Australia's team for the Poznań world championships: Tom Green's six World Cup medals and two sets of siblings

Published

2026-08-06T06:33:26+00:00

Australia's team for the Poznań world championships: six World Cup medals, two sets of siblings and a 21-year-old leading the line

Paddle Australia confirmed its team for the 2026 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Poznań (26–30 August) on 5 August. Twelve athletes go in canoe sprint, six in paracanoe — and unlike most of the squads announced so far, this one arrives with a full set of World Cup podiums behind it.

The federation's own summary makes three specific claims: that Natalia Drobot won the K-1 500 m at the Szeged World Cup, that Tom Green has six World Cup medals this season, and that paracanoe's Ben Sainsbury has two World Cup golds. All three check out against the results, race by race.

The team

Six and six in the sprint, three and three in paracanoe. High Performance Director Brendan Purcell framed the selection as a reward for "athletes who have put together strong performances throughout the international season" — and the season backs the framing.

Tom Green's six medals, counted

The claim is easy to test, because every one of those podiums is on the record.

Tom Green, the two-time Olympic medallist, opened at the Szeged World Cup with bronze in the K-1 1000 m (3:22.93, 0.68 s off the win). In Brandenburg he took three: gold in the K-1 500 m in 1:44.05 — beating Germany's Jacob Schopf by 1.24 s and finishing 3.73 s clear of Poland's Alex Borucki in eighth — plus bronze in the K-1 1000 m and bronze in the K-4 500 m. In Montreal he added silver in the K-1 1000 m (3:36.64, 1.04 s down) and bronze in the K-4.

Six podiums across three regattas, in three different boats. He also won every heat and semifinal he started over 1000 m this season — a detail that matters at a world championship, where the qualifying rounds punish anyone who cannot control them.

Natalia Drobot, 21, and the fastest women's single in the squad

Natalia Drobot, born in 2005, is the athlete Paddle Australia puts at the head of the release, and the numbers explain why.

At Szeged she won the K-1 500 m A final in 1:46.43, holding off New Zealand's Fisher by 0.11 s, with Poland's Anna Puławska third a full second back. In Montreal she was third in the same event (1:52.46), behind Germany's Pauline Jagsch and Puławska. She also took World Cup silver in the K-2 500 m in Brandenburg with Kailey Harlen and was fifth in the Montreal K-2 final, in a race won by the Polish pair Martyna Klatt and Puławska.

Add the World Championship silver she won in the K-1 500 m in 2025 and the shape of her season is clear: at 21 she is already a regular in the medal conversation over 500 m, and Poznań is the event where that becomes a title bid rather than a promise. Twenty-four races this season, nine international medals in the record — this is an athlete arriving at the championship in form.

Two brothers, two twins

The release calls this squad "a true family affair", and it is not a marketing line — the crew sheets show it.

Jean van der Westhuyzen, born 1998, and Pierre van der Westhuyzen, born 2003, raced the K-2 500 m together in Brandenburg and finished third (1:36.64), 1.09 s ahead of the Polish pair Przemysław Korsak and Wiktor Leszczyński. They also sat in the same K-4 at all three World Cups.

Individually, Jean had the bigger senior season: he won the K-1 500 m in Szeged in 1:35.81 and took bronze in the same event in Montreal (1:36.89), 0.46 s behind the winner Schopf and half a second ahead of Borucki in fourth. Pierre, still U23, won bronze in the U23 K-1 500 m at the junior and U23 world championships in Halifax in 1:38.61 and was fifth in the U23 pair.

The twins are Alyssa and Claudia Bailey, both born in 2005. Alyssa won the B final over 1000 m in Szeged and reached the U23 A final over 200 m in Halifax, where she came within 0.04 s of winning her semifinal. Claudia has raced the women's K-4 at every World Cup this season. Neither has a senior medal yet, but both already have a full international campaign behind them.

Ella Beere and the 1000 m

The squad's other World Cup medallist is easy to overlook. Ella Beere, born 1998, took silver in the K-1 1000 m in Brandenburg in 3:57.65, finishing behind Germany's Heuser and 1.51 s clear of Italy's Zironi. A week earlier she had been fourth in the same event in Szeged (3:52.51), 0.17 s off the podium in a final led by Hungary's Zsóka Csikós.

Two results, both on a distance where Australia has no other senior contender, and both quicker than the Polish entry in those finals. Beere also reached the A final over 500 m in Brandenburg and raced the K-4 in Montreal — a broad programme that in Poznań is likely to narrow to what she does best.

The men's K-4 keeps landing on the podium

Australia's most consistent boat is the men's four, and it has stood on the podium at every World Cup it finished.

In Szeged the crew of the two van der Westhuyzens, Riley Fitzsimmons and Collins — the one man from that boat who is not in the Poznań team — took silver in 1:18.77, 0.32 s behind Hungary and 0.23 s ahead of Lithuania in a final where five crews finished inside 0.60 s. In Brandenburg, with Green in the boat, they were third. In Montreal — van der Westhuyzen, van der Westhuyzen, Green and Noah Havard — they took bronze in 1:22.27, 0.17 s behind Hungary in a final where six crews finished within half a second and Poland was sixth.

That is the reference point for Poznań. The same nine-boat field will reassemble on the Malta course with the crews that skipped Montreal added back in, and Australia will start it as a podium contender rather than a hopeful.

Paracanoe: McGrath returns, Sainsbury unbeaten in the va'a

The paracanoe six is small but heavily decorated. Curtis McGrath, the four-time Paralympic champion, returns to a world championship for the first time since Paris — and his only outing of the 2026 season was a win, taking his 200 m A final in Brandenburg in 0:44.98 after also winning his heat.

Ben Sainsbury, born 2001, has the season Paddle Australia flags: two World Cup golds, both verified in the results — the va'a 200 m A final in Brandenburg (1:00.38) and the VL1 200 m A final in Montreal (1:03.97). He was also seventh in the KL1 200 m final in Montreal, which is the honest measure of where his kayak still sits relative to his va'a. He goes to Poznań chasing an upgrade on his 2025 world silver.

Dylan Littlehales was fifth in the KL3 200 m A final in Montreal (0:41.54, 1.49 s off the win) after qualifying second from his heat. On the women's side Amy Ralph and Emily Paix raced the Brandenburg World Cup — Ralph reaching the A final, Paix the B final — while Susanna Wills made the 200 m A final there in her first international season. Paix and Wills go to Poznań for their first world championships.

Why these championships are worth more

The release makes a point worth repeating for every team in Poznań: there are one and a half times more ranking points on offer here than at a World Cup.

The Olympic qualification ranking for canoe sprint towards Los Angeles 2028 runs from April 2026 to December 2027, and athletes accumulate points from their best eight results across designated world championships, World Cups and continental championships. In practice that means a single strong Poznań result outweighs two decent World Cup weekends — and for a country like Australia, which does not have a continental championship of comparable depth to lean on, the world championships carry disproportionate weight.

That is the context behind Purcell's line about "an important step in the journey towards LA2028". It is also why a squad of this size travels with four athletes doubling across boats.

What to expect in Poznań

Australia has three genuinely live medal chances and a set of A finals behind them.

Green over 1000 m is the clearest: he was second in Montreal and third in Szeged in the same event, and his qualifying record this season is spotless. Jean van der Westhuyzen over 500 m has a World Cup win and a World Cup bronze in the event. Drobot over 500 m has a World Cup win, a World Cup bronze and last year's world silver. The men's K-4 makes it four, though the Poznań field will be deeper than any of the three World Cups.

Below that, the picture is honest rather than glamorous: the women's K-4 finished ninth in both A finals it reached this season, the women's K-2 fifth in Montreal, and the U23-aged group — Clues, the Baileys, Pierre van der Westhuyzen — is building rather than peaking. In paracanoe, McGrath and Sainsbury arrive as favourites in their classes.

For a team of eighteen, that is a strong ratio. Australia is not going to Poznań to gather experience; it is going to convert a World Cup season into championship medals.

Frequently asked questions

Who is in Australia's canoe sprint team for the 2026 world championships?

Twelve athletes. Men: Luke Egger, Riley Fitzsimmons, Tom Green, Noah Havard, Jean van der Westhuyzen and Pierre van der Westhuyzen. Women: Alyssa Bailey, Claudia Bailey, Ella Beere, Olivia Clues, Natalia Drobot and Kailey Harlen.

Who is in the Australian paracanoe team?

Six athletes: Dylan Littlehales, Curtis McGrath and Ben Sainsbury, plus Emily Paix, Amy Ralph and Susanna Wills.

When and where are the championships?

At the Malta regatta course in Poznań, Poland, from 26 to 30 August 2026. Canoe sprint and paracanoe run as one combined championship across the same five days.

How many World Cup medals did Tom Green win in 2026?

Six: bronze in the K-1 1000 m in Szeged; gold in the K-1 500 m, bronze in the K-1 1000 m and bronze in the K-4 500 m in Brandenburg; silver in the K-1 1000 m and bronze in the K-4 500 m in Montreal.

What has Natalia Drobot achieved this season?

She won the K-1 500 m at the Szeged World Cup in 1:46.43, took bronze in the same event in Montreal, and won World Cup silver in the K-2 500 m in Brandenburg with Kailey Harlen. She was also world silver medallist in the K-1 500 m in 2025.

Are there family connections in the Australian team?

Yes. Twin sisters Alyssa and Claudia Bailey are both in the women's squad, and brothers Jean and Pierre van der Westhuyzen race together in the men's K-2 and K-4.

Why do these world championships matter more than a World Cup?

They carry one and a half times more ranking points. The Los Angeles 2028 qualification ranking runs from April 2026 to December 2027 and counts each athlete's best eight results.

Racing on the Malta course begins on 26 August. Australia brings the form book with it: Tom Green with six World Cup medals, Jean van der Westhuyzen and Natalia Drobot with World Cup wins over 500 m, a men's K-4 that has not missed a podium, and a paracanoe pair in Curtis McGrath and Ben Sainsbury who arrive as favourites. Every heat and final is tracked on the championship page.

Read next: Denmark's team for Poznań — Mads Brandt Pedersen defends the K1 5000 m world title he has held since 2023.

Read next: Italy's team for Poznań — two U23 world champions from Montemor now contesting senior podiums.

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