Since first picking up a paddle at 15, kayaker Claudia Bailey has wanted to wear the green and gold at the Olympics.
Over the next year, the Bond University ADCO Sports Excellence Scholar has the chance to turn that ambition into reality alongside the person who has been there from the very start: her twin sister Alyssa.
Claudia and Alyssa have made the Australian team together before, but this month’s World Championships in Poland is particularly special.
The sisters will race at Poznan’s Malta Regatta Course in the women’s K4 500m together for the first time.
The event is a major checkpoint on the runway to LA 2028, with valuable points towards Olympic quota spots on offer.
“I’m just so excited to race – we’ve put a lot of work in over the past year and I’m looking forward to putting it all together against the best in the world,” Claudia said.
“The K4 in Poland will be the first time Alyssa and I have paddled a senior international boat together.
“To share the experience with someone who has been on the whole journey with makes it even more meaningful.
The Baileys won’t be the only Bull Sharks siblings sharing a start lane.
Bond alumni Jean and Pierre van der Westhuyzen will look to stamp their authority with Riley Fitzsimmons and Jackson Collins in the men’s K4.
In Paris 2024, Pierre and Jean won silver and bronze as part of separate teams in the men’s K2 and K4 respectively but this Olympic cycle, they are chasing success together.
After craving a new challenge, Jean recently stepped into the men’s K4, an event which has a storied history in Australian kayaking.The two sets of siblings will have differing experiences when they race in Poland.
The Baileys will deliver raw power in taking the back two seats of the women’s big boat.
The van der Westhuyzens will sit at the front of the men’s crew, responsible for setting the pace and the technical foundations.
11 crews are selected worldwide to race in LA, which must include a minimum of four continents represented.
The Australian men have claimed podiums at every World Cup event this year and if they stand atop the dias in Poznan, they’ll have their ticket to LA half-punched.
Our women will be pushing for a top six position, more importantly aiming to get over the top of Olympic champions New Zealand to claim the spot for Oceana.
Another Bondy, Bachelor of Psychological Science graduate and Paris Paralympic silver medalist Dylan Littlehales, will race in the men's KL3 200m.
For Claudia Bailey, the journey to sport’s brightest stage is full of moments she is making sure to savour.
“We spend so much time caught up in training every day that you can forget just how incredible it is to represent Australia,” Bailey said.
“Sometimes you have to zoom out and realise how special it is to do what you love while wearing the green and gold.
“It’s something I never want to take for granted.”
The 2026 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships will be contested in Poznan from 26-30 August.