Josephine Bulmer - Canoe Sprint

Josephine Bulmer is a canoe sprint athlete from South Australia. She first got into paddling after seeing her brother take part in the South Australian Sports Institute’s talent identification program. Curious to give it a go, she started kayaking and worked her way up through the junior ranks. By 2013 and 2014, she was competing at the Junior World Championships.

At 19, following her coach’s advice, she switched from kayaking to canoeing—just as women’s canoe racing was set to debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The transition opened new doors, and she represented Australia at the Under-23 World Championships in 2016 and 2017. Followed by her first senior World Championships in 2018.

In 2019, she teamed up with Bernadette Wallace, and together they worked towards Olympic qualification. A year later, they made history by securing Australia’s first-ever women’s Olympic canoe quota spots at the Oceania Championships. At the Tokyo Games, Josephine competed in both the C-1 200m and C-2 500m events, finishing 13th in the latter.

She continues to train and compete, focused on improving her performance and contributing to the growth of Australian canoeing.

Questions

The best thing about being a SASI Athlete:

Training alongside athletes from various sports, all striving to reach their full potential.

My favourite food to fuel me as an Athlete:

Oats stacked with peanut butter and fruit.

My favourite movie:

Little Women.

My favourite colours:

Green.

My sporting hero and why:

Bonnie Handcock – because of how she openly shares her journey, inspiring others to chase big goals, embrace challenges, and develop resilience in sport and life.

My favourite possession:

My coffee machine.

The sporting activity I most like performing:

Racing team boats.

If I wasn’t doing my current sport I would like to be:

An artist and/or travelling.

The most important things in life:

Family, friends and finding a passion/s.

My ambassador activity tip:

Try as many things as possibly to find what you enjoy.

My favourite way to keep active:

Going on hikes with friends or anything in the water.

The sport I like watching the most:

Probably AFL but I’ll watch just about any sport.

What sporting success looks like:

Sporting success is about embracing the lessons you learn along the way, pushing yourself to new limits, and enjoying the journey while you’re at it.