Western Australia’s competing athletes at the Junior and U23 Flatwater Sprint Canoe World Championships in Portugal have performed well at a highly competitive tournament.
With the junior and U23 competitions combined in flatwater canoe, WAIS had three athletes competing in the juniors, with Luke Morton, Ben Harris and Yale Steinepreis donning the green and gold, whilst Shannon Reynolds was WA’s sole contestant in the U23 ranks.
Steinepereis teamed with South Australian duo Francesca Kidd and Ruby Backen along with Sydney paddler Rachel Duncan to finish eighth in the junior women’s K4 500m A final.
The Australian quad finished 5.07 seconds behind Denmark who won the gold in 1:37.46, with the Aussie girls the highest placed non-European boat.
WAIS pair Luke Morton and Ben Harris featured on the opening day of competition, finishing eighth in their junior men’s K2 1000 heat. The pair found the going difficult in the face of a blistering time by the German combination that would go on to win bronze in the A final.
In the U23 events, Reynolds was part of an Australian K4 500m crew alongside Cat McArthur, Rebecca Mann and Brianna Massie with the girls competing brilliantly to finish sixth in the A final.
Just like the junior K4 500m crew, the Aussie girls were the highest place non-European boat, finishing 3.09 seconds behind Germany who won the gold in 1:34.17.
The senior flat water sprint canoe world championships commence next month, with WAIS athletes Alana Nicholls, Jesse Phillips and Stephen Bird all set to represent Australia.
