Club paddlers on the pace at nationals - March 2016

HANDS UP: The Whanganui kayakers, the majority made up of past and present WHS students, at Lake Karapiro celebrate their successes.

THE NZCT canoe sprint national championships at Lake Karapiro at the start of the month saw 20 of Whanganui's sprint kayaking fraternity fronting up to the best in the country.

Coach Brian Scott said across the board all the members competed well and the club showed it continued to hold its own among the top five clubs in New Zealand while staying ahead of thedeveloping clubs.

Reports have already been made on the four Under 23 stars Aiden Nossiter, Max Brown, Toby Brooke and Erica Tanner, who will go on to the NZ age group trials.

Yet Scott said it is the club's other youngsters and its masters who have shown the kayaking club, which is a branch of the Whanganui Multisport and Triathlon Club, has maintained its depth despite being "badly knocked around" by the June 2015 floods.

At each end of the spectrum, Robyn Scott (masters) and Anna Clifton (U13) performed well - Scott winning the K1 500m gold and then teaming with Amie Simpson to take the K2 500m silver, followed by another gold in the K4 500m.

Clifton make two K1 A finals with a best result of sixth in the 1200m, before teaming up with Sophie Brooke, Katie Foster and Jess Thompson to win bronze in both the Under 14 K4 200m and 500m.

Brooke and Foster won silver in the Under 14 K2 200m and 500m, with Thompson and Clifton finishing fifth.

"As an individual, Sophie Brooke shone and was the only individual paddler to really challenge the Arawa [Christchurch] and Poverty Bay stranglehold on this division," said Scott.

Brooke won bronze in the K1 500m.

In the Under 16 division, the relatively inexperienced pairing of Nanea Schurhammer and Louise Clifton were surprising competitive in the K2 200m, placing eighth in the A final.

Schurhammer and Clifton also exceeded expectations when they went up a grade to join leader Sapere Simon and Abby Hurley in the K4 200m for the Under 18s.

"Against highly favoured boats the girls kept their technique going, eventually paddling themselves into the bronze medal spot," said Scott.

"In the K4 500m they almost caused another upset when they were lying in a clear third spot only 150m from the end."

The pair eventually faded to finish in fourth place, understandable given the two younger girls had just come from K1 500m semifinals.

The majority of the Whanganui competitors in the boys' Under 16 grade were in their first year of the division.

Lucas Thompson and Jack Clifton cemented themselves as the crew to watch next year after a bronze medal in the K2 200m and fourth in the 500m.

"All other crews were a year older and will be moving into the U18 division in 2017," said Scott.

Thompson and Clifton were also the mainstays of the K4 boats, teaming with Cameron Russell and Jack Brown for fourth in the 200m, followed by Thompson, Clifton, Russell and Liam Lace winning silver in the 500m.

Lace and Thompson also qualified for A Finals in the K1 200m and 500m respectively.

The Under 18 division was tough for first-timers Campbell Tanner and Ethan Ross, who were adjusting to the difference in strength and power.

Both made semifinals in K1, and had to settle for eighth in the K2 200m A final.

It was a similar story in the Under 18 girls' grade for individuals, where Hurley paddled well but was unable to make an A final.

After a good season of training Simon acquitted herself well and made the A final of the K1 500m.

"To do so she had to knock out the stroke seat paddler of the NZ U18 women's K4 crew in her heat," said Scott.

Simon ultimately earned a trial for the NZ Under 18 squad after coming seventh in the A Final, coming after 18 months of training.

She then went up a couple of levels to team with Under 23 Erica Tanner and race in the open women's K2 against the Olympics-bound NZ team members, including gold medallist Lisa Carrington.

Although outclassed as had been expected, the pair raced well against the other Under 23 crews in the field.

In the Open K4, the Whanganui team were silver medallists in both 200m and 1000m.

"After absorbing all the age group and open racing, two of the best results came in events that are still considered new to the sport," said Scott.

"These were the age group 6x100m relays and the mixed K4.

"In both events the Whanganui teams performed amazingly well with a second and third in the mixed K4s and then a second in the relay."

The only teams to beat them were the Arawa club, who would take overall club points honours for the weekend.