When the Bailey sisters first jumped into a kayak it was to escape the claustrophobia of the Covid 19 pandemic.
These days every pre-dawn stroke propels them towards July’s U23 World Championships in Bulgaria and the only thing they’re trying to outpace is each other.
The hardy souls that utilise our waterways in the early hours must do a double-take before rubbing the sleep from their eyes when they see identical twins Claudia and Alyssa stream past, matching each other stroke for stroke.
Claudia has been there before but for Alyssa, the selection in the Australian team is a first and the pair now join Paris Olympic squad members Jean and Pierre van der Westhuyzen as Bond University siblings representing Australia on the world stage.
The 19-year-olds’ journey to kayaking originally started in surf lifesaving. They grew up around the Mermaid Surf Lifesaving Club before making the transition to the star-studded Northcliffe Club when things started to become more serious at the age of 14.
It was Northcliffe coach Naomi Flood, an Olympic kayaker and national surf champion, who inspired the young duo to seriously pursue the sport of paddling.
“Naomi believed in us from the start,” Claudia said.
“We started in COVID, because paddling was very COVID safe, you were definitely always metres apart.
“So we borrowed one of our coach’s old kayaks and played around in it.”
Claudia, a former World Surf Lifesaving champion, quickly converted her success to kayaking winning four gold, three silver, and one bronze at the 2022 Canoe Sprint Championships which resulted in her being awarded a Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship in 2023.
She is now full time into kayaking with more than 10 sessions each week on the water and another four in the gym while Alyssa hasn’t quite hung up the Northcliffe togs yet.
“I still want to keep my hand in surf lifesaving, so I try and find a balance in my sessions between kayaking and also swimming and board paddling,” Alyssa said.
In between their rigorous training regimes the twins are pursuing their higher education at Bond University. Claudia, an ADCO Sports Sports Excellence Scholarship holder has undertaken a Bachelor of Sports and Exercise Science while Alyssa is studying a Bachelor of Commerce.
Claudia has returned from Canberra where she was based while undergoing an intense rehabilitation program for an injured shoulder and the pair can now be found out on the water together most mornings.
“I'm on the road to recovery. I'm back on water now, I’m nearly there,” Claudia said.
“It’s amazing to do this alongside each other. We obviously push each other, and it makes training fun and enjoyable.’’
Should the recovery go well, they’ll find out their boat selection for the World Championships about a month out from the event.
The athletes acknowledge their biggest competition lies in Europe and are excited to take another step towards their ultimate goal of competing at the Olympics.
“The European countries are phenomenal and produce extremely strong paddlers so it will be a tough competition that’s for sure,” said Claudia.
“And I would love to represent Australia in my own backyard as well in 2032 in Brisbane.”
The twins will compete with the U23 Australian Team at the Canoe Sprint World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria from July 17-21.