OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS GO HEAD-TO-HEAD AT 2023 PA CANOE SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIPS

Day four of competition at the 2023 Paddle Australia Canoe Sprint Championships welcomed masters competitors for their first races, as paddlers across the junior and senior ranks continued to fly down the course at Champion Lakes in Perth.

Personal and Australian best times were broken, as conditions helped to power competitors home in the 200, 500 and 1000 distances.

The MK1 1000 kicked off racing on day four, with Olympic champions Tom Green and Jean van der Westhuyzen going head to head.

Green and van der Westhuyzen teamed up to deliver a gold medal in the MK2 1000 at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Two years later, the pair are eyeing off another Olympic berth in Paris, crediting the National Sprint Championships as a great preparation tool.

“It’s been quite a long regatta in this dry heat…it’s pretty warm and pretty tiring,” Green said.

“Coming into this regatta we didn’t do a taper, we’ve just been training straight through. To be honest, some of the results and the times have been really good so I couldn’t be much happier with that,” he said.

“It’s been really good here in Perth…another great opportunity to come here and practice a couple of races before the World Cups in a couple of weeks time,” van der Westhuyzen said.

“It’s great to come over here with the group, we’re having such a good time on and off the water.

“Every race has a little bit of pressure so it’s good to practice the process, practice the race plan and start fine tuning before the international season,” he said.

Earlier in the regatta, van der Westhuyzen managed to pip Green at the post in the MK1 500. But the strength of the men’s program across the board is something that both van der Westhuyzen and Green agreed is a positive.

“It’s been good to see the group grow and develop together. We have such a young group and we enjoy each other’s company and pushing each other every day,” van der Westhuyzen said.

“It’s great to have some guys like Riley Fitzimmons back in the team as well,” Green added.

“Having him a part of the team again is vital, especially leading up to the Olympics. He’s got such a wealth of knowledge, and us having such a young group it’s really important.

“Paris will be potentially his third Olympics – the experiences and lessons that you learn at the Olympics you can’t be taught and you can’t learn them anywhere else apart from being a part of that.

“So it will be good to have him as part of the team in the lead up to Paris, and for the international season ahead too,” he said.

Racing will come to a head tomorrow at Champion Lakes, with the final day of racing to get underway from 8am AWST.

For full results from today’s racing – click here

 

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