Travis Dodd is chasing a spot in the Australian kayaking team for the 2010 World Junior Marathon Championships. 22153By Marc McGowan
ENDEAVOUR Hills paddler Travis Dodd’s bid for national selection begins at the Victorian Marathon Kayaking Championships this weekend.
Dodd, 16, is already a multiple winner at state junior level and finished third in the 2.5km event at the Australian Marathon Championships in Sydney in March.
But the Year 10 Beaconhills College student’s next big goal is to be named in the Australian team for the 2010 World Junior Marathon Championships.
“It would feel pretty good to make it – I really want the uniform,” he said after clocking a personal best time in a punishing 5km time trial at Aura Vale Lake last Friday.
“If Jono (K2 partner and fellow Beaconhills student Jonathan Carter) and I get it we’ve said we’ll wear it to school.
“It would be a great feeling,” said Dodd as he works his way.
Dodd, who competes for Sherbrooke-Knox Canoe Club, has only been involved in the sport since starting at Beaconhills College’s Berwick campus four years ago.
At that stage, he was training up to eight sessions a week at North Lodge Swimming Academy in Dandenong.
Dodd still trains five times a week in the pool and competed at the Victorian Age Short Course Championships on the weekend.
But swimming has gradually taken a back seat to kayaking as Dodd climbs the ranks in his new pursuit.
“The scenery is good and you get to go all over Victoria, which I really like about it,” he said.
“The competing is awesome and you can meet really interesting people around it.
“Some guys have been kayaking for 30 years and it’s really interesting to talk to them,” said Dodd.
Dodd has trained under several renowned coaches, including Bree Meek – sister of bronze-medal winning Beijing Olympian Chantal – and current mentor Pete Garguilo.
Berwick-raised Garguilo, a multiple national medallist at open level, has high hopes for Dodd’s future.
“Travis has a really good work ethic, has a good attitude and has some of the best potential I’ve seen,” Garguilo said.
“There are a lot of variables involved in going on beyond senior level, but, if he wanted to, he has the potential to compete for Australia at senior level.”
“He’s certainly dedicated and is able to be independent … I don’t have to coax him along,” Garguilo said.
While the long hours Dodd has put in at Aura Vale and Lysterfield lakes have been a major factor in his success, genetics may also have played a role.
His father Graham’s cousin, Vic Browne, placed fourth in the men’s team pursuit cycling race at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“My mother’s side of the family were all champion bike riders,” dad Graham said.
“Travis has got a very strong competitive instinct and it would be fantastic if he got to represent Australia,” Graham hoped.
