Oceania Canoe Association activities

Oceania's success in France 

The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games have dominated this quarter. Australia and New Zealand competed in Canoe Slalom which saw the debut of kayak cross while Guam and Samoa joined the two nations for the Canoe Sprint events. Australia and New Zealand were also part of events at the Paralympic Games.    

Oceania achieved unprecedented results, winning four of the six gold medals on offer in slalom and topping the medals table. Australia was the most successful country in slalom at the Games. 

Noemie Fox and Finn Butcher secured titles in the women's and men's kayak cross, respectively, while Jessica Fox claimed double gold medals in the women’s canoe and kayak.

In the second week of the Games, it was time for Canoe Sprint to take centre stage. With teams from Guam, Samoa, Australia and New Zealand, Oceania was well placed to have a successful Games.

Raina Taitingfong from Guam raced in both the canoe single 200m and kayak single 500m. She was part of an Oceania development camp in February, where she made great improvements in C1 and hopes to continue moving forward.

Samoan athletes Samalulu Fuatino Te Aho Clifton and Tuva'a Mako Hugo Clifton competed in the women's K1 500m and men's K1 1000m, respectively. Both reached the quarterfinals, which was a great achievement for our developing Member Federation. These athletes also attended the Oceania development camp and the Oceania Championships in Australia earlier this year. 

Our powerhouse nations of New Zealand and Australia were primed and ready to race. Dame Lisa Carrington of New Zealand cruised to victory in the women's K1 500m before teaming up with Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan to win the women's kayak four 500m and adding the women's kayak double 500m with Hoskin.

She beat Hungarian Danuta Kozak’s record title-winning haul of three at a single edition of the Olympics, doing it for back-to-back Games, meaning New Zealand finished as the most successful country in Canoe Sprint at Paris 2024.

The Paralympic Games saw more laurels for the region with the sensational Curtis McGrath of Australia adding to his Olympic gold medal tally by winning the KL2 title. Compatriots Dylan Littlehales claimed the men's KL3 silver while Susan Seipel won bronze in the women's VL2.  New Zealand also stood on the podium thanks to Peter Cowan winning bronze in the men's VL3.

Oceania is very proud of all its athletes who attended the Games, and I have only highlighted the medallists and our developing nations in this report.

Thank you to all the coaches, specialists and volunteers who support our athletes and the ITOs without whom these events would not go ahead

As we settle back into a routine after the Games, Oceania will be supporting Australia with the 2025 Canoe Slalom World Championships being held in Penrith and Tahiti with the 2027 Ocean Racing World Championships. 

By Danielle Woodward, Secretary General of the Oceania Canoe Association