Four Illawarra kayakers have proven that they can match it with the world's best, with the group impressing at two recent international competitions.
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Callum Elliott, Jasmine Locke, Kynan Burke and Tarren Elliott all represented Australia at the Asia Pacific Cup in Japan, while Callum and Jasmine also pulled on the green and gold to compete at the Junior World Championships in Hungary.
The Illawarra Canoe Club members shone at both events, combining for three gold medals, eight silvers and two bronze medals.
It was great reward for the quartet, who have worked hard under the guidance of coach Adam Dean for the past two years.
The four members have travelled up to Narrabeen once a fortnight for training with fellow NSW athletes, while they have spent countless hours training on the water in Mirramurra and have also shown great dedication in the gym, and running and swimming, in preparation.
With kayaking not being a mainstream sport, Dean said these local athletes didn't always get the recognition that they deserve.
"I'm particularly proud of what they've achieved in the period of time that they've done it. They started off as novices two years ago, and to get to a national level in such quick time is a pretty good achievement," Dean said.
"They all had an introductory to the sport before they met me, and now they've been with me for two years. The long game is for them to represent Australia as an open athlete, so what they're doing now is going through the NSW pathways program - which I'm part of as NSW under 21s coach.
"The idea of that is to nurture the kids through the sport until they get to the open national level."
The ongoing impact of COVID meant it was the first time in recent years that the Illawarra locals had been able to travel overseas for a competition.
Balgownie's Callum Elliott made the most of the opportunities, securing two gold medals and two silvers combined from the Asia Pacific Cup and Junior World Championships.
"I'm pretty proud of myself to show that the hard work I've done at training has paid off," he said.
"I was up against the best in the world, and it was a bit of a shock for us Australians, because we haven't been able to go overseas for two years now because of COVID, whereas the European countries have been racing against each other. We didn't really know how we'd fare, but we didn't go too badly."
University of Wollongong student Jasmine Locke also joined Stewart at both events in Japan and Hungary.
Locke, of Towradgi, returned to Australian shores with a gold, two silvers and a bronze medal.
"I hadn't had any international experience, so there was less pressure on us as a crew, so it was a relaxed environment, but it was also tense in terms of everyone wanting to achieve their best on a world scale," Locke said.
"It was really special to represent Australia again. It was a long time coming, I made my first team in 2020 and then again in 2021, and it was always my goal to go overseas and get to represent Australia. So it was an honour, I was so excited.
"The whole team environment was amazing, and there were some amazing results across the board."
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Meanwhile, Kynan Burke and Tarren Elliott were part of the Australian team that competed at the Asia Pacific Cup, with the pair picking up a swag of silver and bronze medals.
Burke and Elliott both competed in the under 16s category and were selected as part of the National Development Squad.
"It was a good experience, I was pretty proud to represent Australia," Burke said.
"Adam has been helping me out throughout the year and pushing me through, so it's good to get some reward."
Elliott added that it was a great opportunity to compete at the Cup in Japan.
"It was a tough competition, the Japanese girls were pretty fast, so it was pretty close. I was very proud to represent Australia, it was a really good learning experience," she said.
"I just love doing it and training with the people I do, and racing with them as well."
They started off as novices two years ago, and to get to a national level in such quick time is a pretty good achievement.
- - Adam Dean
Illawarra Sports Awards
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
