Western Australian Trio Earn Nomination for #Rio2016

Published On: 8 March 2016

Australian Canoeing has announced the canoe sprint squad that it intends to nominate to the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) for official selection for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

WAIS athletes Stephen Bird and Daniel Bowker have both been named in the Australian squad, whilst former scholarship athlete Ferenc Szekszardi rounds out the three-strong Western Australian representation.

Australian Canoeing’s announcement came at the conclusion of the National Sprint Championships in Perth last week, which followed the first selection event in February at the combined Oceania Championships and Grand Prix 2 in Adelaide.

Pending official selection, Stephen Bird is set to compete at a second Olympic Games, after he debuted at the 2012 London Olympics in the men’s K2 200m. In Rio, Bird will focus on the individual K1 200 after securing his nomination with victory in this event at the Titles held at Champion Lakes. 

The decision made by 1000m paddler Daniel Bowker, to relocate to the Gold Coast, where the nation’s best in the discipline reside has paid ultimate dividends, with the popular athlete nominated to contest his first Olympic Games.

Bowker produced a thoroughly consistent set of performances across both selection regattas to cement his spot in the world class, seven-strong 1000m squad, that contains multiple Olympic and World Championship medallists.

Ferenc Szekszardi made a late bid for Olympic nomination after deciding to attend the Oceania Championships in tandem with 48 year-old, six-time Olympian Martin Marinov. The pair, off roughly six weeks training and preparation, topped the qualification rankings and will compete in the men’s C2 1000, with Marinov also contesting the individual event.

As with all Olympic qualifying campaigns however, there was disappointment to temper the success. London Olympians Jesse Phillips and Alana Nicholls fell short of nomination, whilst Brodie Holmes and Jaime Roberts, who had both been chasing debut campaigns, also missed out. All four paddlers produced high quality racing throughout the selection regatta process.