Perth has secured the 2022 Paddle Australia Canoe Sprint Championships that will be held at Champion Lakes Regatta Centre from 29 March – 3 April 2022.
The event will attract competitors from U12 through to elite Olympic and Paralympic canoe/kayak paddlers, and as well as a variety of paddle disciplines.
Paddle Australia CEO, Phil Jones, said Perth will provide a great opportunity to help grow the Australian Canoe Sprint Championships.
“We’re very much looking forward to going to Western Australia and having the Championships at Champion Lakes.
“From our point of view, tying it in with the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships means that our paddlers, a lot of who compete in both, will really be able to optimise their time.
“It will be great to see next year, more people from other disciplines like surf skis and stand up paddle boards involved. I think we can also expect a strong growth in the Masters event, with a lot of strong masters kayak paddlers in Western Australia.
“To be able to grow a national event you need strong partnerships and we are pleased to be working with Venues West and Paddle WA as we’re confident they’ll do a really good job,”
Perth native and Tokyo Olympics bound kayaker, Jaime Roberts, said she is thrilled her home State will have the chance to bring together the country’s best paddlers.
While she is counting down the days to Tokyo, she said the 2022 Canoe Sprint Championships will be the first big milestone on the path to the Paris Olympics.
“It’s very exciting, I probably fly the biggest WA flag, so I’m super excited for it to be back in WA. Champion Lakes always seems to put on a nice, fast course and who doesn’t like going fast!
“The Paris Olympic Games is going to be on our doorstep in two and a half years time and we’ll have to qualify for that. So the Perth National Canoe Sprint Championships will be the first step on that journey.
“The sport is growing in WA, we’ve got some great development and junior coaches, including in the Para disciplines.
“With Perth also hosting the Aussies Surf Life Saving Championships, it’s a great opportunity to first go and do the Kayak Nationals at Champion Lakes, and then hit the beach at Scarborough and Trigg.
“It’s a great opportunity for Perth, having those two big events one after the other to keep people in the State, and show everyone how great WA is,” she said.
For Paddle Western Australia’s Executive Officer, Rosalie Evans, she said they are looking forward to welcoming the Paddle community to Perth.
“We’re over the moon and already working on volunteers, and have great support from VenuesWest to make this a memorable Canoe Sprint Championships.
“For us to have the Nationals, it’s a good focus point for our athletes to keep training and to keep fit. Having it in our own State is just such a winner for us.
“We’re really pushing not just with our kayaks and canoes, but with outriggers and other paddle disciplines as well. We’re wanting to open it up to all paddle sports,” she said.
