The 2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships get underway tonight (AEST) at the Lee Valley Whitewater Centre in London, home of the 2012 Olympic Games, and will run through to Sunday 24 September.

Australia’s nine-athlete team will compete in the three-person Canoe and Kayak Teams events on the opening day of competition. Then from Wednesday to Sunday, Olympic quota places for the Paris 2024 Games are up for grabs for the first 12 nations in the C1 events and first 15 nations in the K1 events, with Canoe quotas awarded before Kayak spots [for more information on the Olympic qualification process – click here]

Western Sydney Whitewater member and New South Wales Institute of Sport scholarship athlete Tim Anderson is coming into the Olympic qualifications event off the back of four top-10 World Cup finishes from four events so far this season.

The 29-year-old was the top ranked Aussie male in the K1 at the La Seu World Cup in Spain in August, placing 8th. In World Cup 3 in Slovenia, he finished 7th in the K1 and 8th in the Kayak Cross, after a 5th place Kayak Cross finish in the opening World Cup in Augsburg.

Anderson said he is looking to build on his consistent form in London and give Australia the best chance at securing a start in the Men’s K1 at Paris in under 12 months’ time.

“My season has been building really nicely, I’ve managed to make the final of the last two World Cups, so the form is looking good coming into this race, and I am really hoping I can capture this form again over the next week,” Anderson said.

“We’ve got our team objective which is to secure the Olympic quota position, but my own personal goal is to be in that final again and really pushing for a medal.

“It [the Olympic quota spot] is definitely in the back of everyone’s mind and it really means for those that aren’t in the final, it adds an extra chapter of drama for them as they can be very close to getting those quota spots in the semis, but really at the end of the day, you’re paddling as fast as you can for the race, so your race doesn’t really change.

“[Lee Valley] is quite a difficult course to get used to, it’s very physical and technical too, but I am feeling good on the course now,” he said.

Anderson will be joined by dual Olympian Lucien Delfour, a NSWIS scholarship athlete, in the Kayak events across the week, joining forces for the Team event on Tuesday along with Ben Pope, before the trio compete against one another in the MK1 heats and finals on Thursday and Saturday respectively.

Delfour started the season with three K1 top-10 results, including a fourth place in Augsburg. Like his teammate Anderson, he is focusing on consistently strong paddling in London.

“I was able to make three Finals in a row in the first three World Cups, and came really close in the final in Seu… so the paddling overall has been really good,” Delfour said.

“It definitely adds extra pressure [being an Olympic qualifying event], we can’t deny it, but at the same time, we really have to focus on the padding itself, that’s all we can control.”

Tristan Carter, Kaylen Bassett (NSWIS)Cand Brodie Crawford will link up for the Men’s C1 Team event today, before chasing Olympic quotas in the individual MC1.

Multiple Olympic, World Championships and World Cup medallist, and NSWIS athlete, Jessica Fox will headline the women’s events. Along with Tasmanian based paddler Kate Eckhardt, the duo will have the biggest program of the Championships, competing across the individual K1 and C1 events, Kayak Cross, and Kayak and Canoe Team events.

“London is definitely a course that I love, and I have good memories from London in 2012 winning that silver medal,” Fox said.

“We don’t race here often on the London course, but it’s the most physically demanding course, it’s also one of the most enjoyable to paddle on because there are so many features throughout the course.

“I think it will be a very exciting competition, the Brits are always very strong on their home course, so I’m looking forward to getting out there and battling it out,” she said.

In the three-paddler Team events today – a non-Olympic event that is unique to the Slalom World Championships – Jess and Eckhardt will be joined by Noemie Fox, who will also contest the Kayak Cross on the final day of competition.

AUSTRALIAN TEAM FOR 2023 ICF CANOE SLALOM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Lee Valley Whitewater Centre, London
19 – 24 September, 2023

WOMEN

  • Kate Eckhardt (TAS): K1, C1, WX1, Canoe Team, Kayak Team
    Jessica Fox (NSW): K1, C1, WX1, Canoe Team, Kayak Team (NSWIS)
  • Noemie Fox (NSW): WX1, Canoe Team, Kayak Team (NSWIS)

MEN

  • Tim Anderson (NSW): K1, MX1, Kayak Team (NSWIS)
  • Kaylen Bassett (NSW): C1, Canoe Team (NSWIS)
  • Tristan Carter (VIC): C1, MX1, Canoe Team
  • Brodie Crawford (WA): C1, MX1, Canoe Team
  • Lucien Delfour (NSW): K1, MX1, Kayak Team (NSWIS)
  • Ben Pope (WA): K1, Kayak Team

QUICK LINKS

  • Livestream (International Canoe Federation Recast Channel) – click here
  • For the full schedule –click here
  • For live results- click here
  • For more information about the event –click here
  • For more information on the Olympic qualification process –click here
  • For Paddle Australia’s Olympic nomination and selection criteria –click here

Courtesy of Paddle Australia

Photo by Kim Jones 

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