Both Australian paddlers have progressed through to the fourth round of K1 slalom competition in style having blitzed their opposition late this afternoon.
Both Australian paddlers have progressed through to the fourth round of K1 slalom competition in style having blitzed their opposition late this afternoon.
Jessica Fox paddled past her Belarusian opponent Aliaksandra Wolfhardt in 1min 37.10sec for a 24 second win.
Earlier, Fox had breezed through the preliminary round as the fastest qualifier which earned her a direct wildcard entry to the third round.
In the scorching heat it was a long wait between paddles for Fox with her time trial taking place at 8.30am and the third round not starting until 6pm.
“It’s been a very long day waiting around,” Fox said.
“I’ve been asleep on one of the physio beds in the tent just trying to keep cool.
“But it’s all done now, I’m really happy with how things went and it’s time to focus on tomorrow.”
The Blaxland High School student said tomorrow’s event would take a lot of hard work but she was confident a good result was just around the corner. Having finished a strong 10th in the sprint this week, Fox said she was happy to be back in her vessel of choice.
“Slalom is my thing, it’s what I’m good at and what I train for primarily so I’m happy to be back in the slalom boat,” she said.
“It’s been fun trying new ways of paddling off white water and in different boats – it’s been really good training on still water.
“In white water you can let the current push you to the gates but on still water it’s all about upper body power and getting there yourself but it’s been good to have a break from the white water.”
Smith was just a couple of seconds off the leaders with a time of 1.31.80. The Wollongong teenager had a busier day than Fox, competing in every round to produce some quality times.
Having gone through the time trial as the fifth fastest competitor, Smith then took his boat past Cameroon’s Dipoko Dikongue and South African Luke Stowman to advance to the final day of competition.
“We’ve been very impressed with Scott today, particularly seeing as though this isn’t his event,” manager Richard Fox said.
“It’s been a very good day out here Jess and Scott are both looking very good.”
Elliot Woods
AOC
