The local canoe club at Forth River hosted the National Age Slalom Championships at the start of the New Year. Competitors from the local club competed against juniors and masters from Victoria, NSW, Western Australia and southern Tasmania.
Local paddlers worked hard to earn medals against tough competition from across Australia at the Canoe Slalom Championships finished Sunday. U14 paddler, Dougal Folder teamed up with some southerners to take out a silver medal in the U14 kayak team’s event. Local club commodore, Russell Horton also gained a Bronze in the vintage team’s event. Cam Folder performed well in the Masters individual slalom finishing in the top ten amongst some elite paddlers.
The Kayak Cross proved to be the crowd pleaser. Each race has 4 competitors who go head-to-head. Launched from a ramp, they skid down the bank, race around poles, sprint down the river, and roll while crashing into each other. The loudest cheer of the day was for U12 girl, Nia Davey from Hobart, who found herself under pressure. Nia was leading, before tangling with other paddlers, rolled and went on to later capsize. With a medal on the line, the crowd watched, waited and wished, for her to roll back up. One attempt, two attempts, third attempt and almost up, the crowd cheered and then sighed deeply as she went under again, then a fourth attempt and the crowd were silent – she’d let go of her paddle. Out of nowhere a hand was flung above the water and she managed to right herself. The crowd burst with relief cheering and yelling, “Go, Go, Go.” With little breath remaining she grabbed her paddle and completed the course to earn a silver medal. Local, Dougal Folder won his heat of the Kayak Cross and progressed to a tough semi-final, before being eliminated.
Commodore of the local club at Forth, Russell Horton, was pleased to see such a big field. “Forth proved to be popular with 140 competitors and the largest competition for many years. The slalom racing courses were a real test for all competitors from juniors to masters. Challenging wave crosses and quick down river changes made each competitors work hard to come up with a race plan. The creativity of the course designers put pressure on the best paddlers.”
The club is holding a junior kayak school in mid-January and with the local interest already shown he is looking forward to increasing junior participation. “I’m expecting our juniors will be ready to compete in 2027”. Russell Horton 0400255946
Forth hosts Slalom Championships – Russell Horton
