Eleven Australian men and two women will hurl themselves down the 2002 Olympic bobsleigh track in Park City at the end of the month, in preparation for seven America’s Cup events, a record representation.

The Australian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association plans to field three 2-man and two 4-man teams in the second-tier men’s competition in the quest for Olympic qualifying points, with Torino Olympian Jeremy Rolleston, former Perth beach sprinter Travis Sheehy and Calgary-based Chris Spring the designated pilots.

Another Torino 2006 team member, Astrid Loch-Wilkinson, will pilot the women’s sled with Ebony Lynch as her crew.

Competition starts on December 1 on the Utah track, with five successive days of racing, then moves on to Calgary and Lake Placid to complete the seven events.

Australian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association Secretary-General Murray Turner  reports that potential members of the men's team underwent testing on October 22 in Park City to determine crew rankings for the coming season.

“There were some outstanding performances with Duncan Pugh (Perth, WA) pushing a combined time of 10.76s to be ranked fastest overall. He was closely followed by Duncan Harvey (Sydney, NSW) with a time of 10.80s and Shane McKenzie (Melbourne, VIC) coming in third with a time of 10.96s.”
 
“Other results included:
Anthony Ryan (Sydney, NSW) - 11.12s
Heath Spence (Calgary, CAN) - 11.30s
Jason Oliveri (Brisbane, QLD) - 11.30s
Stuart Trevallion (Sydney, NSW) - 11.35s
Beau Lewis (Perth, WA) - 11.48s.”
 
“The pilots’ times were:
Chris Spring (Calgary, CAN) - 10.90s
Jeremy Rolleston (Sydney, NSW) - 11.29s
Travis Sheehy (Perth, WA) - 11.44s”
 
“With the number of extremely good and competitive athletes the Association will be fielding three 2-man and two 4-man teams in all seven races of the America's Cup (Park City, Calgary and Lake Placid).”
 
“The Association is aiming to qualify 2 x 2-man teams and 1 x 4-man team to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games through points gained through the America's Cup.”
 
“If the numbers stack up in our favour we could qualify 2 x 4-man teams, although this is highly unlikely.”
 
“With the demise of the New Zealand Bobsleigh program, Australia will be the only men's team competing from the Oceania region. So if it does go pear- shaped and nobody qualifies through points, we still have the option to apply for a quota spot under the continential rule (as Oceania representative).”

Chris Spring finished in fourth place in last year’s America’s Cup series, winning two bronze medals along the way, while Sheehy was in 10th position.

Rolleston was back in the field in 20th place, but he only contested two of the eight races.

Spring ended last season in 26th place overall on the International Bobsleigh Federation’s 2-man rankings.

Thirty places are available in the Vancouver field for 2-man sleds and 4-man sleds and 20 for the women’s competition.