Rising Paracanoe star Littlehales books ticket to Rio

The World Paracanoe Championships have wrapped up in Duisburg, Germany on the highest of highs for NSWIS paddler Dylan Littlehales, who at the tender age of 16 has qualified for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio. 

Paracanoe will be a welcome addition to the Paralympic program and Littlehales will join fellow NSWIS athlete Colin Sieders at the Games as they form part of a six-strong Australian team. 

For Littlehales a fourth-place finish in the B final of the KL3 200 was enough to qualify him for the world’s largest disabled multisport event, his first Paralympics in what is still just a burgeoning career. 

Meanwhile Sieders, like Littlehales, capped off the week with a fourth place in this B final of his event, the KL1 200. Earlier this week Sieders had been announced as a member of the Australian Paralympic team, the selection shocking the former V8 Supercar driver who had believed he would need to qualify at this week’s world championships. 

Meanwhile 20-year-old Jocelyn Neumueller also qualified for the Paralympic team in the KL1 200. 

Joining Littlehales, Sieders and Neumueller on the Australian team for Rio are the already qualified Curtis McGrath, Amanda Reynolds and Susan Seipel.