WAIS Paddlers Show Good Form in Duisburg

WAIS paddlers put their form and fitness to the test over the weekend in Duisburg, Germany for the second World Cup Flatwater Canoeing Regatta.

The Australian Team showed some encouraging results from athletes heading to Beijing and also from members of the Australian U23 team, which had a strong WAIS presence.

Leading the way for WAIS was Lisa Oldenhof who along with Chantal Meek, Hannah Davis and Lyndsie Fogarty finished fifth in the final, behind the German crew of Fischer, Reinhardt, Wagner Austin and Leonhardt.

After an impressive heat paddle the girl’s crew sat fifth in a blanket field at the halfway point of the race but were unable to pull back the difference over the final stages of the race to finish in a time of 1:35.131min. They missed out on a medal by only half a second.

Oldenhof who stroked the crew for the first time in this level of competition said, “The crew were happy with the way the boat ran with the new seating positions and will likely stay in this position for a while before the final seating positions are confirmed for the games”.

Australia’s U23 members – who were there to be exposed against this level of competition – had some very encouraging results. From a WAIS perspective, the heat performance of Reece Baker and Jesse Phillips in the K2 500m was very good with the crew leading the heat at the halfway point before settling to a comfortable third in the run in to the line. Their performance in the heat stage, suggested that they had a realistic chance of making the A final which would have been outstanding given that most of their opposition would be competing at the Olympics in August.

The same applied to the K4 1000m crew which also included Baker and Phillips who along with Murray Stewart (NSWIS) and Jake Michael (NSWIS) enjoyed a strong heat paddle to suggest an A final appearance was a realistic objective.

Unfortunately Phillips awoke with an inflamed and tender shoulder on the second day of racing which resulted in him scratching from the rest of the regatta.

WAIS and Australian Head Coach Ramon Andersson said, “The shoulder has responded well to treatment and we are optimistic of Phillips competing in the next two regattas”.

Fortunately organisers allowed a substitution and Jake Michael took Phillips place in the K2 event where he and Reece Baker came 8th in the B Final.

The K4 crew of Baker, Michael, Stewart and Matt Urqhart (QLD) paddled a great race to finish 5th in the K4 500m final.

Alana Nicholls in her first overseas trip had some encouraging results finishing sixth in the B Final of the K2 500m with Lani Belcher (QAS).

Nicholls and Belcher along with Amy Peters (VIC) and Jo Brigden Jones (NSWIS) paddled an excellent race to grab a bronze medal in the K4 1000m which is a non Olympic event.

Steve Bird and Urqhart paddling together for the first time came 8th in the B final of the K2 1000m.

While Oldenhof has returned home for a few days rest before flying up to the Gold Coast for a two week camp, Nicholls, Baker, Bird and Phillips compete in the Ruhr U23 Regatta in Germany against 17 other countries over the next thee days.