SPRINT CANOE/KAYAK: Australia’s sprint canoe and kayak team will begin its Olympic campaign this week with racing beginning on Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas.
Racing over distances of 200m, 500m and 1000m in various disciplines, Australia will be represented in 10 of the 12 categories at the Olympic event.
Australia will be racing in two female events at this year’s Games, with Naomi Flood paddling in the women’s K1 500m, while Alyssa Bull and Alyce Burnett will race in the women’s K2 500m.
Flood said she was hoping for some blustery conditions to help her utilise her surf-lifesaving skills.
“For me personally, I’m racing in the last 500 metres of the course where it’s pretty protected and there is just basically a strong headwind, which will hopefully suit me come Wednesday,” Flood said.
“I’m not really worried too much about the conditions, as long as it does stay with a headwind and doesn’t go tailwind which is not ideal for me.
“My fitness is totally different to how it was four years ago. Back then I was totally new to the sport, it was only my second year of paddling [in London].”
Flood will be competing against kayakers from Slovakia, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Poland, Austria and Russia in her heat on Wednesday, 17 August, and will be hoping to make the semi-finals later that day.
“It’s been six years now in the sport and I’m in a much better place,” Flood said.
“This is my second major regatta in the K1. It’s pretty daunting but at the same time its inspiring as it’s such a great field.
“There’s a lot of Olympic, world championship and world cup medallists in the field and then there’s me, a battler from Australia, where it’ll be like a ski-race for me, where I’ll draw on my surf-lifesaving skills.”
Racing over the 1000m distance, Australia will have three male kayak crews on the water.
2012 Olympic gold medallist Murray Stewart will be racing in the men’s K1 1000m while his fellow London 2012 gold medallist from the K4 1000m, Jacob Clear, has made a return to his old boat.
Clear will be in the three seat this time around in the K4, where he will be joined by Olympic debutants Jordan Wood and Riley Fitzsimmons as well as Olympic veteran and 2008 gold medallist Ken Wallace.
Meanwhile, Wallace will double up and also race in the men’s K2 1000m with Lachlan Tame.
“I’m going in the K2 and K4 with some good guys behind me. It’s going to exciting and I am really looking forward to it and embracing the challenge,” said Wallace.
“It’s a real mix between young and old in our boat.
“It’s great, they’re really enthusiastic young boys and I’m sure they’re going to push us the whole way.
“We raced three world cups this year, against all the people who are going to be competing here, and we came away with a gold and two silver medals, so to come to Rio and not have that expectation to make the podium, it would be tough to do.
“I think it’s a realistic hope, as long as we have a good race and do everything we have planned for.
“We’ve done the training, we’ve done the hard work, now we need to set the plans in motion.”
Another athlete doubling up this week will be Jordan Wood, who will not only be competing in the men’s K4 1000m but also the men’s K2 200m.
Wood will be teaming up with fellow Olympic debutant Daniel Bowker to race the event.
The fifth male kayak event Australia will be represented in will be the men’s K1 200m, where two-time Olympian Steve Bird will be paddling.
Meanwhile, Australia will be represented in the Canoe Sprint by Martin Marinov and Ferenc Szekszardi.
The duo will race individually and then combine later in the week.
Marinov will compete in the men’s C1 1000m and Szekszardi in the men’s C1 200m, before they combine for the men’s C2 1000m.
You can find the race schedule here.
Lucy Benjamin
olympics.com.au
