Six NSW Juniors, including shadow Olympic team member Alex Almoukov, have recently been selected for the Australian X-Country Ski Team for 2009/10. In an impressive endorsement of the NSW Junior Team training program under NSW and NSWIS coaches Nick Almoukov and Cameron Morton, the juniors join seniors Ben Sim, Chris Darlington, Aimee Watson, Callum Watson, Ewan Watson and d’Arcy Baxter in one of the strongest NSW contingents to be selected into the Australian XC Team for some time.

With the exception of Alex Almoukov, the juniors are all first time members of the Australian XC Team and include Comma based Gabi Gigana and Jindabyne based Siobhan Jones. The selection of both the junior and senior NSW skiers rounds off a strong year for NSW in the National rankings, with 3 skiers being ranked No 1 for 2009. This includes Ben Sim – No 1 Distance Male Skier, Callum Watson No 1 Junior Distance and Sprint Male skier and Lucy Glanville No 1 Junior Distance and Sprint female skier.

The International Kangaroo Hoppet event held at the end of August in Falls Creek further endorsed the strong showing for NSW racers during the 2009 season with Ben Sim winning the 42km event for the 4th time, equalling the record number of wins currently held by Victorian Ben Derrick. Both Alex Almoukov and Callum Watson skied strongly to record top 10 finishes in the Hoppet for their first entry into the gruelling 42km race. Other winning performances came from 14yr old Lucy Glanville in her first year racing the female 21km Birkebeiner event while Ewan Watson finished 2nd in the Men’s Birkebeiner. Siobhan Jones and Gabi Cigana both raced the 7km Joey Hoppet finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Summer dry-land training for the 2009/10 NSWXC Team and Squad commenced over the weekend of 26/27 Sept and further training camps are scheduled for October and November. A number of athletes will then be departing overseas to train and compete during the Northern Hemisphere competition season, with Aimee Watson, Ben Sim and Alex Almoukov all looking to secure final Olympic team selection for Vancouver in February 2010.