ISCA Has Its First Ever World Champion! – Kailey Harlen
Ella Morgan
ISCA has its first-ever World Champion with former student-athlete Kailey Harlen winning gold overnight in Europe.
Kailey and Natalia Drobot claimed the gold in the U23 K2 Women’s 500m at this year’s U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Bulgaria.
Harlen, who completed her studies with ISCA in 2020, was thrilled to claim World Championship gold.
“I think I just zoned out from what was going on around me and trusted the process, I felt a strange sense of calm,” said Harlen after the race.
“I wasn’t focused on the outcome, I just went out there and focused on delivering the best race I could.
“I couldn’t have been more stoked when I crossed the line,” she said.
On the final day of competition, Harlen finished third amongst a tough field in the Women’s U23 K1 500, earning herself her second World Championships medal in as many days.
“It’s been a big week over five full days of competition, but (this week) has been better than I could have imagined,” said Harlen.
“This is my last under-23 competition so to finish it off like this is just insane.
“I couldn’t have done it without all the support so thank you to everyone here and at home.”
ISCA General Manager Ian Evans said Kailey was an outstanding contributor to the ISCA program, both within the classroom and with her training program.
“Kailey and her 2020 student cohort unfortunately had to switch to online studies due to COVID-19 very rapidly,” Evans said.
“But her effort and determination to complete her studies during this adversity and then to get back to training and play a pivotal leadership role with the other students just demonstrates her determination and character.”
Upon completion of ISCA, Kailey progressed to further studies at Macquarie University in Environmental Science, while maintaining her intense physical program with the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) program.
“On behalf of everyone at ISCA – including Kailey’s 2020 student cohort and staff such as Head of High-Performance Braden Woods – we congratulate her on this wonderful achievement,” Evans said.
