Aly Bull

Unable to go to the Olympic Games in her chosen sport of surf lifesaving, Alyssa ‘Aly’ Bull started kayaking to fulfil an Olympic dream. Aly was inspired to try kayaking when she watched her surf lifesaving idol Naomi Flood compete at London 2012.

Aly started ski paddling at the age of 16 for surf lifesaving and was the Under 7 Australian Ironwoman Champion in 2012.

In 2013, she competed at her first national kayaking competition before she represented Australia at the Junior World Championships and finished eighth in the K4 500 metres.

During this time, Aly was climbing surf lifesaving ranks and she competed in the 2012/13 and 2013/14 Ironwoman series.

A decision to focus on kayaking full-time paid dividends as Aly achieved her childhood dream when she made her Olympic debut in Rio alongside K2 partner Alyce Wood. The pair won both K2 selection events, defeating Flood and her partner Olympian Jo Brigden-Jones, in an upset to secure their spot.

At the Rio Games, the duo made the A-Finals of the K2 500m by finishing third in their semi-final. In the final they came eighth and finished in a time of 1min 51.915sec.

Although firmly focused on kayaking, Aly often returns to surf lifesaving competition, and in 2018 she won the world surf ski title at the Lifesaving World Championships. At the 2019 Australian Surf Life Saving Championships, Aly dominated the ski events, winning four gold medals for the Alexandra Headland SLSC.  
Four years after they achieved an upset, Aly and Alyce were the favourites leading into Australia’s Tokyo 2020 selection trials.

The pair dominated both nomination events winning the K2 500 Australian and Oceania Championships. Individually, Aly finished the Australian Championships with K1 500 bronze.

Aly is also a firefighter with Queensland Fire and Emergency Services. After failing to make the Academy in her first attempt, she finished Dux of her course in 2018.

Aly made her second Olympic appearance at the delayed Tokyo 2020 games in both the K-1 500m and Double 500m disciplines.

Individually, she would enjoy a strong start to the K-1 500m, achieving a 1:49.416 time in her heat, earning progression to the semi-finals. There she would clock in a second time of 1:54.038, placing her fourth in her semi-final group, allowing her to compete in Final B, but no longer qualified for medal contention. In her final race of the K-1 500m she would clock in at 1:56.799, achieving an overall placing of 16th at the event.

Aly would also compete alongside Alyce in the Kayak Double 500m discipline. The pair would narrowly miss out on Olympic medals, earning an overall placing of fifth with a time of 1:37.412. 

The 2022 ICF Canoe Sprint Championships in Halifax, Canada, offered a double delight for Aly. She claimed gold in the women’s K1 1000 and in the mixed K2 500 with Jackson Collins. And she rounded it out with a silver in the women’s K4 500, in a team with Ella Beere, Alexandra Clarke and Yale Steinpreis.

In 2023, at the World Championships at Duisburg in Germany, she defended her K1 1000 title, finishing almost two seconds ahead of her nearest rival, Poland’s Justyna Iskrsycka.

"I'm really stoked to be able to go back-to-back in the K1 1000, it's a challenging race and it's pretty cool I was able to do it," she said.

Aly now has her sights firmly set on competing in her third Olympics in Paris.

“I think the third time’s the charm,” she says. “I feel like we’ve been in such a good place this cycle and I’m really excited to hopefully get the opportunity to race in Paris, it’s going to be good.”