Good start for Wanganui paddlers - July 2015

RARE RELAXING MOMENT:  Taking a break in Portugal are New Zealand team members Kurtis Imrie (left) and Wanganui's former WHS students Toby Brooke, Max Brown and Aiden Nossiter.

Wanganui's kayakers Toby Brooke, Max Brown and Aiden Nossiter knew they were playing with the big boys when the 2015 Junior and Under-23 World Sprint Championships started in Portugal on Thursday night, NZ time.

Brooke would have the strongest Day 1 of the three local representatives in the New Zealand team in Lisbon, as he finished fourth in his Junior K1 1000m heat to make the semifinals, with his time of 3m 51.176s being seven seconds behind the Australian winner.

In the semifinals, Brooke's time of 4m 0.420s left him sixth, 9.5s behind the Hungarian winner, and put him into the upcoming B Final.

He was then preparing for the K4 1000m heats with his crewmates Thomas Cole, Karl McMurtrie, and Alex Bristow, scheduled to be raced at 7.30pm last night.

Town mates Max Brown and Aiden Nossiter did not progress as far in the Under 23 K2 1000m.

They finished sixth in their heat with a 3m 27.420s time, 12s behind the leading Australian crew.

That got them into the semifinals, where they finished ninth with a 3m 36.224s time, just under 14s behind the German winners, to be eliminated.

Brown and Nossiter's next challenge was to be the K2 200m, starting at 5.10am (NZT) today.

The best Kiwi success so far has been the Under 23's women's K4 crew, as Briar McLeely, Danielle Currie, Kim Thompson and Rebecca Cole finished second in their 500m semifinal on the Montemor-o-vehlo course, to qualify for the A Final.

Wanganui Chronicle 25/7/15.