for the marathon.
“I believe that mental performance in a marathon is my greatest strength. The ability to ignore all the unpleasant feelings of fatigue. I send the body anything that would normally make a person stop, I somehow manage to break the connection between the body and the brain and be in the mental landscape of my choice throughout the performance.”
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“Maybe next time I'll wake up from that floor and the performance will be unfinished.”
“It was really a fun-looking setup,” Naukkarinen commented on his alpine tent placed at the end of the bed a few years ago.
However, the wild ME project did not go without difficulties. Around the middle of the trip, I felt really bad for about four kilometers, when the muscle pains became severe. It passed, but at the end of the straight another moment of truth came.
“The rest of the marathon then went quite numb. I was already so in other worlds that a kilometer before the finish I realized that I was about to faint. I've lost consciousness a few times while playing sports, so it was a bit scary that I might wake up from the floor next and the performance is incomplete.”
“I told my guardian – who is my Husband Iida Niemi, a rower as well – that now I need mental strength to stay the last mile in this world. He knew what to do, we have done a lot of hard performances together.”
The couple met each other when they were 17 years old on the high school rowing team, and have been dating ever since.
To become a doctor graduate and interested in neuroscience, Naukkarinen studies in his dissertation what happens in the brain when a person gets tired. Medical expertise is a big part of how he has built his training and living conditions.
The rower can reach wild heights in his alpine room, even as high as the world's highest peak, Mount Everest. And it's not that he visits them every now and then or that he needs to grab the camps. The room he developed through various experiments and the various oxygen masks are part of everyday life.
Naukkarinen says that he spends up to 16–20 hours a day in low-oxygen conditions. That's when you start to really benefit from it.
“I've tried to make it quite continuous. My
high-place camp started in 2017, we'll see when it ends. Even though 12 hours a day in those conditions is already a big investment, it's not really enough,” Naukkarinen says.
“I also use a lot of medical knowledge here. However, it is quite sensitive when talking about breathing. That all the laws of physics and the physiological requirements of living are fulfilled. There are many things that can go wrong.”
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“It's quite isolating to be locked in one room for several months.”
Oxygen masks are used when Naukkarinen is not in his alpine room.
The current solution has been born through experiments. Naukkarinen has tried to take risks and try a lot of things. This way, when the Olympics are approaching, you can pick the best ones that have been proven to work. In the alpine tent game, no other rower is as deep, and that's what Naukkarinen's method aims for: a competitive advantage that the opponents lack.
“If you do everything according to research and imitate the best, that's a good way to get to the top. But when it comes down to small margins, who wins and who misses out on medals, it's not enough to do things as well as others. You have to be able to either do some things even better than others or find something completely new. It requires innovation and courage.”
Niemi also sometimes sleeps for longer periods with his spouse in the alpine room, but is not exposed to extreme conditions as regularly. However, he knows exactly what dedication to sports is all about, which makes married life a lot easier.
“But this does limit life a lot. All athletes can do high position training, but most do not want to. It's quite isolating to be locked in one room for several months. It requires motivation, Yes, it's probably quite easy to go crazy.”
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“I have already financed quite a lot of this sport with loan money. The debt is more than 200,000 euros.”
Naukkarinen is the first Finnish medalist in coastal rowing. In doubles, she competes together with her spouse Iida Nieme.
Indoor rowing in addition, Naukkarinen competes in track and coastal rowing, where e.g. there are rower-specific courses and is considered an extreme form of rowing. The former is a traditional Olympic sport, and the latter will be included in the program in Los Angeles in 2028.
In Coastal, Naukkarinen is already a World Cup medalist and aims for an Olympic place in both singles and doubles together with his spouse Nieme.
In rowing, Naukkarinen already aims for a place in the Olympic waters of Paris next summer. Preparation for the Olympic qualifiers is already underway. In April, the European qualifying regatta will be held in Hungary and in May the final qualifying regatta in Switzerland.
When the main goal of the career approaches, the investments are also at an appropriate level. Not long ago, Naukkarinen made the biggest equipment investment of his career and ordered four new boats. The equipment is a part of the battle, where there is no reason to give the opponents even a draw. The risk is high, because the money for the giant investment is not yet accumulated.
“We boldly placed the order because the Olympic goal requires it. We trust that we will still find partners to help pay the bill.”
“I've already financed this sport quite a lot with loan money. I owe more than 200,000 euros. Those close to me have also paid a lot, and I wouldn't be able to do this at all without the support of sponsors. There are still a few spots open on the team if someone wants to jump in.”
Nosy has put everything on hold financially as well. He could work as a well-paid general practitioner, but then the current living in special conditions would not be possible. And not, for example, a sudden departure to Italy when the waterways in Finland are frozen.
“Then I wouldn't compete with the goal of success at the Olympics. All or nothing. We have also agreed in our relationship that until the 2028 Olympics we will live completely on the terms of sports.”
“So is this a sacrifice? It probably seems that way to many – if not everyone – but I don't feel that way at all. With eyes wide open, I feel that I get to do something truly unique for a short moment in my life. This opportunity will never come again in my life.”
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