CANOE/KAYAK: International canoe sprint racing returns on Friday with Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal hosting the first of three ICF World Cups from 15 to 17 May.
Racing will get underway on Friday from 6:30pm AEST (9:30am local time).
The Sunshine Coast will be well represented with Bill Bain and Alyce Burnett being joined by debutant Alyssa Bull of Kawana Waters in the 20 person strong Australian team.
Burnett and Bull will team up to race in the K2 500 where they will be looking to build on their strong form during the Australian summer which saw them win the National title in Penrith and finish second at Grand Prix 2.
The pair will also contest the women’s K4 500 and K4 200 events alongside South Australian Cat McArthur and Western Australian Jaime Roberts.
Bill Bain will line up in the coveted men’s K1 1000. It will provide him with a fantastic opportunity to test himself against the world’s best, which includes Australian teammate Murray Stewart.
Burnett has been happy with her preparation.
“This season the girl’s team has been able to get some really good work done within our camp and home environments and personally I am feeling the best I have ever felt leading into a world cup season,” Burnett said.
“Plus, with Nationals being earlier this season we were able to have a bit of time off before getting into a solid block of training which has really helped our preparation.”
With World Cups in Germany and Denmark to follow in consecutive weeks Burnett believes it is hard to set specific goals or expectations at the first World Cup as she is never sure of how the other countries are going.
“In the K2 and K4 I am in is to improve on our nationals results from both a time and feeling perspective which will hopefully set us up for a good international season.”
With Olympic quotas up for grabs at the ICF World Championships in Milan come August, the world cup events hold an added importance this year.
“From a girls team perspective these two world cups are being used as a bit of a trial run leading into the World Championships where we are trialing a few different combinations in both the K2’s and K4’s to ensure we are putting the fastest boats on the water come August,” Burnett said.
Bain will be the first of the Sunshine Coast trio to race in Portugal, with his K1 1000 heat set to commence at 6:44pm AEST on Friday.
AUSTRALIAN CANOEING
