Paddle Australia’s U23 and Junior sprint paddlers are ready for the 2018 ICF Canoe Sprint U23 and Junior World Championships with racing starting in Plovdiv, Bulgaria today.
Plovdiv has been on the European and international canoe calendar since 1997 when Bulgaria’s second biggest city hosted the very first European Canoe Sprint Championships and will host the best Junior and U23 paddlers from around the world from Thursday 26 July to Sunday 29 July 2018. A total of 930 athletes from 68 nations have entered the Championships.
Amongst them Australia’s 11-strong U23 and 13-strong Junior teams, who arrived in Bulgaria a couple of days ago and are ready for the challenge after a solid block of training in Varese, Italy (women) and Szolnok, Hungary (men). The team includes many national team novices and representing Australia in Plovdiv is a highlight of their young careers.
“Representing Australia doesn’t really compare to any other feeling. The pride I feel to be from this country is not comparable to anything else,” Junior Team novice Anthea Warne (NSW) said.
Warne will be contesting the Junior women’s K4 together with Yasemin Ray (WA), Hannah Scott (VIC) and Kailey Harlen (NSW) and is excited about the start of racing. “We got in a really solid block of training at our amazing AIS facility in Varese, Italy before the World Champs and I’m looking forward to start racing.”
While it is the first Sprint World Championships for the K4, it is the second Junior World Champs for Mackenzie Duffy (QLD) and her K2 partner Tiarnee Massie (QLD) after their premier in 2017
“We’ll start racing Thursday with the K1 200 and then the K2 500 heats start Saturday afternoon, so hopefully we’ll be racing all four days. Pushing to get into the A final would be absolutely amazing for us and that’s what we’ve been aiming to do,” Duffy, who will be doubling up in both the K1 and K2 said about the goals ahead.
In the U23 team, Josephine Bulmer (SA) comes to the U23 World Champs after a strong 2018 ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup season. The 21-year old is competing in the women’s canoe classes, which will debut in the Olympic program in Tokyo 2020 and had a strong kick-off to the year finishing seventh and 14th in the C1 200m at the ICF World Cup 2 (Duisburg, GER) and World Cup 1 (Szeged, HUN) respectively.
Plovdiv will be the third U23 World Championships for the 21-year old after competing in the canoe events in 2016 and 2017 and she sees the racing as yet another opportunity to continue building her performance.
“I’m hoping on an A-final spot and pbs. Keeping the nerves under control will be key, but at the end of the day it’s just another race and experience. It’s an experience to learn from and I want to use it as that,” Bulmer said.
Bulmer will also contest the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Montemor O Velho, Portugal at the end of August (23 – 26 August 2018).
One of the older athletes on the team in Plovdiv, on the Senior A level Bulmer is one of the youngest together with Tom Green (QLD), who also competed in this year’s Canoe Sprint World Cup season in the men’s K4.
After his Junior World Championships debut last year, this is his first U23 World Championships for the 19-year old, who will contest the men’s K4 500 and K2 1000. Like Bulmer Green also has already been selected to contest the World Championships in Portugal at the end of August.
Racing will kick-off in Plovdiv, Bulgaria today (Thursday, 26 July) from 8:30 local time (15:30 AEST) with Junior heats. The first medal events are scheduled for Friday afternoon local time (23:30 AEST).
See the full race schedule here (AEST = +7hrs): https://www.canoeicf.com/sites/default/files/preliminary_schedule_u18_u23_world_championships_canoe_sprint_february_2018.pdf
Live Stream will be available from July 26 – 29, 2018 via www.canoeicf.com
Or here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVagCjubko2x50KpYhnLsCQ
Follow results here.
Good luck message from our Senior Sprint Team:
2018 Paddle Australian U23 & Junior Canoe Sprint Team – By Events
| U23 | |
| K1M – 200 | Ethan Neville (NSW) |
| K1M – 500 | Chris Kither (SA) |
| K4M – 500 | Jayden Ellis (SA)
Joel McKitterick (QLD) Thomas Green (QLD) Simon Mc Tavish (NSW) |
| K1M – 1000 | Simon Mc Tavish (NSW) |
| K2M – 1000 | Joel McKitterick (QLD)
Thomas Green (QLD) |
| K1W – 200 | Yale Steinepreis (WA) |
| K1W – 500 | Keily Dober (NSW) |
| K2W – 500 | Shannon Reynolds (WA)
Brianna Massie (QLD) |
| K4W – 500 | Yale Steinepreis (WA)
Brianna Massie (QLD) Keily Dober (NSW) Shannon Reynolds (WA) |
| C1W – 200 | Josephine Bulmer (SA) |
| JUNIORS | |
| K1M – 200 | Jesse Kneebone-Ellis (SA) |
| K1M – 500 | Carter Brodhurst-Hill (QLD) |
| K4M – 500 | Daniel Kucharski (SA)
Jesse Kneebone-Ellis (SA) Harrison Armstrong (NSW) Thomas Hughes (NSW) |
| K1M – 1000 | Thomas Hughes (NSW) |
| K2M – 1000 | Harrison Armstrong (NSW)
Byron Chadwick (NSW) |
| K1W – 200 | Mackenzie Duffy (QLD) |
| K1W – 1000 | Alicia Fay (QLD) |
| K1W – 500 | Kailey Harlen (NSW) |
| K2W – 500 | Tiarnee Massie (QLD)
Mackenzie Duffy (QLD) |
| K4W – 500 | Yasemin Ray (WA)
Hannah Scott (VIC) Kailey Harlen (NSW) Anthea Warne (QLD) |
Athlete Profiles See profiles here or click on athlete name to view profile: http://paddle.org.au/team/sprint-team-athlete-profiles/
U23 TEAM
MEN
WOMEN
JUNIOR TEAM
MEN
WOMEN
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