Busselton paddlers Finn Caruana, Sophie Dickson and Jett Lewis sweep national championships

Three talented young athletes have done the South West proud, returning nine podium finishes between them at 2023 National Sprint Kayak Championships.

Finn Caruana, Sophie Dickson and Jett Lewis of the Geographe Bay Paddling Club brought home a collective one gold, two silver and six bronze medals from the weekend of competition, a stellar effort in what was their first ever national competition.

With some of athletes having been on the water for less than a year, coach Beau Lewis said he “couldn’t be more proud” of what the trio achieved.

“As athletes they’re now fired up to get stuck into more competition, but I’ve had to tell them ‘you’ve got to take a week off!’” he laughed.

“They did awesome, I’m really stoked and it gets noticed because we’re a small club down here and competing against some bigger clubs we’ve done really well.”

Caruana claimed the national title in the under-16 male K2 200m event, with an impressive 2:02.42 result, along with a silver and bronze in the K4 500m and K2 500m respectively.

Dickson also left her mark on the competition, finishing second in the under-14 female K4 500m, with bronze medals in the K2 200m, K2 500m and K2 1000m campaigns, while youngster Lewis also came home victorious with bronze in the under-12 male K2 200m and mixed K4 2.5 km races.

Coach Lewis said he hoped the team’s success would encourage more South West children to get involved in the sport.

“We want to encourage more people to get out on the water and hopefully these (wins) will work in our favour for that,” he said.

“It’s just another option sports-wise, instead of your general footy and cricket and all that. . . and it’s year-round, too.”

Eager to continue their kayaking careers, the group is now looking towards winter marathon-style events with several local events also lined up for the coming months.