Jeffery to Contest Slovenia ICF World Cup
WAIS athlete Robin Jeffery will compete in this weekend’s Canoe slalom ICF World Cup event in Tacen, Slovenia.
The 2012 London Olympian will partner Ethan Hodson in the men’s C2 event, after fellow West Australian Kynan Maley retired from international competition after last year’s Games.
The duo will be looking to earn a top five spot, with the home Slovenia pairing of Saso Taljat and Luka Bozic favourites racing on their home course.
Jeffery will also contest the men’s C1 as one of three Australian competitors. A top ten berth is the goal for the Australian contingent, a feat none has been able to achieve thus far in the World Cup series.
A world class field has been assembled for the three day event with more than 200 athletes from 32 countries set to take part.
The Australian team will field the same line-up that has competed at the first three world cups.
One athlete looking to continue his red-hot form is Penrith Valley kayaker Lucien Delfour.
The 24 year old won K1 silver at the previous world cup in La Seu d’Urgell, Spain and currently sits fourth on the overall ICF points table.
Joining Delfour in the men’s K1 from Australia will be Victorian Jaxon Merritt and Penrith product Joey Croft.
The trio of Australians will face strong competition from local favourite and 2011 world champion Peter Kauzer. Others to keep a close eye on include French number one Etienne Daille and German trio Sebastian Schubert, Fabian Doerfler and Hannes Aigner.
Australia has dominated the women’s C1 event so far with Jessica Fox (first), Rosalyn Lawrence (seventh) and Alison Borrows (ninth) all currently ranked in the top ten ICF points table.
Fox currently sits on two gold and one silver and will be hoping to add to her tally in Ljubljana this weekend where she will resume her rivalry with British pair Mallory Franklin and Kimberley Woods, Slovakian Katarina Macova and Czech paddler Katerina Hoskova.
The 19 year old will be hoping that her excellent C1 form transpires into a strong performance in the ladies K1 event with the London silver medallist looking to move up from sixth on the World Cup point standings.
Fox will be joined in the ladies K1 by Lawrence who will also double up in both disciplines and Melbourne’s Sarah Grant who finished eighth at the second World Cup in Augsburg, Germany.
Lawrence will be looking to build on her recent strong performances competing at the Czech Nationals last weekend.
Slovenian duo Ursa Kragelj and Eva Tercelj will be the ones to beat with the duo eager to impress in front of their home crowd.
All five disciplines will be contested on the opening day with the women’s C1 heats to commence proceedings from 9:00am local time (5:00pm Australian Eastern Standard time).
The C1M, K1M and C1W semifinals and finals will be raced on Saturday, while the K1W and C2M semifinals and finals will be contested on Sunday.
-CanoeingAustralia