CANOE/KAYAK: Lucien Delfour currently sits sixth on the World Cup standings and is looking to finish off the series in style this week in Pau.
The fifth and final ICF slalom World Cup will take place in Pau, France from the 14 to 16 August.
It will provide one final opportunity for the Australian team to test themselves against an international field ahead of the World Championships in London from 16 to 20 September.
This year’s World Championships will double as Olympic qualification.
Last weekend in Spain, Lucien Delfour put his name forward as an athlete to watch!
The 26 year old won bronze in the men’s K1 final behind French world champion Boris Neveu and local favourite Samuel Hernanz.
“I was definitely pleased with my performance in Seu,” Delfour said.
“I had quite a fast time in the heats, although I hit two gates, I still managed to sneak into the semi-final, and both my semi-final and final run were fast and solid.”
At last year’s World Championships, Delfour finished fifth in the final. If he can repeat that performance in London, he will secure an Olympic quota for Australia.
To aid him in his pursuit of achieving just that, Delfour has upsized to a new boat, which he is hoping will give him the edge in London.
He raced it in for the first time last weekend and believes there is “potential” in it.
“It is a boat cut for an 80kg paddler, and I'm only 70kg, so it was a bit of a gamble, however I felt that my previous one was too small for London,” Delfour said.
“However I do feel that I need more time to get used to the extra volume on the tail, which makes rotations slower and harder to initiate.”
Between now and the start of the final world cup on Friday, Delfour is has shifted his focus to technique and water reading (adaptation).
“The water level chosen for the race is making the course even harder. It's absurdly unpredictable, so we have to find ways to deal with the surges, the waves breaking randomly and the pole height changing every two seconds,” Delfour said.
Delfour currently sits sixth on the World Cup standings following four events and will be looking to finish off the series strongly in France this weekend.
CANOEING AUSTRALIA
