Natalia is a sprint kayaker who was awarded a Tier 1 Scholarship within the 2026 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship & Mentoring Program. She was paired with former Olympic swimmer Libby Trickett OAM as her Mentor. Natalia had previously been a Tier 2 Scholarship within the 2022 program.
From the Central Coast of NSW, Natalia learnt to paddle on the Avoca lake when she was 14 years old. After two successful national championship events in the junior levels she was selected by Paddle Australia at 16 years old to relocate to the National Centre of Excellence located on the Gold Coast. Immediately after finishing her high school exams in 2022 she moved to the Gold Coast to join the National squad and to pursue her sporting ambitions.
In 2023 Natalia was selected onto the Australian Senior team after a successful domestic campaign. She competed at her first major international senior competition at the ICF World Cup in Hungary where she won a bronze medal in the K1 200m and came 4th in the Olympic event K2 500m. She continued these good results the following year at the 2024 U23 World Championships where she won the K2 500m and got a silver in the K1 200m.
The 2025 season was very successful for Natalia, where at the beginning of the year she competed at the ICF World Cups in Hungary and Poland and was proud to medal at a senior international level across K1, K2 and K4 boats. Winning medals in 4 of the five boats she raced in across the 2 World Cup events. She was then able to translate this success at the Senior World championships where she was came away with 2 silver medals in the K1 500m and K2 500m.
Off the water Natalia enjoys working part time at a local cafe and is looking into studying the French language in the near future.
As Natalia is just at the start of her sporting journey and sees herself continuing sprint kayaking for many years to come she hasn’t yet truly found the path that she will go down after sport. Currently she is working with her AW&E manager to enrol with the University of New England to study French Language and can see pursuing this as a career in French teaching for high school students. During the off- season and into next season she is looking at opportunities to become a mentor with a local Canoe/Kayak club to work with and talk to young aspiring athletes in a mentoring role.
“I am thrilled to be a part of the SAHOF program and having Libby Trickett as my mentor will greatly assist the development of my athletic career and personal growth. One-on-one access to Libby will give me the guidance, support, and perspective I need to grow and challenge myself. This will be invaluable to me as I look to become an established successful senior athlete that inspires the individuals around me.” – Natalia Drobot on being selected as a 2026 Tier 1 Scholarship Holder.
Honours & Achievements
- Senior World Championships Italy 2025 – K1 500m – 2nd Place
- Senior World Championships Italy 2025 – K2 500m – 2nd Place
- U23 World Championships Portugal 2025 – K1 500m – 1st Place
- Senior World Cup Hungary 2025 – K1 500m – 3rd Place
- Senior World Cup Poland 2025 – K2 500m – 1st Place
Social Links | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nat.drobot/?hl=en
