Western Australian Trio Officially Selected for #Rio2016
Western Australia has its first officially selected athletes for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games after the Australian Olympic Committee this morning announced Stephen Bird, Daniel Bowker and Ferenc Szekszardi as members of the Australian sprint canoe team.
27 year-old Stephen Bird will appear at a second Olympic Games, having competed in London four years ago, whilst for Daniel Bowker (28) and Ferenc Szekszardi (36), Rio represents an Olympic debut as the Games are held in South America for the first time.
The 12-strong Australian squad contains a wealth of Olympic experience, with London 2012 gold medallists Murray Stewart and Jacob Clear joined by Beijing 2008 champion Kenny Wallace. This trio makes up part of the men’s 1000m squad of seven athletes, with final combinations for the K1, K2 and K4 1000 events set to be finalised via training camps and World Cup races in coming months.
Daniel Bowker is a member of this 1000m squad and the now Gold Coast based paddler confirmed it was validation for the biggest decision made in his paddling career.
“It’s exciting and a big relief,” Bowker said. “It’s been eight plus years of work that has led to this. I moved interstate back in 2013 to be surrounded by the best squad in Australia and try to get Olympic selection.
“Personally it’s awesome to be selected for my first Olympic Team but the job’s only half done. I’m putting my best foot forward to make sure I win another gold with these guys.”
Having competed in the men’s K2 200m in London, Stephen Bird will tackle his Rio campaign individually, after earning selection in the K1 200 where he will look to build on a sixth place finish on debut.
Ferenc Szekszardi’s selection is likely to represent one of the more remarkable tales for Australia in Rio, with he and crew mate Martin Marinov – at 49 years of age – forming one of the more unlikely Olympic bids, with the pair only committing to the C2 1000 event at the start of the year.
Historically, Australia has enjoyed strong medal success in sprint canoe/kayak, winning three gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals.
The sprint canoe/kayak events in Rio will be contested at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas across days 10-15 of the Olympic schedule.
Western Australia now has three officially selected athletes on the Australian Olympic Team for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Athlete Bios: