Hawkes Bay Today

KAYAKING: Crunch time for Osborne
22.01.2008
By SHANE HURNDELL
IT’S getting close for Hawke’s Bay whitewater kayaker Aaron Osborne in terms of Olympic Games selection.

Napier’s Osborne (pictured, right), a K1 competitor, and his New Zealand senior canoe slalom teammates have an ideal opportunity to prove they are ready for Beijing when they compete against many of the world’s best at this week’s Australian World Series event in Sydney.

Osborne is in a field which includes four French stars – 2002 and 2003 world champion Fabien Lefevre, 2006 world champion Julien Billaut, 2004 Olympic gold medallist Benoit Peschier and last year’s world champion Sebastian Combot.

Also in the New Zealand team at the event being staged at the Penrith Whitewater Stadium used for the Sydney Olympics are fellow men’s K1 paddler Mike Dawson of Tauranga, women’s K1 paddlers Tania Perrett of Nelson and Tauranga’s Luuka Jones, C1 paddlers Mark Yungnickel of Auckland and James Dawson of Tauranga and the Tauranga-based C2 crew of Bryden Nicholas and Andrew Robinson.

“The World Series Australian Open event gives our Olympic contenders a chance to see how they stack up against their international rivals while our emerging young athletes get to line up against the world’s best and gain a taste of international racing, something that is not usually available so close to home for the kiwi contingent,” said White Water Slalom New Zealand representative Sue Clarke.

Following the World Series race, Osborne and the other top Kiwi paddlers will turn their attention to the New Zealand team selection races next month at Kawerau and Mangahao.

Selection in this team will give then an opportunity to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in August.

As Australia already has spots guaranteed in the men’s C1 and women’s K1 another Oceania athlete can take the remaining position, while in men’s C2 and K1 Aussie-Kiwi showdowns are tipped to decide the Oceania reps for Beijing.

The final chance to qualify for Beijing will be the March 15 and 16 Oceania Olympic Qualification regatta in Sydney.

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