Gold & Bronze for Fox and Watkins at 2020 Australian Open Canoe Slalom
It was an exciting day for Australiaās Olympic canoe slalom paddlers at Penrith Whitewater Stadium with TasmanianĀ Daniel WatkinsĀ provisionally securing his spot in the C1 men for his first Games and also making his first Australian Open Canoe Slalom podium and taking home the bronze medal. Dual Olympic medallistsĀ Jessica Fox, who already secured her Tokyo 2020 ticket at the World Championships last year, wrapped up the first day of finals at the 2020 Australian Open Canoe Slalom with a gold medal in the womenās kayak.
C1 Men
Tokyo 2020 Olympic dreams became reality forĀ Daniel WatkinsĀ at the 2000 Sydney Olympic canoe slalom venue on Saturday after the 24-year old finished fifth in the morningās semi-final and progressed through to the C1 final as the only Australian and securing the top spot on the overall Paddle Australia C1 selection rankings in the process.
With the 2020 Australian Open Canoe Slalom as part of the 2020 Sydney International Whitewater Festival doubling up as the final Olympic canoe slalom selection round, Watkins went into the weekend as the leader in the menās C1 after winning the first two out of four selection relevant races at the 2020 Oceania Canoe Slalom Championships in Auckland at the start of February.
In Auckland, Watkins was also the one securing Australia the quota spot in the class and now will add his name to the seat.

But on Friday, he missed his chance to already lock it all in and instead threw the Olympic door wide open again after VictorianĀ Tristan CarterĀ overtook him in the heats and with Rio OlympianĀ Ian BorrowsĀ andĀ Brodie CrawfordĀ progressing through to Saturdayās semi-final as well.
It was a nerve wrecking way to get there, but in the end Watkins was able to celebrate the top position on the selection ranking that will secure him the Tokyo 2020 C1 men spot withĀ formalities expected to be finalisedĀ later next week and with Paddle Australia nomination to the Australia Olympic Committee and final selection still pending.
āI had a really quick semi-final run, I had one touch and it felt really good in places. I wasnāt really sure if it would stack up and be as quick as it was, but it held and I moved into the final as the only Aussie. So that gives me two overall wins, one at Oceania, one today and qualifies my spot for the Olympic Games,ā Watkins said after the semi-final.
Progressing through to the final and racing on a high after locking in his spot, Watkins backed up his strong performance in the semi with a bronze medal in the world-class final a couple of hours later.
Robin Jeffery (coach + London Olympian) celebrating with Dan Watkins – Photo JGRImages
āThere was a lot of relief and lots of emotions over the last hour leading into the final run, lots of distractions to get back on the water and get back on the course and the run was similar to the semifinal but without the pressure and I had a lot of fun,ā Watkins said.
āIt was the best one just going out there after having already confirmed the spot. I was able to let loose and focus, I actually almost relaxed and went a little bit easier which worked really well,ā Watkins said finishing the final in a time of 98.20 after one gate touch and two seconds penalty.
āI went a little bit easier and used the water a lot better, I had a touch at the top and had quite a bit of time loss at the last gate but other than that I am really happy with the run. It is my first Senior podium at the Australian Open in C1, so Iām really happy with that,ā Watkins added.
SloveniaāsĀ Benjamin SavsekĀ took home the win in menās C1 withĀ Matyas LhotaĀ from Czech Republic coming second.
āThis was quite a strong field, not as strong as the World Cup but there are plenty of the top 20 here. So it was really nice to see what kind of times they are lying down and how close I can get to them,ā Watkins said about the caliber of the field.
C1 Men Podium – JGR Podium
“I am glad I made the best run on this course today, I felt inĀ good shape and I am really happy at the moment,” Savsek said.
“I have been in Australia for training for a month now, last time It was eight years ago and the (European) winterĀ training condition are amazing.Ā This race was just training before the selections series starts. Our Olympic spots are still openĀ and will be decided in April at home,” Savsek added about Slovenia’s Olympic selection
K1 Women
Following the C1 men, the womenās kayakers were at the start line, with Paddle Australiaās most successful canoe slalom paddler of all time and world number oneĀ Jessica Fox, progressing through to the final with a second place in the semi-final behind Germanyās world number threeĀ Ricarda Funk.
In the semi-final, Funk put down a time of 95.14 with Fox almost five seconds behind following a two seconds penalty, but in the final the order was reversed.
Fox finished the day with a clean run and a time of 97.87, while Funk got two touches which saw her +1.97 seconds behind in second. Franceās Camille Prigent finished third.
Jessica Fox K1 – Photo JGRImagesĀ
āI was happy to improve the sections I needed to from my semi-final.Ā I had a solid run in the semis but Ricarda was extremely fast so I knew that I needed to really step up in the final and try to fix the errors I made in the semi. So I was super happy with my top, then I had a couple of little mistakes, but really managed to really hold it together. I was pretty tired at the finish, Ricarda had a few penalties and it was enough to take the win today which Iām stoked with and it was fantastic to have another good battle out on the water,ā Fox said.
Fox already secured her Tokyo 2020 Olympic ticket in both the womenās K1 and C1 at the World Championships last year and was thrilled to have her first canoe slalom team mate to join her in Tokyo decided today.
āIt was extremely nerve wrecking watching the C1 race, knowing that it was still wide open and any of the boys could take it out. I I still had to focus on my race but I was very much in the race watching them, cheering for them and ducking gates with them. Dan really stepped up to lock it in, and that is fantastic for him and an Olympic berth, a rookie on the team and Iām exciting for him to join the club,ā Fox said.
K1 Women Podium – Funk, Fox, Prigent – Photo JGRImages
TasmanianĀ Kate EckhardtĀ was the only other Australian to make the world-class womenās K1 final and finished ninth, which sees her ranked as top U23 womenās kayak paddler.
āI was pretty happy to put down a solid semi-final run. I made a few mistakes in the final and picked up a penalty but happy to be out racing the final,ā Eckhardt said.
āThis should put me in the (U23) team and Iām really excited to be going to my last U23 championships. I have been the second Australian at all the selection races in K1 and that should put me in a good position for the World Cup team, which again is really exciting because Iāve missed out on that last year and itās good to be back fighting for that and getting some reasonable results,ā Eckhard said about the selection relevance of her racing with the Australian Open also doubling up as the final World Cup and U23 team selection event.
And about the Olympic selection of her fellow Tasmanian team mate Daniel Watkins she added, āIām super happy for him. He has shown that he was the best paddler over this selection series and his performance has been awesome and Iām so happy for him to be representing Australia in Tokyo. It is always good to represent the āLittle Island.”
Eckhardt – K1 Photo JGRImagesĀ
Both Jessica Fox and Kate Eckhardt will be back in action on Sunday in the women’s C1 semi-finals.
On Sunday, another Olympic ticket will be up for grabs in the K1 men and the battle will be on between current leader and Rio OlympianĀ Lucien DelfourĀ and Fridayās top ranked AustralianĀ Tim Anderson. Anderson finished second in Fridayās heats, while Delfour finished eighth.
The 2020 Sydney International Whitwater Festival is the final round of Paddle Australiaās canoe slalom national selection trials to confirm, who will be nominated to the Australian Olympic Committee for selection for Tokyo 2020 in the menās events. The weekend of racing will also decide the 2020 Paddle Australia canoe slalom teams, including World Cup, U23 and Junior teams, as well as Olympic reserves. Teams are expected to be announced at the end of February.
Sunday will also see the finals of the 2020 Paddle Australia Freestyle Championships.
See all results here:Ā http://bit.ly/SIWF2020ResultsUpdated
Live Stream Finals – Rewatch: Ā https://youtu.be/HFZtrEP0JwA
RESULTS, Saturday, 22 February 2020
Menās C1 Final
1- Benjamin SAVSEK – SLOĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 0Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 94.96Ā Ā Ā 0.00
2- Matyas LHOTA – CZEĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 0Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 97.84Ā Ā Ā +2.88
3- Daniel WATKINS – AUS Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 2Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 98.20Ā Ā Ā +3.24Ā Ā Ā
4- Marko MIRGORODSKY – SVK Ā Ā Ā Ā 0Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 98.31Ā Ā Ā +3.35
5- Roberto COLAZINGARI – ITA Ā Ā Ā Ā 0Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 98.70Ā Ā Ā +3.74
Womenās K1 Final
1- Jessica FOX-Ā Ā AUS Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 0Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 97.87Ā Ā Ā 0.00Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā
2- Ricarda FUNK – GERĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 4Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 99.84Ā Ā Ā +1.97
3- Camille PRIGENT – FRAĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 0Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 103.71Ā +5.84
4- Elena APELĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā – GERĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 2Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 105.44Ā +7.57
5- Eliska MINTALOVA – SVKĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 2Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 105.63Ā +7.76
9- Kate ECKHARDT – AUSĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 2Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 110.76Ā +12.89