Article: Jamie Troughton | Photos: Robin Jeffery - Lucien Delfour continued his canoe slalom rise as Australians dominated the Oceania championships on the Mangahao River near Shannon today.

The 24-year-old edged 2005 world champion Fabian Doerfler (Germany) in the K1 men's final to win the Oceania crown, finishing the challenging Mangahao course in 89.05secs.  Both paddlers were clear in the final, with Delfour - born in Papeete, French Polynesia and ineligible to race for Australia at the last Olympics - finishing 2.15secs clear.

New Zealand's Aaron Osborne, fresh from winning the national selection round in Kawerau a week earlier, was the leading Kiwi in third, clocking 99.63secs, while Gore's Malcolm Gibson was the top under-23 paddler in fourth and Alexandra's Finn Butcher captured the under-18 crown in fifth.

The shock result came from Olympic silver medalist Vavra Hradilek, who missed a gate in his the semifinal and failed to progress at the event, which doubled as the New Zealand Open.

The other London silver medalist, Australian prodigy Jessica Fox, reigned supreme in the women's division, winning both the K1 (kayak) and C1 (canoe) titles.

The 18-year-old picked up a 2sec time penalty in the final but still managed to finish clear of countrywoman Rosalyn Lawrence, albeit by just 0.21secs. New Zealand double Olympian Luuka Jones also picked up a touch to finish third in 1.06.15, 3.09secs adrift of Lawrence.

Another teenager, Czech Republic's Karolina Galuskova, was fourth, with another Australian Sarah Grant fifth.

Both Delfour and Fox are coached by Fox's mother Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, who won Olympic bronze for France in 1996.

As expected, Frenchman Thibaud Vielliard cleaned up in the C1 men's race, with Tauranga's Ben Gibb the best Kiwi in fifth, while another kiwi Kelly Travers was fourth in the women's C1.

Other Oceania titles went to Tauranga's Haylee Dangen in the under-18 women's K1, while Alexandra's Marcus Norbury took out the under-18 men's C1.

Most of the top international paddlers will now head to Australia for racing in Penrith, although Hradilek still has a chance at Kiwi titles, competing in extreme races on the Kaituna and Wairoa Rivers in Bay of Plenty next weekend.

Results Finals

• K1 men: 1. Lucien Delfour (AUS) 89.05, 2. Fabian Doerfler (GER) 91.20, 3. Aaron Osborne (NZL) 99.63
• K1 women: 1. Jessica Fox (AUS) 102.85, 2. Rosalyn Lawrence (AUS) 103.06, 3. Luuka Jones (NZL) 106.15
• C1 men: 1. Thibaud Vielliard (FRA) 97.61, 2. Robin Jeffery (AUS) 97.75, 3. Ian Borrows( AUS) 100.64
• C1 women: 1. Jessica Fox (AUS) 109.28, 2. Rosalyn Lawrence (AUS) 117.84, 3. Noemie Fox (AUS) 127.49

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