Liam Jegou heads up the Ireland canoe slalom team for 2019. The France-based C1 paddler, who was a silver medallist at the World Junior Championships in 2014, has chosen Pau as his base and is looking forward to competing with the team at the European Championships in Pau in four weeks' time (May 31st to June 2nd).
K1 paddler Hannah Craig, who finished 10th at the Olympic Games in London in 2012, has also been selected. The team hopes to qualify boats for the Tokyo Games come the World Championships at La Seu d’Urgell in Spain in late September.
Outstanding
The canoe sprint team has yet to be announced. Jenny Egan will hope to keep her outstanding form in longer events – and excel in the K1 500m, which is an Olympic discipline. Ronan Foley, who is still a teenager, has shown remarkable promise, though it would be quite a feat to qualify a boat at senior level.
In 2018, Egan took a bronze medal for Ireland in the K1 5,000m at the canoe sprint World Championships. Foley took silver in the junior K1 race at the canoe marathon World Championships.
Ireland Canoe Slalom Team 2019
Men
Senior: C1 – Liam Jegou, Robert Hendrick, Jake Cochrane. K1 – Eoin Teague, Sam Curtis, Oisin Farrell. Under-23: C1 – Jegou, Hendrick. K1 – Teague, Farrell.
Junior: K1: Ethan Dowling, Tom Morley, Adam Vaugh.
Women
Senior: C1 – Caoimhe O'Ferrall. K1 – Hannah Craig. Under-23: C1 – O'Ferrall.
Other athletes may be added.
