After not qualifying for the A Final in the women’s 500m K1, South African star Bridgitte Hartley made amends to a certain degree as she powered her way to victory in the B Final which helps her remain in the top 10 in the world whilst it was a tough day for the rest of the team who had to settle for various C Finals on Saturday at the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Milan.
Hartley posted a time in her final that would have seen her just miss out on a medal in the A Final as she would have come in fifth place in what was a highly competitive A final with New Zealander Lisa Carrington proving her mettle in taking the gold medal.
It was going to prove to be a tough day for Team South Africa who were getting towards the business end of the competition and the quality of the semi-finals and finals was always going to show over the weekend however along with Hartley the C Boat duo of Hosea Seleka and Phillemon Maema managed to qualify for the B Final in the Men’s C2 200m.
The pair have been up against some very tough C Boat paddlers however manager of Team South Africa Craig Mustard has been hugely impressed by their attitudes as well as by how they have come along during the World Championships.
“It was great to Philemon and Hosea representing South Africa in the C Boat category,” Mustard mentioned. “Both of them have improved so much from when I first met them at the SA Championships earlier this year.
“Unfortunately this year did them no favours with it being the Olympic qualifying year and they were thrust straight Into the deep end of the sport but with that said on and off the water these guys are great ambassadors for our country and I look forward to seeing them progress in this discipline.”
Hartley and Chrisjan Coetzee contested their respective 200m K1 semi-finals however these proved to be a race too far as both had to settle for C Finals in this category.
Tiffany Kruger and Esti van Tonder were also in action on Saturday in their Women’s K2 200m Semi-Final but unfortunately the pair were unable to come through a tough semi-final and the semi-final was the end of the road for them.
“”It’s so exciting to see how we have improved this year with the changes to our training program,” Van Tonder explained.
“We are really looking forward to the African Champs next year in April where we know we will be even faster than what we delivered here at these championships.”
SUMMARY OF RESULTS – DAY FOUR ICF CANOE SPRINT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, MILAN, ITALY
Women’s 500m K1 B Final
1.Bridgitte Hartley (RSA) 1:52.461
2.Michelle Russell (CAN) 1:52.824 +0.363
3.Yvonne Schuring (AUT) 1:52.868 +0.407
Women’s 200m K1 Semi-Final 1
1.Marta Walczykiewicz (POL) 40.199
2.Sarah Guyot (FRA) 41.156 +0.957
3.Linnea Stensils (SWE) 41.779 +1.580
4.Bridgitte Hartley (RSA) 42.596 +2.397
Men’s 200m K1 Semi-Final 1
1.Mark de Jonge (CAN) 34.631
2.Ignas Navakauskas (LTU) 34.857 +0.226
3.Pawel Kaczmarek (POL) 35.171 +0.540
7.Chrisjan Coetzee (RSA) 36.482 +1.851
Women’s 200m K2 Semi-Final
1.Natalya Sergeyeva/Irina Podoinikova (KAZ) 38.788
2.Yue Li/Yanan Wu (CHN) 38.940 +0.152
3.Genevieve Orton/Una Lounder (CAN) 39.094 +0.306
7.Esti van Tonder/Tiffany Kruger (RSA) 41.183 +2.395
Men’s 200m C2 Semi-Final 2
1.Adam Lantos/Peter Nagy (HUN) 37.487
2.Nicolae Craciun/Andrea Sgaravatto (ITA) 38.364 +0.877
3.Mikhail Yemelyanov/Merey Medetov (KAZ) 38.664 +1.177
8.Hosea Seleka/Phillemon Maema (RSA) 45.381 +7.894