WAIS kayaking athletes are finalizing preparations for the opening rounds of Olympic selection events in Sydney next week, as the race to London begins.
Head Coach, Ramon Andersson’s squad will depart early next week for the Olympic Selection Race 1 and Oceania Championships at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, where spots for the U23 national team will also commence.
With the Olympic selection process being a “best of three” scenario, the Nationals commencing on the 14th March will round out the selection process. With two selection races for some events being completed next weekend, it is possible some Olympic events could be determined if the same athlete/crew win both selection races.
This means Alana Nicholls (Dianella) and C1/C2 paddler Ferenc Szekszardi (Karrinyup) could seal an Olympic berth if they are successful in the K1 200m and C1 or C2 1000m respectively.
On the local front, the 2012 WA Sprint Championships were held at Champion Lakes recently with Alana Nicholls, Steve Bird (Doubleview) and Jesse Phillips (Doubleview) dominating proceedings over the 200m and 500m distances.
As expected, Racice World Cup gold medallist Alana Nicholls controlled the women’s K1 events, powering out of the start and finishing strong, smashing the field in the K1 200 final in impressive fashion, recording a time of 40.97, to finish more than five seconds clear of former WAIS athlete Libby LeCoultre in second, with Jaymee-Lee Martin (Willeton) in third.
“Leading into states we had a pretty solid few weeks of training so it was good to get some racing under our belts”, Nicholls said.
“I feel I raced some pretty good times, so I was pleased with that.”
Nicholls continued her supremacy taking out the women’s K1 500 title in a touch over two minutes with LeCoultre and Martin rounding out the minor places once again.
On the back of an impressive showing at NSW Sprint Championships last month, K2 specialists Jesse Phillips and Steve Bird continued their dominance over 200m, combining to take out the state title in a time of 34.01s.
The duo then went head to head in the men’s K1 200 final, with Bird edging his fellow K2 companion by 0.26, crossing the line in 37.81.Bayswater paddler Brodie Holmes (Sorrento) finished in third, 0.41 seconds further adrift.
The men’s K2 1000 final went down to the wire with Reece Baker (Marmion) and Brendon Sarson (Karrinyup) holding off Daniel Bowker (Doubleview) and Brodie Holmes for the win in 3:24.01, with U23 paddlers Lachlan Cooke (Mosman Park) and Brendan Rice finishing third.
The spectators were treated to another tight tussle on the water for the men’s K1 1000 final, with Baker powering home to finish in 3:43.08, 0.74 seconds clear of Sarson, with Cooke edging Bird for third.
In the junior events, 17 year old Shannon Reynolds (Wembley) was ruthless winning the women’s U18 K1 200 and K1 500 events.
