National titles on the water

Two NSWIS athletes secured national titles at the Australian National Slalom Championships in Penrith at the end of last week.

Two-time Olympic medallist and NSWIS athlete Jess Fox won gold in the women’s C1 and K1, and fellow Rio Olympian Ian Borrows took gold in the men’s C1.

Fox was in impressive form to win two titles despite suffering from a throat infection. She said, “I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent, so it was good to still be able to push myself and race well.”

Borrows was pushed hard in the heats by some promising young paddlers, but showed his class in the final run to record a convincing victory.

He said, “After the heats I had a bit of pressure put on me, so today I wanted to pull off a solid run. I was feeling very rusty. I am coming off a pretty big break. I kept my fitness up but hadn’t been paddling much.

It was a strong field today, so I really wanted to keep in front of them and keep them at bay for as long as I can.”