 Paddle Australia’s Olympic and Paralympic canoe sprint paddlers will kick-off the 2021 racing season at Lake Kawana on the Sunshine Coast this Saturday, 6 February 2021 for the 2021 Paddle Queensland Canoe Sprint State Championships.
It will be the first regatta since national team selections last year with Paddle Australia’s Tokyo 2020+1 Olympic kayakers out in force at the state title event.
The Australian Olympic canoe sprint team was one of the last teams selected and confirmed before the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Games and with less than six months to go to Tokyo 2020+1, the team is keen to get some racing under their belt.
Rio Olympians and Sunshine Coasters Alyssa Bull and Alyce Wood, who will be contesting the women’s K2 500 at Tokyo, are looking forward to be back racing on their home waters, while Paddle Australia’s newly formed Olympic women’s K4 will make its racing debut on the weekend.
The NSW, SA, WA crew combination of London and Tokyo Olympian Jo Brigden-Jones (NSW) and Olympic Games debutantes Jaime Roberts (WA), Shannon Reynolds (WA) and Cat McArthur (SA) will be racing out of contention for the QLD state titles though.
In the men’s events, team youngsters and Olympic Team debutants Tom Green (Varsity Lakes) and Jean van der Westhuyzen (Gold Coast) will be challenging Tokyo team mates and Rio Olympians Jordan Wood (Gold Coast) and Riley Fitzsimmons (NSW) in the K2.
Green + Westhuyzen - Photo JGRImages
In an Olympic-Paralympic combination, Rio Olympic medallist Lachlan Tame (NSW) will be testing the waters together with Rio Paralympic champion Curtis McGrath (Gold Coast) in the K2.
All will line up in the K1 events as well.
Paralympic champion Curtis McGrath as well as fellow Rio Paralympic medallists Amanda Reynolds (Currumbin Creek) and Susan Seipel (Brisbane) will also be kicking off their racing season at the Sunshine Coast with the Tokyo 2020+1 Paralympic team yet to be confirmed this year.
Also in action at Lake Kawana will be Queensland’s up and coming canoe sprint talent with Paris 2024 Talent Development Squad members Joel McKitterick (QLD), Pierre Van der Westhuyzen (QLD) as well as Sunshine Coasters Alexandra Clarke (Kawana Waters), Jenaya Massie (Kawana Waters), Mackenzie Duffy (Kawana Waters), Brianna Massie (Kawana Waters)
 The Paddle Queensland Canoe Sprint Champs kick-off a week-end of paddling at Lake Kawana with the canoe marathon and canoe polo state champs to follow on Sunday.
For entries and race information see here: https://regattas.paddle.org.au/regattas/1190
The Paddle Queensland State titles will be followed by the Paddle Australia Canoe Sprint Championships, which are scheduled at Sydney International Regatta Centre from 17-21 March 2021 with the event yet to be confirmed.
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