Jo Brigden Jones

Born: Sydney
Home: Mona Vale, Australia.
Weapons of Choice: Nelo Sprint Kayak, Bennett Paddles, Oakley Sunglasses

Favourite Vaikobi item: V cold base L/S top. So great for those cold mornings!

World Championships ~ Czech Republic - 9th place K1 500m (2017)
World Cup 3 ~ Serbia - 2nd place K1 1000m and K2 200m (2017)
National Championships ~ Penrith - 1st place K1 200m, 2nd place K1 500m (2017)

Website: www.jobrigdenjones.com

Jo Brigden-Jones is an elite athlete in the sport of sprint kayaking. Since 2004, Jo has respresented Australia every year in international competitions all around the world. Her highlight was racing at the 2012 Olympic Games in London where her K4 crew placed 9th. Racing at the Olympics was an incredible reward for years of commitment and hard work. Jo is one of Australia's most versatile paddlers as she has raced over all sprint distances (200m, 500m & 1000m) in all boat classes (K1, K2 & K4) at various World Championship and World Cup events. Jo has won a World Championship medal and multiple World Cup medals. She also has 36 Australian National Titles to her name. 

After a successful 2018 domestic season of racing, Jo was named on the Australian Kayak Team for a 15th straight year. She is currently training for the international competitions to be held in Europe later this year and is hoping for some great results with her crews in the K2 and K4 500m races. Jo continues to juggle full time work with as much training as she can manage.

In 2016, Jo commenced full time work in her dream career as a paramedic and she has successfully been able to combine her work with training commitments and remain a world class paddler. In the 2017 season Jo won two silver medals at the World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia. Jo then went on to the World Championships and made the A final in the K1 500m event which was phenomenal considering Jo was not able to train full time given her work commitments.

Jo has also dabbled in surf life saving with Manly Life Saving Club, winning an Aussies medal in the female double ski. She also has participated in ocean ski races gaining some good results and has successfully paddled the famous Molokai race in a 6 person outrigger.

It hasn't been all fun and games for Jo, with much heartache and adversity along the way. Jo has injured her shoulder on two occasions, requiring reconstructions on both her left and right shoulders. After months of rehab, Jo made successful comebacks to her sport on both occasions. Jo has also had to deal with non selection after missing out on the 2016 Olympic Team. At the selection trials, Jo won 3 selections races and place second in 3 selection races but still managed to miss out on a place on the Australian Team.