Western Australia Wins Interstate Challenge Trophy At 2019 Oceania And Australian Canoe Marathon Championships (18-19 May 2019)
The 2019 Oceania and Australian Canoe Marathon Championships wrapped up over the weekend crowning the 2019 Oceania and Australian canoe marathon champions.
The championships were hosted by Ascot Kayak Club and Paddle WA on the Swan River in Perth with 286 competitors from all over Australia and New Zealand enjoying a course that was designed to showcase the key moments of a marathon race. The portage and finish line were both located front and centre to the club house, getting spectators right up close to all the action and creating a carnival atmosphere over the two-day event.
The championships that featured paddlers of all ages, from eight years old to 80 years young, was blessed with sunny weather all weekend, little wind, but chilly mornings.
Saturday, saw the singles take to the water with the biggest start of the weekend in the Masters and Juniors events on Saturday morning with over 180 competitors. See results below.
The open events followed in the afternoon with Western Australian Josh Kippin taking out the Open men’s kayak, with last year’s winner Glenn Rypp following in second. Victorian master’s paddler Mike Leverett impressed with a third place over the 30km. Victorian Hamish Young won the U23 division in the men’s K1 over 26.3kms while Josh Burton won the U18 men’s K1 over 22.6km.
Queensland’s Tegan Frazer won the open women’s K1 ahead of Victorian Kate Leverett. The open women’s C1 race was won by Victoria’s Reka Abraham ahead of Isabella Rositano (QLD). Alana Johnson (VIC) won the U23 division over 22.6km, while Nicci Vesely (NSW) won the U18 race.
Saturday closed off with the highlight of seeing 23 novice paddlers take part in the eight kilometres novice race and making the event a great introduction to racing for new paddlers.
On Sunday, the doubles took to the water with the open men’s K2 on Sunday afternoon one of the most anticipated events. Open K1 winner Josh Kippin teamed up with London canoe sprint Olympian Jesse Phillips to take on the eleven starters with just seven boats completing the gruelling 30km distance that threw some challenges at the competitors.
And it was challenges local race favourites Kippin and Phillips had not bargained for with the pair suffering steering trouble throughout the race after breaking a rudder cable. This made for some dramatic scenes when at one point during the race Kippin was out of the boat, chest deep in water holding the rudder straight while Phillips fixed the cable.
Phillips and Kippin considered to pull out, but decided to keep going. Instead the pair showed their class, put the pressure on and worked their way from over two minutes behind back to the front of the pack. They kept closing that distance over the remaining few laps and ended up only 30.5 seconds behind the winners from Victoria Hamish Young and Isaac Johnson, who took out gold, after maintaining a healthy lead for most of the race. The silver medal and a consideration for selection on to the 2019 Canoe Marathon World Championships team was the reward. The NSW/WA combination of Brett Greenwood and Brett McDonald was third.
Last year’s canoe marathon national team paddlers Hannah Scott and Rebecca Mann from Victoria won the open women’s K2, while Chelsea Beale and Nicci Vesely won the under 18 K2.
The event also included the naming of the 2018 Canoe Marathon paddler of the year with Brianna Jones and Seamus Spanner being named Junior Female and Male Marathon Paddler of the Year, Brett Greenwood and Jenni Batemann Master Male and Female paddlers of the year, while Josh Kippin took home the title of Open Male marathon paddler of the year.
For the first time in a very long time host state Western Australia took a clean sweep of all trophies being handed out over the weekend, including the Recreational Class Trophy, the International Class Trophy and the Frank Whitebook Trophy. Western Australia also took out the Interstate Challenge Trophy by 1.5 points with long standing winner Victoria following in second.
The event would not have been possible without the support of a fantastic group of volunteers, who delivered an impressive championships. Paddle Australia Canoe Marathon Technical Committee Chair, Jerry Dunn was ecstatic about the number and quality of the volunteers this year. Volunteers are the backbone of the sport, and this year’s marathon championships were no exception.
The success of the event was testament to the hard work and direction of Project Coordinator Doug Hodson and his team. Dunn said that “Whether he realises it or not, Doug has created a legacy for marathon racing; with a number of new documents on the project management for the event, plus sponsorship packages which we can now share with rest of the states.”
The 2020 Australian Canoe Marathon Championships will be hosted in mid-late April on the Barwon River in Geelong.
The 2019 Paddle Australia Canoe Marathon National Team to represent Australia at the 2019 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships (17-20 October 2019) and ICF Canoe Marathon Masters World Championships (14-15 October 2019), which will both be held in Shaoxing, China is expected to be announced over the next couple of weeks.
Winners
2018 Marathon Paddler of the Year – nominations received from paddling peers
- Junior Female – Brianna Jones
- Junior Male – Seamus Spanner
- Masters Male – Brett Greenwood
- Master Female – Jenni Bateman
- Open Male – Josh Kippin
First time in a very long time WA took clean sweep of all trophies being handed out over the weekend
- Recreational Class Trophy
- International Class Trophy
- Frank Whitebook Trophy
- Interstate Challenge Trophy by 1.5 points (beating out long standing winner VIC)
Visit Webscorer for all results from the Oceania and Australian Canoe Marathon Championships
https://www.webscorer.com/paddleaustralia?pg=results
Winners (Open/U18/U23)
Class | Women | Men |
Open C1 | Reka Abraham | |
Open K1 | Tegan Fraser | Josh Kippin |
U18 K1 | Nicci Vesely | Joseph Burton |
U23 K1 | Alana Johnson | Hamish Young |
Open K2 | Hannah Scott / Rebecca Mann | Hamish Young / Isaac Johnson |
U18 K2 | Chelsea Beale / Nicci Vesely | Joseph Burton / Chad Wiese |
Winners (Juniors)
Class | Women | Men |
U10 K1 | Hayley Dunbar | Beau Jacobs |
U12 K1 | Scarlett Florisson | Gabriel Stevens |
U14 K1 | Gabrielle O’Callaghan | Guy Robinson |
U16 K1 | Angelina Good-Gerne | Noah Boldy |
U10 K2 | Amelia Boldy / Hayley Dunbar | Kai Bulner / Rhys McRae |
U12 K2 | Anna Sawicki / Leia Welker | Beau Jacob / Connor Jacob |
U14 K2 | Abigail Schneeberger / Emma Murray | Guy Robinson / Michael Dunbar |
U16 K2 | Angelina Good-Gerne / Harriet Brown | Matthew Dunbar / Noah Boldy |
Winners (Masters)
Class | Women | Men |
35-39 K1 (selection) | Andy Heartcliffe | |
35-44 C1 (selection) | Rain Metsoja | |
35-44 K1 (selection) | Laura Lee | |
40-44 K1 (selection) | William Lee | |
45-49 K1 (selection) | Mark Alderson | |
45-54 K1 (selection) | Daniela Angela Torre | |
55-64 K1 (selection) | Margi Bohm | Darren Lee |
65-69 K1 (selection) | Peter Pawlow | |
65-74 C1 (selection) | Tony Bond | |
70-74 K1 (selection) | Ann Lloyd-Green | Robert Roll |
75-79 K1 (selection) | John Sims | |
35-44 K1/SKI | Kristian Maliphant | |
45-49 K1/SKI | Jonas Blandford | |
45-54 K1/SKI | Anne Harris | |
50-54 K1/SKI | Michael McKeogh | |
55-59 K1/SKI | John Lee | |
55-64 K1/SKI | Jane Liddle | |
60-64 K1/SKI | Peter Currie | |
65-69 K1/SKI | Terry Poole | |
70-74 K1/SKI | Johan Dreyer | |
75-79 K1/SKI | Joe Wilson |
Class | Women | Men | Mixed |
35-44 K2 (selection) | Leanne McKenzie / Lucinda Remington | Glenn Muirhead / Matthew Archer | Daniela Angela Torre / Dmytro Medvedyev |
45-54 C2 (selection) | Rain Metsoja / Roger French | ||
45-54 K2 (selection) | Mark Lawson / Terry Brooke | David Worthy / Maya Elston | |
55-64 K2 (selection) | Margi Bohm / Patricia Ashton | Dominic Scarfe / John Young | |
65-74 K2 (selection) | Ann Lloyd – Green / Elizabeth Woodhart – O’F | Ron Clarke / Terry Bolland | Judy Darbyshire / Peter Martin |
65-74 C2 (selection) | Allan Newhouse / Tony Bond | ||
45-54 K2/SKI2 (non selection) | Anne Harris / Jane Liddle | Scott Tyers / Alanna Ewin | |
55-64 K2/SKI2 (non selection) | Anne Warger / Nickola Taylor | Chris Boocock / David Berglund | Deb Buchan / Jeff Buchan |
65-74 K2/SKI2 (non selection) | Jan van Maanen / Lloyd Noel | ||
45-54 REC | Agnes Pajor / Sheryl Woolley | ||
55-64 REC | Shylie Davidson / Verity Remilton |