CANOE/KAYAK - SPRINT: A wrap up of all the results from racing at the National Sprint Championships in Adelaide.

Day 5:

The National Canoe Sprint Championships came to a close in Adelaide this afternoon following five days of racing.

The final day of competition saw the non-Olympic distances contested with a couple of Olympic distance selection races for junior competitors.

19 year old Gold Coast kayaker Jordan Wood capped off an outstanding Nationals taking out the mens K1 500 final.

Wood won his heat and semi en route to the final winning the gold in 1:46.37, 0.77 seconds ahead of Western Australian Daniel Bowker.

Sunshine Coast paddler Bill Bain finished third 1.15 seconds behind Wood.

South Australian pair Glenn Rypp and Zac Ryan combined to win their first national title with victory in the K2 500 final.

The SASI pair won in 1:36.54, 0.68 seconds ahead of Bowker and Encounter paddler Ben Gallard.

Sunshine Coast pair Kurt McAleenan and James Porter finished third.

In the canoeing events, Rain Metsoja and Benjamin Manning won the open C2 500 title, while Sam Sheppard and Jace Bayliss took out the U18 title.

Marius Florian won the C1 500 event in 2:04.79, 7.83 seconds ahead of Metsoja.

Bayliss completed the U18 double winning the C1 500 in 2:14.43, 5.36 seconds ahead of Benjamin Keogh and Charles Ellis in a hat trick for West Lakes.

Day 4:

The fourth day of the National Sprint Championships in Adelaide belonged to the sprinters with Lachlan Tame, Jo Brigden-Jones, Stephen Bird and Jesse Phillips the standout performers.

World surf ski champion Lachlan Tame won his first K1 200 national title in Adelaide.

The highly anticipated final lived up to its billing with less than a second separating the top five competitors.

Tame recovered from a slow start to power home in the closing stages and collect the win in 37.16, 0.13 seconds ahead of Bayswater kayaker Brodie Holmes.

Defending champion Stephen Bird of Canning River collected the bronze just 0.42 seconds behind the race winner.

“It is the first time I have won a K1 at Nationals so that is pretty cool. Obviously it is a building block as you want to go to Worlds and that is the goal now”, Tame said.

Bird and fellow Olympian Jesse Phillips of Bayswater won a fifth consecutive K2 200 National title in the afternoon.

The Western Australian pair are notorious for their fast starts on the world scene and they didn’t disappoint in the final.

K1 winner Tame and Beijing gold medalist Ken Wallace made a late surge but it was Bird and Phillips who held on to the win by 0.26 seconds in a time of 35.28.

Holmes and fellow Bayswater kayaker Todd Brewer finished third.

“To come out and knock that out of the way and win our fifth consecutive title is very pleasing and we were happy to put a signature race on the water”, Phillips said.

Asked how it compared to previous years Bird responded, “In terms of leading up to the event it was a lot more relaxed, we have had a lot more tense ones so that one we felt with the experience that we were in control a bit more so it was a solid result.”

Sydney Northern Beaches’ kayaker Jo Brigden-Jones collected the double in the women’s 200 metre events.

The 25 year old showed tremendous courage after it looked as those sickness would sideline the NSWIS paddler earlier in the week.

“The other day I was not feeling so good, I was seriously considering pulling out of a few races so glad I stuck with it.”

“Your body always knows what to do on the start line so I was just hoping it would come good for these couple of days and feeling much better so really happy”, Brigden-Jones said.

Firstly Brigden-Jones showed her class in the K1 200 final winning in 42.93, 1.37 seconds ahead of Bayswater star Alana Nicholls.

Manly Warringah kayaker Naomi Flood finished third in 44.98.

“I am pretty stoked with that race, it worked out perfectly and just stuck to my race plan.”

She then followed up her K1 success with victory in the K2 200 title alongside popular South Australian Hannah Davis.

The experienced pair showed their class on a limited preparation winning in 42.11.

Flood and Jaime Roberts of Bayswater collected the silver 0.39 seconds behind the winner, with U23 pairing Cat McArthur and Alyce Burnett finishing third.

Davis enjoyed the win at her 15th National Championships.

“That was a lot of fun”, she said.

“Jo and I really like that event and to jump in a go fast without any work this year together as a crew, it is great to know that we have still got it.”

Day 3:

Friday’s racing began with the open K1M 200 heats with Western Australian trio Stephen Bird, Brodie Holmes and Jesse Phillips, NSWIS kayaker Lachlan Tame and Currumbin Creek star Ken Wallace each recording heat wins.

Bird, Phillips and Tame continued their winning streak by triumphing in their respective semifinals to set up a mouth-watering final where Bird will be out to defend his National title.

Joining them in the final will be fellow semifinal winner and U23 champion Callum Dunn of West Lakes, Holmes, Wallace, Patterson Lakes’ paddler Kieren Carson, and Encounter duo Ben Gallard and Tim Symonds.

The mens K2 200 event followed in the afternoon with Western Australian Olympic pair Bird and Phillips on track to win a fifth K2 200 National title after victory in the heat secured them an A final berth.

Joining them will be fellow heat winners Wallace and Tame, and Bayswater duo Holmes and Todd Brewer.

In one of the few finals raced on Friday, Brothers Canoe Club paddler Alex Haas took out the men’s C1 200 event.

Haas edged fellow clubman Jake Donaghey by 0.58 seconds to win in a time of 45.08.

C1 1000 winner Marius Florian finished third in 46.30.

The C4 200 final was won by a West Lakes composite crew containing Jason Nejman, Hugh Stewart, Roger French and Rain Metsoja in a time of 48.48.

NSWIS star Jo Brigden-Jones, K1 500 champion Alana Nicholls and fellow Western Australian Jaime Roberts will be the women to beat in the WK1 200 final tomorrow after each recorded heat wins today.

Each of the three heat winners progressed straight to the final, bypassing the semifinals which followed in the afternoon.

Joining the trio in the final will be Naomi Flood (NSW), Alyce Burnett (QLD), Jaymee-Lee Martin (WA), Bernadette Wallace (QLD), Hannah Davis (SA) and Cat McArthur (SA) after each recorded top three finishes in their respective semifinals.

Day 2:

Olympic gold medallist Murray Stewart produced a faultless performance at West Lakes on Thursday by completing the treble over 1000 metres adding the K1 and K2 titles to the K4 title he won on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old began the day with victory ahead of fierce rival Ken Wallace in the highly anticipated K1 1000 final.

Stewart produced a scintillating time of 3:36.12 to finish 3.14 seconds ahead of Wallace.

The 2013 World Championship silver medallist edged fellow Queenslander Jacob Clear by 0.40 seconds to claim the silver.

“It was a good race with some tough competition. A lot of the U23s and younger guys have really stepped up”, Stewart said.

One of those athletes Stewart is referring to is 19 year old Gold Coast kayaker Jordan Wood who finished fourth.

Wood made his senior debut in 2013 and having already secured a place in the U23 team this year looks set for an exciting future.

Stewart then went on to win the K2 1000 final alongside Clear.

The experienced pair showed their class finishing more than two boat lengths ahead of second place getters Wallace and David Smith in a time of 3:14.09. London K4 captain Tate Smith and Western Australian Daniel Bowker finished third.

Not usually known for their fast starts Clear was happy with how the race unfolded, “We established that lead from the start and got our own clear water and that worked really well through the race”, he said.

In the race of the day Western Australian Alana Nicholls edged Manly paddler Naomi Flood by 0.03 seconds to win the WK1 500 final.

In a topsy-turvy battle it was Nicholls that came out on top winning in 1:54.03, her fourth K1 500 National title. Sydney Northern Beaches’ product Jo Brigden-Jones finished third.

“It was really tight, Floody had a really good start next to me and I could feel her the whole way”, Nicholls said.

Since the London Olympics Nicholls has suffered a few minor setbacks but is looking forward to proving herself on the international scene again.

“You are always comparing yourself to yourself and other athletes as well. All the other girls have definitely stepped up as well so I am just going to have to keep pushing and do better next time.”

Flood went one better in the WK2 500 final combining with fellow NSWIS paddler Brigden-Jones in a dominant performance.

The pair won in 1:45.90, 2.12 seconds ahead of U23 pair Alyce Burnett of the Sunshine Coast and Holdfast Bay kayaker Cat McArthur.

Burnett and McArthur also featured in the K1 500 final finishing fifth and seventh respectively.

Nicholls added a second medal combining with fellow Western Australian Jaime Roberts for third.

The newly formed K2 were pleased with their performance, particularly Brigden-Jones who has been suffering from a throat infection.

“I was kind of struggling to get out of bed this morning but I am glad I did and once the gun goes your body kicks into its natural mode and this is what we train for, you just have to switch your mind off and go for it”, Brigden-Jones said.

Brigden-Jones, Flood, Nicholls each recorded their second national wins when they combined with Bernadette Wallace to win the WK4 500 final in 1:37.80.

Experienced canoeist Marius Florian was too strong in the mens C1 1000 final winning in 4:28.90, 5.87 seconds of Brothers Canoe Club paddler Jake Donaghey.
Rain Metsoja of Varsity Lakes finished third, 3.45 seconds behind Donaghey.

Donaghey went one better in the C2 1000 final combining with a courageous Alex Haas to win in 4:01.91, more than 18 seconds ahead of Metsoja and Jason Nejman.
The pair were happy to win the national title especially after taking 2013 off.

“It is good to be back and to have a solid hit out like that, there are a few things to work but still a good solid hit out”, Donaghey said.

West Lakes’ quad Benjamin Keogh, Charles Ellis, Gabriel Tramaglino and Thomas Clarken won the C4 1000 final in 4:09.20.

The long distance events concluded the second day of racing with Metsoja and Bill Bain winning the C1 5000 and K1 5000 events respectively.

Day 1:

There were no surprises in the Men's K1 semi-finals with Kenny Wallace & Murray Stewart leading the way.

Local star Zac Ryan proved competitive winning his semi-final with the 2nd fastest qualifying time.

Sprint star Loccy Tame showed his diversity claiming the final Semi-final win over 1000m.

Jo Brigden-Jones has returned from injury bigger and better than ever following a year on the sidelines.

Jo comfortably won her semi-final and will face tough competition in Naomi Flood, Alyce Burnett and Alana Nicholls in tomorrows K1 final.

Brock Ingrham claimed the title in the Men's K1 500m Open Multi-Class Paracanoe final more than 5 seconds ahead of Peter Niperess and Sam Germein.

In the Women's Paracanoe Open Multi-class K1, Amanda Reynolds claimed a huge win, leaving more than 12 seconds in her wake over the 500m direct final.

Melissa Sullivan and Susan Seipel claimed 2nd and 3rd place.

Sullivan retuned to claim the win in the V1 Paracanoe class ahead of Kara Kennedy & Seipel. Curtis McGrath claimed the Men's 500m V1 final with a 20 second win over the field.

Sam Hutchinson & Ben Harris lead the way in the Men's Junior K2 1000m field claiming the semi-final ahead of Grimwade & Ryan.

Luke Morton & Fletcher Cunningham head into the final of the U16 K1 1000m final as favourites after respective semi-final wins, whilst in the Women's U16 K1's, Ruby Backen & Monique Carbone secured wins.

In the U18's Women, Chloe Sterry & Francesca Kidd claimed Semi-final victories.

The day finished with the Men's K4 final. The London gold medallist K4 crew paddled comfortably to victory at the national championships in Adelaide today. The young crew headed up by Billy Bain, with Jy Duffy, Jordan Wood, & Daniel Bowker were also impressive only 2.7 seconds off the pace of the Olympic crew in the direct final. Stewart said despite starting unbackable favourites, it was a relief to get the win.

"It's been a really tough day today, lots of racing, so it's really pleasing to get the K4 win," he said. "It's the one we had to win. It was actually a pretty tough race, a lot of the under 23's and younger crews really stepped up."