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NEWS |
Hartley Scoops Two More Bronze Medals
Poznan – The South African sprint canoeing team endured a tough weekend of
high class racing this weekend at the Poland World Cup, winning two medals and
gaining invaluable experience for the upcoming regattas.
Bridgitte Hartley’s two bronze medals in the K1 1000m and longer distance K1
5000m event were the only material gain for the team, but the exposure at the
highest level will do wonders for the rest of the young squad as they work
towards the London 2012 Olympic Games. The medals follow Hartley’s Gold and
double Bronze at the Czech World Cup in Racice two weeks earlier.
Hartley won her
K1 1000m heat and Semi-Final, securing her lane five for Sunday morning’s
A-Final. Although racing to her fastest time of the weekend, she was narrowly
beaten by Great Britain’s Rachel Cawthorn and Denmark’s Henriette
Engel-Hansen. The Bronze medal confirms Hartley’s position as one of the
world’s top 1000m women paddlers, and must make Poland a favourite venue for
her, following a K1 1000m gold at last year’s Poland World Cup.
In the Olympic distance K1 500m Semi-Final, Hartley took second place to again
make it through to the A-Final, where she crossed the line in seventh place.
German Olympic K1 500m bronze medallist and K4 500m gold medallist Katrin
Wagner-Augustin won the race.
For most of the squad, the racing was a big step up from the more familiar
national regattas, with each event packed with Olympic medallists, World
Champions and multiple World Cup winners, and Hartley and Shaun Rubenstein, as
the most experienced members, were the best performers. Still, Rubenstein
admitted to being disappointed with his results. “I had a disaster 1000m K1
Semi-Final and only made it through to the C-final. I won the C-final fairly
easily but I was very disappointed that I never performed better and never
made the A-final.” The K1 500m was kinder to the Gauteng star, as he qualified
for the A-Final and finished in seventh place. France’s Sebastian Jouve won
the tight race ahead of Canada’s world record holder Adam van Koeverden.
Carol Joyce’s sixth place in the K1 1000m saw her through to the B-Final,
while Cam Schoeman and Stu Waterworth’s fledgling K2 partnership will take
heart from a fifth place in the K2 500m Semi-Finals, and the experience of a
C-Final where they placed third.
The 5000m races on Sunday afternoon were a welcome addition to the regatta,
and are not usually included in the weekend racing. Hartley was able to stay
within striking distance of the front women paddlers, but she was unable to
draw on her usually strong reserves for the final sprint and ended in third to
win bronze. In the men’s race, Len Jenkins will be very pleased with his
fourth place overall – one place ahead of national champion Rubenstein, who
spent too much energy playing catch-up after been squeezed off the front bunch
early on.
Sponsorship from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund now allows the
squad to stay in Europe and race in the third and final World Cup of the year
in the Hungarian city of Szeged starting on the 5th of June. The paddlers will
stay and train in Budapest for the next two weeks.
Selected A-Final Results:
Men K1 500m
7.
Shaun Rubenstein (RSA) 1:43.343
Women K1 500m
7.
Bridgitte Hartley (RSA) 1:57.260
Women K1 1000m
Men K1 5000m
Women K1 5000m
