International Canoe Federation

Grey skies and rain greeted competitors on the second day of the 2010 Oceania Open, as the focus was firmly on the Trans-Tasman showdown in the Men’s K1 500m. In the end it was reigning Olympic gold medallist Ken Wallace who powered home to take gold. Wallace and Murray Stewart were stroke for stroke into the final 100m but the Queenslander edged it at the end to win his second event at these Championships, having won the K1 200m final on Friday. “It was a pretty close race,” Wallace said. “It has been raining all morning and a bit overcast too. The win was good to get and I just felt I needed to get my speed today.”

The race only started on the fourth take after three false starts with Chris Alagich, Luke Michael and Stewart all pinged for breaking the line early. “Maybe a few of us were a bit nervous!” Stewart said. “It didn't really affect me that much, just meant I had to be more careful at the start.” When asked what his race plan was, he said: “Just go as hard as I can for 500m.” With the Australian Championships around the corner, Stewart is continuing the hard work he has been putting in all summer. “It's been a lot of preparation,” he said, “there's still a lot that can happen between the selections (for the Australian team) and later in the year and I'm not even sure what (events) I'll be racing or if I'm racing, so I'll take it one race a time.” After much anticipation and hot heats, the New Zealanders Troy Burbidge and Ben Fouhy finished sixth and seventh respectively.

The tight finish is seen as a positive sign for the future Australian team as training begins in earnest for the World Cup and World Championships this year. “The closer it is here and the more rivalry we have between the competitors, the better it will be for the Australian team when we head overseas,” Ken Wallace said. As his sights are now set on the Olympic Games, his training will be without his gold medal event, the K1 500m which is no longer on the Olympic schedule. Clearly disappointed not to be able to compete in the 500m in the London 2012 games he is still “…glad that I was the last one that won the event. I'll still be the reigning Olympic Champion when I'm 60.

”Jo Bridgen-Jones (AUS) added the Women’s K1 500m title to her K1 200m crown on the second day of racing. A good race, Jo enjoyed a strong start and finished strong at the finish line. “I felt really good during the race, very controlled and strong,” she said. “I like the overcast conditions better because it’s a bit cooler. I am happy with the result because it’s such a strong field of competitors with all the fastest Aussies and the girls from New Zealand here.”

The New Zealand pair of Lisa Carrington and Teneale Hatton took out the final of the Women’s K2 500m. “Our plan was to go out there and smash it just like we did in the K4 and that’s what we did,” Hatton said. Her team-mate, Lisa claimed, “We're going to be in a whole world of hurt by the end of the weekend but we wanted to push ourselves that little bit further and we’ve done some pretty good racing.” Another Australian pair, Elyse Yardley and Kristina Jenkins finished second. “We felt really good, really strong,” Yardley said. "We did enough to take it home today… Both of us have been happy with how it’s going. We finished second in the last Grand Prix event and I think we've improved a lot since then.”

The Men’s K2 500m also went to an Aussie pair. Jacob Clear and Murray Stewart raced to a convincing win. “It felt good out there, we were just trying to go as fast as we could. We’re getting a bit tired now, from this one and all the other races we’ve done already,” Stewart said. His team-mate Jacob added, “We did this race at the worlds, so you’re always looking to have a win in the one that you’ve represented your country in.”

In the grand event, the K1 1000m, the Kiwis dominated the heats. In the Men’s event New Zealand’s Steven Ferguson was the fastest qualifier at the end of the round of heats. He clocked a time of 3:40.44 to win Heat 2, ahead of Australia’s Murray Stewart. Ferguson’s Kiwi compatriots Ben Fouhy and Troy Burbidge also emerged as winners in their Heats. Heat 4 saw the closest finish with Ken Wallace edging David Smith and Matthew Urquhart to win in a time of 3:47.16.

In the Women’s K1 1000m New Zealand’s Erin Taylor emerged as the fastest qualifier following the first round of heats. Taylor won the fourth and final heat, clocking 4:14.63 ahead of the Australians Kristina Jenkins and Tegan Fraser. Meanwhile, Sydney’s Jo Bridgen-Jones continued her outstanding campaign by winning her Heat. In Heat Two, Sunshine Coast's Alyce Burnett turned on the afterburners with 150 metres left, overcoming a boat and a half’s length’s difference to power past club team-mate Hailey McGinty.

For full results check out the event website: www.oceania.canoe.org.au.