Roberts sets Early Marker for 2017 Campaign at GP1
Kayaker Jaime Roberts has set an early marker of intent for the 2017 domestic season by dominating GP1 at Adelaide’s West Lakes regatta centre.
Roberts won five events at the South Australian Grand Prix and looked in confident early season form as the campaign for selection on the 2017 national team for the Sprint Canoe World Championships in the Czech Republic made its fledgling steps.
In the aftermath of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, there were many senior Australian team members absent in Adelaide, yet Roberts showed across 200m, 500m and 1000m formats, that she will be making a concerted bid to return to the senior international fold in the new year.
Roberts – who celebrated her 26th birthday earlier this month – won the women’s K1 200m event ahead of home state paddlers Cat McArthur and Francesca Kidd. Roberts paddled from lane four, finishing in 1:56.46min and was .86 of a second clear of second place.
In the women’s K2 500m, Roberts paired with fellow WAIS scholarship holder Shannon Reynolds – with the duo winning ahead of two composite crews. Their time of 1:47.50min was well clear of the field.
Reynolds who is still shy of her 22nd birthday was similarly impressive in Adelaide and is also aiming to return for national selection in 2017, with U23 calculations firmly on the radar.
The duo backed up for further team boat wins in the K2 200m and K2 1000m, whilst Roberts was also quickest in the individual 200m race and third in individual 1000m effort.
WAIS canoe head coach Ramon Andersson said that Roberts’ efforts had stood out, particularly when factoring in her load based training preparation in the lead up to GP1.
“Very encouraging start to her season given that she has done virtually no start practice and very limited top end work,” he said.
He was also full of praise for Reynolds’ efforts in Adelaide.
“Excellent regatta from her combining well with Jaime to win all K2 events, with the 200 most impressive. Shannon also had an excellent K1 200, finishing third ahead of Cat McArthur.”
In the men’s field, GP1 was very much a look towards the future, particularly in the shorter forms. With WA bastions Jesse Phillips and Stephen Bird likely to take time away from the sport and national team members Kenny Wallace and Lachy Tame not competing in South Australia, GP1 provided an interesting opportunity for newer faces.
In the absence of more familiar names, WA athlete Sam McTigue combined with South Australian Jared Lee to dead-heat in first place with Callum Dunn (SA) and Tim Symonds (SA) in the men’s K1 200m event. Both crews clocked 34.56sec.
Andersson referred to a “breakthrough regatta” for McTigue, indicating that he would gain great confidence from the weekend performances. McTigue will be eyeing a spot on the Australian U23 team in the 2017 international season.
In other WA returns, Todd Brewer had a good hit out as he began a campaign focused on the 1000m events, switching away from the 200m distance that he had prepared for in the lead-up to Rio selections. Emerging talent Yale Steinepreis was competitive in the 500m and 200m fields, whilst Josh Krippin and Mark Stowe made solid gains, switching from marathon paddling and overcoming long-term injury respectively.
The domestic season returns in full-force at GP2 in February next year, ahead of the sprint canoe national championships, with both events to be held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre in Penrith.