Fox heads Australian Canoe Slalom Team for the 2018 World Cup and World Championship Series

Dual Olympic medallist and reigning women’s K1 World Champion Jessica Fox (NSW) spearheads the 2018 Australian Canoe Slalom Team that will represent Australia at the 2018 ICF Slalom World Cup Series and the 2018 ICF Slalom World Championships.

Fox will be part of the ten athletes strong Senior Team that was announced on Wednesday, 21 February 2018. The announcement followed the final selection event, the 2018 Canoe Slalom Australian Open, held at Penrith Whitewater Stadium last weekend (16 – 18 February 2018).

Fox already holds three World Championship titles in the C1 women to her name (2013, 2014, 2015) as well as two Olympic medals in the K1. She also is the 2017 K1 World Champion and once again was selected to represent Australia in both events. At the Australian Open the 23-year old won both the K1 women as well as the C1 women in a strong international field.

“It’s still early in the season but it was a great start to the year and nice to get a couple of wins under the belt, especially as we had some great international athletes at the Australian Open. We’re in a different phase than the Europeans, for us it was our selection and for the internationals they’re in a training block, but it was good to race them and I look forward to the season ahead,” Jess Fox said.

2017 World Championship team medallists Rosalyn Lawrence (NSW), sister Noemie Fox as well as Tasmanian Kate Eckhardt will join her on the World Cup Team with both Noemie Fox and Kate Eckhardt also selected on to the U23 Team.

The two 20-year olds both finished on the podium at the Australian Open with Kate Eckhard finishing third in both the women’s K1 and C1 events and Noemie Fox finishing second in the C1.

“To see both Kate and Noemie on the podium at the Australian Open was fantastic. They are young, coming up and qualified for the Team and they both raced really well to earn that place,” Jessica Fox said about the squad results from the weekend.

“I think we’re very strong because of the competition between us and we paddled really well,” sister Noemie Fox added. “I think Jess showed she’s one level above us, but it’s really cool to train with her and race with her because she is one of the best paddlers in the world.”

In the men’s events, Olympian Lucien Delfour will be leading the charge at the World Cups after winning the K1 men both at the Oceania Slalom Championships in Auckland at the end of January as well as at the Australian Open.

Also selected on the team is 22-year old Tasmanian Daniel Watkins, who will contest both the U23 as well as the Senior World Championships in both the men’s C1 and K1 events.

“Its great to see the younger boys step up. Dan’s been paddling super well. He did great in Auckland and he absolutely smashed the semi-final and he won the qualifications on Friday at the Australian Open. Its great to see and it’s more competition within our group and hopefully we’ll all improve because of it,” Lucien Delfour said.

“This is a very strong squad of athletes who have demonstrated they can be highly competitive on the International stage,” Australian Canoeing’s National Performance Director Shaun Stephens said about the selected teams.

“It’s exciting to see some of the younger talent step up and deliver during the recent selection trials and I’m excited to see them continue to push themselves during the upcoming international season. We lifted the selection standards to qualify for the team this year and full credit must got to the athletes and their coaches for responding to the challenge and raising their level of performance,” Stephens added.

The first ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup of the season will take place in Liptovsky, Slovakia from 22^nd – 24^th June 2018 with the season culminating in the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships on the Rio 2016 Olympic course from 19th – 30^th September 2018.

See selected Australian Canoe Slalom athletes below and here

See media release about the Australian Open here: http://canoe.org.au/2018/02/18/australians-top-medal-podiums-at-2018-canoe-slalom-australia-open/

Australian Canoe Slalom Team for 2018

2018 WORLD CUP SENIOR SQUAD

• ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup 1: Liptovsky, Slovakia, 22^nd – 24^th June 2018
• ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup 2: Krakow, Poland 29^th June  – 1^st July 2018
• ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup 3: Augsburg, Germany 6^th – 9^th July 2018
• ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup 5: La Seu D’Urgell, Spain 7^th – 9^th September 2018

K1 Women

• Jessica Fox (NSW)
• Rosalyn Lawrence (NSW)
• Kate Eckhardt (TAS)
• Noemie Fox (TAS)

K1 Men

• Lucien Delfour (NSW)
• Daniel Watkins (TAS)
• Tim Anderson (VIC)
• Ben Pope (WA)

C1 Women

• Jessica Fox (NSW)
• Rosalyn Lawrence (NSW)
• Noemie Fox (NSW)
• Kate Eckhardt (TAS)

C1 Men

• Daniel Watkins (TAS)
• Brodie Crawford (WA)
• Ian Borrows (NSW)

2018 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM

• ICF Canoe Slalo World Championships: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 19th – 30^th Sept 2018 

K1 Women

• Jessica Fox (NSW)
• Rosalyn Lawrence (NSW)
• Kate Eckhardt (TAS)

K1 Men

• Lucien Delfour (NSW)
• Daniel Watkins (TAS)
• *3^rd spot tbc

C1 Women

• Jessica Fox (NSW)
• Rosalyn Lawrence (NSW)
• Noemie Fox (NSW)

C1 Men

• Daniel Watkins (TAS)
• Brodie Crawford (WA)
• Ian Borrows (NSW)

2018 U23 & JUNIOR TEAMS

• U23/Junior World Championships Tour, Ivrea, Italy 9^th – 23^rd July