CANOE/KAYAK: London Olympian Steve Bird has dominated the men’s K1 200 A final at the Oceania Sprint Championships and second Grand Prix in Adelaide to push his claims for Olympic nomination.
The weekend’s event doubles as the first Olympic selection trial with the second to take place at the National Sprint Championships in Perth next month.
Bird dominated the final, producing a time of 37.03 to finish 0.69 seconds ahead of fellow Western Australian Brodie Holmes.
Scott Bicknell of New Zealand finished third in 37.73.
“I have not seen the actual footage but if it was a boat length (win) fantastic,” Bird said.
“Training has been going really well so it is just a matter of executing and going through what you know and doing it on the day.”
The victory puts him a step ahead of his rivals in pursuit of Olympic nomination.
“It’s another hoop to have jumped through, an important hoop, yesterday was one but it’s the first race in a best of three situation so I have won that one and if I win at Nationals that’s all of the winning done and then who knows, hopefully, that will be enough but you never know,” Bird said.
The Canning River kayaker has recently shifted more of his focus to the K1 event to reflect the focus of the Olympic criteria.
“It has taken its toll on a few training weeks since the policy was made clear but we train twice to three times a day together and the training we do for K2 bodes well for the K1, we haven’t stopped training in the K2 or anything like that but it certainly comes with its downs and its sad moments I guess but we are more than just an Olympic K2 crew.”
It comes as a change to Bird as he is used to bouncing ideas off his K2 partner Jesse Phillips.
He finds racing in the K1 far more nerve-racking.
“You do not have anyone to chat to or bounce things off when you are paddling up to the start line but it has to be met with excitement and energy considering the varying away from the K2, you have to bring your own flair to it I guess.” Bird said.
Bird is looking forward to returning home to Perth to prepare for the second selection trial after spending the past three weeks away from home, which included a training camp in Perisher prior to the event.
“You cannot really take the pressure off but you kind of need to to give yourself a bit of a break because it has been quite a big week,” Bird said.
“I would just like to commend all my fellow competitors in that race, there are big things on the line and it’s a nerve-racking race.”
“We have a great crew of sprinters and we go toe-to-toe in time trials and training so this week has been quite a bit of pressure, so I think just a couple of days to reflect, get back into some hard training, it will be horrible because the body is in peak condition for this, probably hurt the body a little bit and then start tapering again, and spend some time with family and friends because we have not been home for three weeks.”
London Gold medallist Stewart aims to race K1 and K4 in Rio
Murray Stewart has won his second gold medal of the Oceania Sprint Championships and Grand Prix 2 regatta in Adelaide with victory in the men’s K1 1000 A final.
It was an important victory for Stewart as it moves him a step closer to securing a place in Rio as the final doubled as the first of two Olympic selection trials with the second to take place in Perth next month.
The 2015 World Championship finalist got off to his trademark fast start and was never headed to finish 3.95 seconds ahead of Gold Coast paddler Jordan Wood in 3:29.87.
Stewart’s fellow London Olympic K4 gold medallist, Jacob Clear finished third in 3:34.05, narrowly ahead of Swiss kayaker Fabio Wyss.
“It was tough conditions out there, there was a nice tail wind but a little bit bumpy so it was definitely a hard race,” Stewart said.
“The level is great here, not only the level of the Australian paddlers but also there are some good international paddlers here at the moment and so from that point of view it is very tough competition.”
Stewart is on track to receive an Olympic nomination in the men’s K4 1000 event as well after he combined with Kenny Wallace, Lachlan Tame and Clear to win the final on Friday.
Stewart was pleased to return to the K4 after focusing on the K1 in the latter stages of 2015.
“I really love racing in the K4 and I did not really want to not race in the K4 last year so from my point of view it is a different crew but it is a bit like an old glove sitting in seat three with Jake (Clear) behind me in four, it is great,” Stewart said.
“I love the team atmosphere and the team environment so it was really nice to get a win in that event.”
If presented with the opportunity, Stewart hopes to be able to race both the K1 and K4 events at the Olympic Games this year.
“Definitely, I think similarly with Loccy and Kenny in the K2 there is a good opportunity to double up in two events, they are looking pretty good for a potential K2/K4 double up but if the opportunity is there I will definitely take it,” Stewart said.
Stewart will look to secure himself Olympic nomination with two more wins at the National Sprint Championships in Perth from the 2 to 6 March.
“For each race they will have a second selection in Perth and if there is a different winner they will have a third selection as well so Perth is going to be the real conclusive regatta for us for Olympic selection.”
Wood’s second place performance saw him secure the under-23 K1 1000 title ahead of Bill Bain and Riley Fitzsimmons.
The under-18 K1 1000 final was won by Victorian Oliver James in 3:52.12, 2.23 seconds ahead of local paddler Reece Bacchus.
Brigden-Jones on top of 500 metre podium after six year battle
It’s taken her six years, but London Olympian Jo Brigden-Jones is finally back on top of a crowded K1 500 pack after winning the event at the Oceania sprint Championships and second Grand Prix (GP2) in Adelaide on Sunday.
An emotional Brigden-Jones said her win over K2 teammate Naomi Flood and Queensland’s Alyssa Bull marked an important milestone on her road back from injury.
“I haven’t won a K1 500 race at this level, GP2 or Nationals, since 2010, which was before I did both my shoulders,” Brigden-Jones said.
“I’ve had two shoulder operations since then and been through a whole heap, so since then I’ve got back on top in the 200, but I’ve never quite crawled back up there in the 500.”
“It’s taken a long time and for that to happen just then, I was a bit in shock and disbelief, and also pretty proud of myself for keeping believing in myself for that six years that I’ve had some hurdles to jump over.”
On Friday Brigden-Jones successfully qualified Australia an Olympic start in the K1 200, defeating the best paddlers in Oceania, before successfully defending her GP2 200 title in the afternoon.
The Manly paddler now has two weeks to prepare for the National Sprint Championships in Perth, which will double as the Olympic qualifiers.
“I’m going to have a couple of days off, I’m going to need it to recover from a big weekend,” she said.
“You always think about Rio, that’s why we do the hard training, but this regatta I’ve tried not to think about it at all.”
“You know what’s on the line, but you try and put that in the back of your mind.”
Bird and Phillips dedicate K2 win to the late Susan Quick
London Olympic pairing Steve Bird and Jesse Phillips have dedicated their victory in the K2 200 final at the Oceania Sprint Championships and second Grand Prix in Adelaide to the late Susan Quick.
Ms Quick tragically passed away last month following a boating accident on the Blackwood River.
Susan was a champion and skilled paddler, respected among the paddling community and known for being kind and living life to the full.
“We would like to actually dedicate that win to the late Sue Quick who passed away a couple of weeks ago in WA in a whitewater accident so to the family our thoughts are with you through at this pretty difficult time, so we would like to dedicate that to them,” Bird said.
Bird and Phillips were pleased to secure the race win after a surprising start call.
“We got away alright and then just stuck to our race plan and managed to have some composure at the end so we are pretty happy with the way it went,” Bird said.
The Western Australian pair recorded at time of 33.14 to finish 0.11 seconds ahead of K2 1000 champions Kenny Wallace and Lachlan Tame.
The hard work doesn’t stop for the pair with the National Championships still to come on their home course in the first week of March.
“On paper I guess that win does not mean a lot at this point as we need to consolidate our place in the K2 at Nationals and that is what we plan to do and make a statement with it,” Phillips said.
“We are potentially the only exclusive K2 200 crew that Australia has and we certainly want to make sure that we hold that title all the way through till the next Olympic Games, in any case, regards to selection on that particular event.”
Local favourite Callum Dunn and Sydney Northern Beaches paddler Ben McLean finished third in 33.66 to take out the under-23 title.
Earlier Dunn and McLean finished second in their K2 200 heat to secure Australia two Olympic quotas after finishing ahead of boats from New Zealand and the Cook Islands.
Ellis surprises himself in C1 1000 triumph
South Australian canoeist Charlie Ellis looks set for a long career in canoe sprint after winning seven medals at the Oceania Championships and second Grand Prix in Adelaide.
The 18-year-old has put himself in contention for a place in Rio and on the senior team with a victory in the men’s C1 1000 on Saturday.
Ellis recorded a time of 4:08.12 to finish 2.35 seconds ahead of Martin Marinov with one of his key mentors, Marius Cristi Florian finishing third.
“It was actually quite surprising to come out on top on that 1000 because I have never raced Martin Marinov before and I have never beaten Cristi so to come away with the win was pretty good,” Ellis said.
The West Lakes Canoe Club paddler has taken giant strides in the past 12 months, improving on his time at Grand Prix 2 a year ago by 23 seconds.
His improvement has been attributed to his consistency on the water.
“I would do one good stroke and then have a bad one but in that race I was ticking over, consistent and I think that is what got me over the line, just the getting the technique and power consistently in the race,” Ellis said.
“Every stroke has to keep the boat running and keep the power up and speed so especially in that last 200 metres when you start to fatigue you keep the power going and to even lift is something I have had to work on but I am glad it came together just in time.”
His improvement can be attributed to the excellent support team he has around him in South Australia.
“The coaching has been huge, Cristi helping me and then Krzystof (Lepianka) for the last two years and also my foundation over at West Lakes with Jim Murphy."
"Everyone is giving me technical advice and it has all come together to give me a pretty good technique I reckon.”
In addition to his success in the C1 1000, Ellis won a further three gold medals in the C2 200 alongside Victorian Sebastian Wakim, and in the C4 1000 and C4 500 events with West Lakes trio Benjamin Keogh, Gabriel Tramaglino and Jace Bayliss.
Ellis and Wakim combined to also win a silver in the in the C2 500 and a bronze in the C2 1000.
Ellis is excited for what the future will bring and has enjoyed being a part of watching the popularity of canoeing events increase in recent times.
“I am definitely looking at a future Olympics and the under-23 World Championships,” Ellis said.
“I am really enjoying seeing the sport growing so much in Australia because this is the first year we have had heats in any of the races and we had three heats in the 200 which is huge, so we have never had so many paddlers on Australian water together and it’s really good to see it growing.”
Ellis will now shift his focus to preparing for the National Sprint Championships at Champion Lakes in Perth from 2 to 6 March.
“I am just going to go out and race as hard as I can, and try to win again at Nationals and see what happens, fingers crossed I guess.”
Canoeing Australia
