Canoeing: Great start for new sprint team

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In the first test of the season for the Great Britain Sprint Canoe team at the World Cup in Szeged, Hungary, there were some good results for seasoned Olympians and promising performances by new crews too.

London based Olympian Rachel Cawthorn put in a good performances to finish fourth in the K1 1000m and seventh in the K1 500m B final and will now be looking ahead towards this summers World Championships in Duisberg, Germany.

The newly formed women’s K4 500m crew also finished fourth, which was an impressive result given that they have only been training together for three weeks. The new team is half of the London 2012 boat, Louisa Sawers and Angela Hannah, together with Lani Belcher and Hayleigh Mason.  The four joined forces after the Nottingham selection event and subsequent rigorous testing the week after at Dorney.

A delighted Hayleigh Mason said:

“I am really happy with our performance. When we crossed the line I felt a little frustrated as fourth is a really annoying place to come. But given that we have only been together for three weeks and took fourth in our first competition I think it is a good starting point for the future.

“We got a really good start but need to work on our transition stage from the middle to the end of the race and really nail it. I love being part of the team in the K4 and we are getting on well as a group, doing the job and having fun at the same time.”

Louisa Sawers added:

“We sat down last night and discussed what we need to do to make the boat go faster in the final and we achieved this. We can still get more power out the start buckets and the last 100m but it’s a good start to the season.”
On the last day of competition Louisa Sawers put in a fantastic performance to win the K1 5000m (a non-Olympic event), with teammate Lani Belcher finishing fourth. She took first in a time of 22:32.264 edging out New Zealand’s Teneale Hatton in a sprint for the line.

Other paddlers new to this level of competition are Hannah Brown and Corrall Burkill who were fourth in K2 500m B final. Burkill went on to take third place in the K1 1000m B final.

Danielle Sellwood, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

Photo Credit: Balint Verkassy Canoephotography.com

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