Aussie sprint paddlers end World Cup with nine medals

·2-min read
AP PHOTO

The Australian sprint canoe team have wrapped their ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup 1 campaign in style, adding four medals including one gold on the final day of competition.

The Aussie paddlers finished the Hungary event with nine medals in total in promising signs ahead of next year's Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.

In the last race of the day, Australian teams finished one-two in the new mixed K2 500 event.

Reigning world champions Aly Bull and Jackson Collins blitzed the course to win in a time of 1:36.11 and were joined on the podium by Riley Fitzsimmons and Yale Steinepreis, who took out silver.

Dual Olympian Bull said she enjoyed mixing her racing program, and being able to paddle with Collins.

"It's such a tough race, I feel so lucky to be able to do these mixed events," Bull said.

"Jacko is amazing, and it feels really cool to paddle in front of him."

Collins, who's father Dan Collins won two Olympic medals for Australia, said he was learning greatly from paddling with someone of Bull's calibre.

"It's lots of fun, it's a really good event and a tough race," Collins said.

"The K2 500 is one of the hardest races out there so it's so much fun to be able to do it with Bully, and be able to get the win today."

Earlier in the day, Olympic champions Tom Green and Jean van der Westhuyzen won silver in the men's K2 500.

The pair finished 0.38 seconds behind Hungarian duo Bence Nadas and Sandor Totka in the hotly-contested final.

Paralympian Curtis McGrath won his second medal of the regatta, claiming bronze in the men's VL3 200.

McGrath's medal takes Australia's tally to three gold, four silver and two bronze for the first World Cup event of the season.

The men's sprint team will now turn their attention to the second World Cup event in Poznan, Poland in two weeks time (26-28 May).

Australia's women's and paracanoe teams will then return home to continue preparations for the 2023 Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Germany in August.