2026 Canoe Sprint Nationals Celebrates Biggest Participation Since 2016 in Perth

From 11-15 March, the Paddle Australia canoe sprint community celebrated the biggest participation at the Canoe Sprint National Championships in 10 years with incredible performances from the next generation, elite paddlers and legends of the sport.

The Champion Lakes Regatta Centre in WA was home to over 270 paddlers for an intense five days of competition where athletes from U10s to masters had to battle windy and challenging conditions.

The 2025 Paddler of the Year Natalia Drobot – a New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) Scholarship holder -dominated the women’s open category, taking out the K1 events in all three distances; 200m, 500m and 1000m.

Drobot said it was nice to be racing against a great group of girls in WA.

“It’s been a great week and I think some really great racing to see from myself but also the team around me. It’s really nice to be able to build from here and keep the momentum pushing through for the rest of the season,” she said.

Olympic gold medalist Tom Green was also a top performer in the open men’s group, winning the men’s K1 500m and 1000m distances. Local paddler Luke Egger also showed grit and determination to win the men’s 200m final on day five of the Canoe Sprint National Championships at his home regatta.

“We have such a big paddling community here in Western Australia. For a lot of them, they might not compete in their sort of events but having it here in Perth means they have the opportunity to. Seeing a lot of familiar faces around the regatta centre, saying hello to a lot of people so it’s really cool to be a part of that,” Egger said.

Bayswater Paddlesports Club (WA) won the overall point score for the regatta that featured standout performances from the rising stars of the sport including 2025 Junior Paddler of the Year Orlando Fonseca and Paracanoe paddler Griffin Angelatos.

Fonseca was a force in the men’s U16 category, taking home nine gold medals from this national championships. He’s enjoyed the home course advantage this week as he sets his eyes towards bigger goals.

“Paddling here at Champion Lakes in Perth has been great to have the home advantage. It’s honestly been fun. I love the atmosphere that’s been about this regatta and just catching up with mates from other states.

“My absolute dream goal is the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane. It’d be really cool to make the Olympics for this sport.

Angelatos has also been busy at Champion Lakes, racing across 20 events in both Para canoe and able-bodied disciplines. Like his club mate, his goal is to represent Australia on the biggest stage in canoe sprint.

“My Olympic dream is to try and get to LA2028 and then hopefully go to Brisbane 2032,” Angelatos said.

A highlight of the event was the Legends K2 200m races on Saturday 14 March, bringing together past Olympians like Ken Wallace, Jaime Roberts and Jo-Brigden Jones, as well as masters athletes and icons of paddlesports across the country.

The Legends K2 200m final was won by 2023 Ocean Racing World Champion Jemma Smith and NSWIS Head Coach of the Canoe Sprint Program, Jake Michael.

“It was just great to get out on the water with so many amazing paddlers and legends of the sport who are all still involved so it’s a bit of fun,” Smith said.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic teammates Jaime Roberts and Jo Brigden-Jones wore their Olympic kit in the Legends event in what was the first time they had paddled together since the Olympics.

“I really enjoyed that race out there. To be amongst the people out there, there was plenty of banter out there that’s for sure,” Roberts said.

Brigden-Jones said she believes it was the most popular race of the entire Nationals.

“I felt like everyone was watching and cheering. It was just so fun to be out on the water with people that we’ve been involved with throughout our whole career. I’ve been involved in the sport since 2001, and to have some coaches, support staff out on the water racing and my old teammates was special,” she said.

The event also welcomed paddlers competing at a national championships for the first time, including U14 women’s rising star Chloe Balazs, from Fairfield Canoe Club in Victoria.

“I’m here at my first Nationals and I got here by a lot of training and very supportive people around me. My parents are so amazing when it comes to how much training I do – having to wake up early on a Thursday morning.”

Balazs said competing alongside Olympians and Paralympians this week was an incredible opportunity to watch and learn.

“Being around such amazing people, who are so talented, it’s very inspiring. I love watching them to see how I can improve and try and follow in their footsteps,” she said.

For all results from the 2026 Canoe Sprint National Championships, click here.

Paddle Australia

Photos: Ingo Burkhardt