Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) athlete Kate Lawrence has won gold in the women’s under-23 K1 and C1 events with a superb performance at the Merano International Canoe Slalom competition, held in Italy from 4–5 June.
Lawrence, a member of the Australian Team 22 (T22) cruised to victory in the women’s K1 event on day two, recording the fastest overall time of 102.79 seconds in the first of two runs, 0.13 seconds ahead of Germany’s Jacqueline Horn. Germany’s Stefanie Horn finished in third place (106.10).

‘I was keen to do that little bit better and it was great to get a win under my belt to kick off my European season, especially after a week of getting over jetlag,’ Lawrence said. 

Later that day Lawrence claimed double gold, winning the women’s C1 event with a score of 125.52 seconds, less than a second clear of Austria’s Julia Schmid.
Lawrence’s team mate Ali Borrows finished in third place (135.09).

‘The C1 win was a surprise — I entered for a bit of fun but was quite happy with how I paddled considering the last time I was in a C1 I felt quite wobbly,’ Lawrence said. 

In other strong results for AIS athletes, Ethan Hodson claimed silver in the men’s C1 event, recording a time of 100.76 seconds, behind the winner of the race, Slovakia’s Patrik Gajasky (99.80). 
Hodson was thrilled with his performance.

‘Overall it’s a good start to the season.  I am looking forward to training hard and building on this result in the future,’ Hodson said.

 AIS athletes Lucien Delfour finished in 4th place in the men’s K1 event, while Ian Borrows finished 6th in the men’s C1 event.  

T22 Head Coach Yann Le Pennec said that the AIS athletes performed strongly at the Merano International Canoe Slalom.

‘I was happy with the performance on Sunday, the athletes had less penalties and paddled closer to their real potential,’ Le Pennec said.

The T 22 squad have spent the last two days after the competition recovering at the AIS European Training Centre in Varese, utilising its recovery centre, gym and physio facilities.

The team will then head to Bourg Saint Maurice in France for a training camp under the guidance Le Pennec in preparation for the ICF Ranking event starting on 14 June.