JO BRIGDEN-JONES

Recent Performances

• 1st (K4 500m) - 2012 National Championships (Penrith, Australia)
• 1st (K4 500m) - 2012 Oceania Championships (Penrith, Australia)  
• 5th (K4 500m) - 2011 World Cup 2 (Racice, Czech Republic)
• 7th (K4 500m) - 2011 World Cup 3 (Duisburg, Germany)
• 3rd (K2 200m), 5th (K4 500m) - 2011 World Championships (Szeged, Hungary) 

Career Highlights

• Coming third in the K1 200m at the World Cup in Szeged, Hungary, 2010
• Being ranked Number Two on the ICF World Cup series point-score in 2010
• Winning the last K1 500m Olympic selection race as a 19-year-old in Penrith, 2008

Interesting Facts

• Jo Brigden-Jones was ranked the World Number Two K1 paddler before a serious shoulder injury disrupted her paddling and kept her sidelined for ten months (August 2010 - May 2011).
• Brigden-Jones returned to the kayak with gusto, finishing fourth in the K1 1000m at her first World Cup since returning from injury in Poland, and has never looked back.
• The Manly Warringah paddler joined forces with Hannah Davis, Lyndsie Fogarty and Rachell Lovell after the Australians tested different K4 combinations leading into the 2011 World Championships. After just four weeks together the powerful quartet won Australia's K4 quota place at the Games by placing fifth at the 2011 World Championships in Szeged, Hungary.
• Brigden-Jones is one of three Manly lifesavers representing Australia in kayak at the Olympics alongside Murray Stewart and Naomi Flood. She is also a registered nurse.
• The Sydney Northern Beaches Kayak Club discovered Brigden-Jones when she was 13-years-old through their Talent Identification Squad. The youngster had been involved in swimming, athletics, basketball and netball but her height and arm-span indicated her potential as a paddler. Brigden-Jones did not take to the sport immediately, and fell out of the boat many times before she began improving. Eleven years on she is embarking on her first Olympic campaign and still trains with the Club.

Years on national team

4 (2008 - present)

Coach

Martin Marinov (2011 - current)
Guy Wilding (2007 - 2010)

Primary Training Base

Narrabeen, Sydney, Australia

Secondary Training Base

Gold Coast, Australia

Club

Sydney Northern Beaches Kayak Club (NSW, Australia)

Institute/Academy

Primary

Newport Public School (NSW, Australia)

Secondary

Oxford Falls Grammar School (NSW, Australia), Freshwater Senior Campus (NSW, Australia)

Tertiary

Bachelor of Nursing, University of Technology, Sydney (2006 - 2010)