canoe women down under

This is a picture of Rosalyn Lawrence, a kayaker from Australia. Notice anything unusual? That's right! She's in a canoe! Rosalyn threw down a great pair of C1 runs in Australian Nationals at Penrith this past weekend. I was thrilled to see a C1W class. Nationals were held in conjunction with the qualifier heats for the first 2008 Canoe World Series race (www.canoeworldseries.com), where Rosalyn placed 6th in women's K1.

This was the first major race of the 2008 season, and several American athletes were there to see how they would stack up after their winter training. Many are working towards the Beijing Olympics in August -- the US Team Trials will be held in late April in Charlotte, NC to determine who will get to go.

Not surprisingly, Tony Estanguet (FRA), Robin Bell (AUS), and Michal Martikan (SVK) were the top three C1s. Bell performed extremely well on his home course. Estanguet and Martikan continued their battle for the top spot which has been ongoing for years. More than a decade after his Olympic gold in 1996, Martikan remains one of the dominant forces in slalom canoeing. Estanguet won the gold in 2000 and 2004, and his performances are very consistent. So, let's just say Beijing is going to be very interesting. Benn Fraker (USA) was paddling his brand-new canoe designed in partnership with iTomCo. Apparently he is getting used the the new hull with a solid 6th-place finish. Also from the US, Jeff Larimer placed 13th and Eric Amason placed 18th.

Full results, including C2 and men's and women's K1, are posted here: http://australianopen.canoeworldseries.com/en/results