Races

Oceania Open – Day 1 Review

By CSNFebruary 19, 2010

Sydney (ENS) – The weekend action will heat up at the 2010 Oceania Canoe/Kayak Slalom Open after all the expected favourites moved through to the semifinal rounds of their classes after the heats here on Friday.
 
The French pair of Fabien Lefevre and Denis Gargaud-Chanut topped the standings after the heats of the Men’s C2, ahead of Slovakian brother-pairings of Peter and Ladislav Skantar and multiple Olympic gold medallists Pavol and Peter Hochschorner.
 
European Championship silver medallist Alexander Slafkovsky was the fastest qualifier into the semifinal of the Men’s C1 competition.
Slafkovsky, who also has several silver medals from World Cup events, had the best run of the day in the first heat, without any penalties, to lead France’s Nicholas Peschier and fellow countryman Matej Benus.

Olympic silver-medalist in C1 David Florence, was fourth after the heats. “It’s quite a nice course but I’m expecting a harder one on Sunday for the final,” he said.
Australia’s Ethan Hodson was the best of the local entries, in 8th place.
The top 30 competitors from the field of 39 now move through to the semifinal round, to be contested on the weekend.

Austrian Corinna Kuhnle is ranked first going into the semifinal of the Women’s K1 Single Kayak event scheduled for Saturday morning.
Clocking a time of 100.76, including two penalty seconds added for touching a gate, Kuhnle sits above Britain’s Elizabeth Neave on 103.17 and local Jessica Fox ranked third with a time of 103.72.

Fox said her second run was a big improvement on her first run earlier on Friday.
“I think I really improved on the middle gates, especially nine and ten,” she said.
“They’re a bit tricky and the double up at the end is hard,” Fox said of the course design.
Also included in the qualifying top 30 were Japanese teammates Moe Kaifuchi and Natsumi Murayama placing 22nd and 23rd after both heats. Murayama said the course was difficult for her with lots of rocks and waves.

In the Men’s K1, Daniele Molmenti of Italy leads Britain’s Campbell Walsh, with Helmut Oblinger in third qualifying place.

Campbell Walsh (GBR): “That was a really good run actually. I think I came second in the first round which is a bit suprising. I’m very pleased because I didn’t feel very good before the start and then I flew around gate 2 and the rest of the course felt really good.”
Boris Neveu (FRA): “I think I will do better on Sunday with some close pressure. There is no pressure today, it is just for qualifying and I am not very good without the pressure.”
William Forsythe (AUS): “That run was allright, I just have to get into the top 40. I did hit gate 14 which is a bit annoying. I took it a bit tight, just trying to save a bit of time and I pool-cued it straight on.”

David Ford (CAN), at 42, is the oldest competitor at the event, hopes to put tragic few months behind him and is performing for the first time this season said: “It’s been a pretty bad few months but I’m glad to be back and I’m looking for a podium finish.”
Sam Norton (AUS), 30, spent 18 months travelling around Bali, New Zealand and the USA as a motivational speaker but decided to get back in his kayak for the Men’s K1 competition. Norton previously competed for the Penrith Valley Canoe Club before his self-imposed exile and, although he now resides on Sydney’s northside, he was happy that he could return to what he considers his home club. ”It’s really good to be back after so long but this doesn’t represent a permanent return to action for me,” said Norton.
A total of 40 competitors from the 89-athlete field will progress to the semifinals on the weekend.
 
In the Women’s C1, it was another performance by Fox, who was the overall leader after one run, with teammate Leanne Guinea in second place and Slovakia’s Jana Dukatova third.
 
Semifinal action continues at the Penrith WhiteWater Stadium on Saturday.