Australia’s Best Battle the Elements on Day Two at Champion Lakes

Day two of the 2026 Canoe Sprint National Championships delivered a full day of high-quality racing at Champion Lakes Regatta Centre, with paddlers from across Australia battling in challenging conditions. 

The first session saw paddlers from U14 to the elite open paddlers battle it out in finals from 8am AWST. A highlight from the session was the men’s and women’s K2 500m final. World Championship silver medallists, and New South Wales Institute of Sport scholarship holders, Kailey Harlen and Natalia Drobot showed pure dominance in the women’s final, winning with a 7.5 second margin. Olympic medalists Tom Green and Jackson Collins proved a solid pair to win the men’s K2 final. 

Collins said it’s been great to be back in Perth and racing at Champion Lakes.

“The quality of the paddlers here is so amazing. It’s really good to come over and test yourself against the best guys in the country.”

The men’s open group has a great camaraderie which Collins said they aren’t phased about when it comes to switching into race mode.

“We train together and we are such a tight-knit group. It is quite funny that we are so close and we lean on each other when it’s really difficult in our training sessions. Then to come here or to any regatta and then all of sudden they are your “enemy” so to speak. We are pretty good at transitioning from training to racing and then back into training,” he said. 

Drobot and Green continued their winning performances into the men’s and women’s K1 500m semi finals where they showed they are the ones to beat. 

The K4 invitational races were a treat for the local community to watch the top combinations on the water.

Heats and semi finals racing continued to rule the schedule as we near closer to the weekend. The 1000m heats rounded out the day and the course proved challenging with tricky wind conditions, giving the up-and-coming talent a real test on the water. 

The 2026 Canoe Sprint National Championships will continue through to Sunday 15 March with medals to be awarded daily across all age groups. 

For the schedule and results of the 2026 Canoe Sprint National Championships, click here.

Paddle Australia