UNSW Elite Athlete Mark Crosbee
UNSW Elite Athlete Mark Crosbee

After recently being selected to represent Team Australia for the 2023 U23 World Championships in Tacen, Slovenia, Mark is ready to place in the medals and bring it home. 

“I am also super excited to represent Australia at the World Championships again, back at the same place where I made my debut at the Junior World in 2019,” said Mark. 

After a rollercoaster of a career for the last thirteen years, Mark has quite the list of paddling accolades. Last year, he was crowned not only the U18 Oceania Champion but the World Champion. He has also been selected for National Junior teams from 2019-22 and is looking capitalise on the opportunity of this being his first year in U23s.

Now to say this boy is a part of paddling royalty is an understatement. 

“I come from a bit of a paddling family,” says Mark.

“My parents were both paddlers so that had a huge influence in my introduction to the sport. My mum represented the UK at 1992 and 1996 Olympics while my uncle Richard Fox is a 5 time individual world champion and his daughter, Jess Fox is an Olympic Gold medallist and 9 time individual World Champion in 3 separate disciplines. So you could say paddling runs in the family.”

Mark Crosbee in action

As you can imagine, with competing at such a high level, sometimes it can be hard to accommodate studying when you are at the peak of your career. Luckily for Mark, he is a part of our Elite Athlete Program which allows him to balance both his study and paddling. 

“The Elite Athlete Program has been great so far, opening opportunities for me to attend training camps and races through the additional leeway they provide when it comes to class attendance and deadlines, says Mark.”

“It's thanks to them and their communication with lecturers etc. that I will be going out to Europe for a 3 month trip, taking up the entirety of T3. Their support will be invaluable in the next few years as I am to make the senior team, which brings more and more time spent abroad in Europe.”

Keep smashing it Mark. We cannot wait to see you at the World Champs again. Trust that we will all be cheering you on from home. 

 

By Henley Warner