WAIS-AIS kayaker Alana Nicholls has won silver and bronze medals at the Duisburg World Cup event in Germany over the weekend.
Nicholls again underlined her Olympic podium credentials by capturing silver in the final of the women’s K1 500m, before backing up a day later for bronze in the K1 200m, with both events on the Olympic schedule in London.
Having competed in Poland at World Cup 1 a week earlier, Nicholls appeared much better prepared for Germany with some competitive racing under her belt. The Bayswater paddler produced a scintillating final 150m in the K1 500m to storm into second place in a time of 1:52.26mins, flanked by the Hungarian duo of Danuta Kozak in first and Krisztina Fazekas in third.
Despite her renowned explosive finish power, Nicholls conceded that mid-race she thought she had missed out on a podium finish.
“It was good, I got to the 250 mark and thought I was out of the race, all I could see was girls around me, but I managed to pull something out and come home strong,” she said.
Already officially selected for the London Olympics, Nicholls backed-up to qualify for the final of the K1 200m, and again produced a high quality paddle to earn bronze behind Hungarian Natasa Douchev-Janics and New Zealand World Champion Lisa Carrington.
Pleased with her medal winning performances, the Ramon Andersson coached athlete had already identified an area of improvement in her race as she forecasts London.
“I am going to have to work on my speed a bit if I’m going to be competitive at the Games,” Nicholls said.
“There are a few tops girls missing here as well, but I think it is coming, I am working on it and I am getting there.”
There was further good news for WAIS head coach Ramon Andersson – who is working with the Australian sprint group in Europe – with his WAIS athletes Jesse Phillips and Stephen Bird qualifying for the A-Final of the K2 200m for the first time at World Cup level.
The pair finished ninth in the final, following a second place finish in the B-Final at World Cup 1, showing their improvement with each international hit-out as they build towards the London Olympic Games in August.
The duo will be hoping to record further improvement when they line up in World Cup three in Moscow, next weekend.
