Jess Fox wins top award as sailing women earn accolades
PADDLER Jessica Fox and a pair of sailing teenagers have claimed top honours in their respective sports on a weekend of accolades for Australia’s top women on water.
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PADDLER Jessica Fox and a pair of sailing teenagers have claimed top honours in their respective sports on a weekend of accolades for Australia’s top women on water.
While Fox claimed the Canoeist of the Year award on Saturday night on the Gold Coast, Natasha Bryant and Annie Wilmot won the Female Sailor the Year mantle a night earlier in Sydney.
Two-time Olympic medallist and canoe slalom world champion Fox had a standout 2017 as she works towards representing Australia in both the C1 and K1 classes at the Tokyo Olympics.
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“It’s been an amazing year in the sport as a whole and also in sprint, paracanoe and marathon there were some amazing results, so to win this I’m really honoured and humbled,” said Fox, whose Australian teammate Curtis McGrath won Paracanoeist of the Year for his two world titles.
Surf lifesaver and K1 world champion Alyce Burnett received the Canoeist of the Year Award Non-Olympic.
Sydney sailors Bryant and Wilmot won their sports top award after claiming the 29er youth crown while America’s Cup winning skipper Glenn Ashby won Male Sailor of the Year.
Numerous other women were also inducted into their sports Halls of Fames.
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Round the world sailor Kay Cottee, dual Paralympic gold medallist Liesl Tesch and Sydney Olympic champion Jenny Armstrong and Belinda Stowell were inaugural inductees into the Sailing Australia Hall of Fame.
They were honoured alongside the Australia II team, Tesch’s skipper Dan Fitzgibbons, the first men’s Olympic gold medal crew, sailor Rolly Tasker and coach Victor Kovalenko.
Helen Brownlee, the first woman elected to the Australian Olympic Committee executive board, was inducted into the Paddle Australia Hall of Fame alongside the likes of Phil Coles and paddle great Clint Robinson.