The Olympic Hopes Regatta in Piestany, Slovakia saw 32 Australian teenagers compete among 650 athletes from 27 nations. The three day event was targeted at providing the world’s best 14 to 17 year old sprint paddlers a chance to race at an international competition.
Victorian paddler Oliver James from INCC was selected to represent Australia at this event, competing in the Men’s Under 16 K1 100m and Men’s Under 16 K1 200m. He paddled well in the 200m competition, earning a place in the semi finals. James’ standout performance however was in the 1000m competition where he placed fourth in the final – one of the best results from the entire Australian team. James recorded a time of 3:29.028 which was less than a second behind the bronze medal winner.
Congratulations to Oliver for some fantastic achievements overseas.
The full list of results from the regatta can be found here.
For more information, check out the Australian Canoeing full article.
