Jeffery Takes Silver at Australian Open

Western Australian Institute of Sport canoeist Robin Jeffery has won silver in the men’s C1 final at the Australian Open event in Penrith.

The 2012 Olympian finished behind German Franz Anton, who weaved his way through the 18 gate course in a winning time of 91.47, 2.22 seconds ahead of Jeffery, with Czech Republic star Stanislav Jezek finishing in third.

Ian Borrows successfully appealed to finish fifth, after being adjudged to have missed a gate, while Jeffery’s fellow WAIS athlete and London Olympian Kynan Maley, finished seventh.

A very happy Jeffery disclosed that his concentration had been the key to his quick time down the Sydney Olympic course.

“It feels fantastic,” he said. “I was hanging onto it a little bit in places and I was just really happy that I kept my mind on the next gate the whole way down so I was not dwelling on anything.”

The 25 year-old Ascot club member later combined with Ethan Hodson to finish fourth in the men’s C2 final.

The newly formed duo finished 11.05 seconds behind the German pairing of Jan Benzien and Franz Anton who won the Gold in 102.30, 0.51 seconds ahead of fellow countrymen Kevin and Kai Mueller, while the Chinese crew of Fangjia Chen and Xiaodong Wang took home the bronze.

The result capped off a great weekend for Anton, with the German winning his second Australian Open Gold medal after victory in the men’s C1 on Saturday.

– Australian Canoeing