Ally Clarke is a 24-year-old well-known Australian Sprint Kayaker and Surf Ski bladder, She began Surfing at the age of eleven and now she will compete for Australia at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Ally Clarke’s team Aly, Alyce, Yale, and Ella are qualified for the Paris Olympics
Clarke will compete in the women’s K1 500m kayak event. The team of Aly, Alyce Wood, Yale, and Ella will race together in the women’s K4 500m kayak event.
Olympic gold medal winner Kenny Wallace saw Ally Clarke’s talent and guided her towards becoming a sprint kayaker, leading her on the path to qualifying for the Paris Games.
Aly Bull, Alyce Wood, and Riley Fitzsimmons will be participating in their third Olympic Games. Aly and Alyce will tie the record for most Olympic appearances by Australian women in sprint canoeing, matching Anna Wood’s three appearances from 1992 to 2000.
Tom Green and Jean van der Westhuyzen, who won gold medals in Tokyo, will compete in their second Olympics. Ally Clarke, Yale Steinepreis, Ella Beere, Noah Havard, Pierre van der Westhuyzen, and Jackson Collins will all make their first Olympic appearances. Jackson will continue the legacy of his father Daniel Collins, who was an Olympic paddler four times.
“I am so grateful for this journey and honored to have officially qualified for the Paris Olympics.“
said Ally
Ally Clarke Follows her Passion Since Childhood
Ally Clarke was born in the year 2000 in the Sunshine Coast, which is her hometown. Her father’s name is Warren Clarke, and her mother’s name is Jullie John Clarke.
Growing up as an active kid on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Ally was excellent at netball and got involved in surf life-saving when she was 11 years old.
She played many different sports while growing up, but surf life-saving was the one she stuck with. Her dream was to become a professional Iron Woman, looking up to her idol Courtney Hancock. Unfortunately, after starting to ride the ski, her favorite part changed from board paddling to ski paddling.
Her mother Jullie would always accompany her to her practice center, and Ally has expressed gratitude towards her mother for supporting her throughout her journey. She said, “She was born to be the best mum.”
Away from the water, Ally is working to complete an honors degree in occupational therapy at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
She went to the University of Queensland for a short period because she wanted to study Physiotherapy. But then she discovered Occupational Therapy and realized that she could study it at UniSC while continuing to live on the Sunshine Coast. Ally is really close to her friends and family, she often shares about them in her Social media.
Ally Clarke Life After School
When Ally was training for the Coolangatta Gold event in a surf ski, Kenny (an Olympic gold medalist) noticed her. Surprised by Ally’s talent, Kenny sent her to compete in a national regatta (boat racing event). From that point onwards, Ally focused on kayaking because she loved it so much that she decided to stick with it.
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After finishing school, Ally had to choose between continuing with netball or surf lifesaving. She chose surf lifesaving and began training for the Coolangatta Gold, which is a famous surf life-saving event. One day, Olympic gold medalist kayaker Kenny Wallace visited the Sunshine Coast to watch some girls train in ski paddling. This is where Ally met him as she was training for the Coolangatta Gold in a surf ski.
At the beginning of 2022, Ally decided to dedicate all her time to kayaking and relocated to the Gold Coast.
Ally took to kayaking very naturally, like a duck takes to water. She earned a spot in the Australian kayaking team and moved to the Gold Coast, where the National Centre of Excellence for sprint kayaking is located.
Moving up and improving her career
When Ally represented Australia at the 2022 Senior World Championships held in Halifax, Canada, she won a medal in the K4 500 event (four-person kayak race over 500 meters). Her performance also led to her being named in the Paddle Australia Team of the Year for 2022. Ally and her K4 team are currently training to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
After shifting to the Gold Coast in 2022 to train with the Australian sprint kayak team, success came quickly for Ally.
The next year, in 2023, Ally, Ella, Yale, and Aly faced tough competition in the highly competitive women’s K4 500 event at the world championships in Germany. Despite the intense field, they secured their place in the Paris Olympics by finishing fifth.
Achievements and Honours of Ally Clarke
Ally Clarke has accomplished several notable feats throughout her kayaking career. She completed an honors degree in occupational therapy. At the 2022 Senior World Championships held in Halifax, Canada, she secured the second position in the K4 500 event (four-person kayak race over 500 meters).
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In the 2023 Australian National Championships, she emerged as the champion in both the K2 (two-person kayak) and K4 events, while also securing the fourth position in the K1 (single-person kayak) event. Additionally, she finished fourth in the Open Ski category at the 2022/23 Aussies surf lifesaving competition. Ally has represented Australia twice at the Senior World Championships and once at the Under-23 level. Her outstanding performances led to her being named in the Paddle Australia Team of the Year for 2022.
