The stage is set for the 2024 Oceania Canoe Sprint Championships starting tomorrow in Sydney, a crucial and final qualifying opportunity for the NZ Canoe Racing team on their Paddle to Paris.
This regatta, from Friday 16th – Sunday 19th February in Penrith, presents multiple opportunities for New Zealand to qualify additional boats for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics.
While racing is over three days, the heats on Friday are the vital qualification races.
In the mens K2 500m, 2020 Olympic pair Max Brown and Kurtis Imrie will be racing in the qualifying race on Friday afternoon. With Australia already having qualified for this event, NZ must beat the remaining Oceania nations (Samoa, Cook Islands, Tahiti) to secure the qualification.
James Munro and Kacey Ngataki will be lining up the mens C2 500m event, where they must beat Samoa and Australia to earn the two Olympic quotas.
Aimee Fisher and Danielle McKenzie are looking to qualify an Olympic womens K2 500 boat for NZ in their heat at 6pm Friday evening NZT. Aimee and Dani, who teamed up less than a year ago, need to win this race against the other Oceania nations. They are expecting a tough challenge from the Australian crew.
Quaid Thompson will be racing in the Mens K1 1000m Olympic qualification race on Saturday evening NZT, and Kacey Ngataki is lining up in the mens C1 1000m.
In the non-Olympic qualifying events, James Munro is racing in the K1 500m event.
It is important to note that the qualification process we are referring to is for NZ boats within an event, not for athletes. Qualification of a place in any event by an athlete or crew does not guarantee that the athlete/crew will be nominated or selected to compete in that event at Paris 2024.
The announcement of the athletes selected for the 2024 NZ Olympic team will be in March/April 2024 following NZOC endorsement.
Aotearoa currently has 4 Olympic quota spots secured for the Paris 2024 Olympic games, courtesy of the womens K4 results at the 2023 ICF World Championships.
Scott Martlew has also secured his Paralympic spot and will be racing this weekend to get some vital race practice in both the Paracanoe K1 200m and V1 200m. Corbin Hart and Peter Cowan will have a chance to qualify for the Paralympics at the 2024 Paracanoe World Championships in May.
Day 1 Schedule – Friday 16th February
10.50 NZT- Para Canoe MK1 200 Heat – Scott Martlew
12.20 NZT- Para Canoe MK1 200 Final – Scott Martlew
13.50 NZT- Para Canoe MV1 200 Final – Scott Martlew
16.25 NZT- MK2 500m Heat 1 (OLYMPIC QUALIFIER)- Max Brown and Kurtis Imrie
16.30 NZT- MK2 500m Heat 2- Zach Ferkins and Kacey Ngataki
17.50 NZT- MC2 500m Final (OLYMPIC QUALIFIER) – James Munro and Kacey Ngataki
18.00 NZT – WK2 500m Heat 1 (OLYMPIC QUALIFIER)- Aimee Fisher and Danielle McKenzie
Day 2 Schedule – Saturday 17th February
10.00 NZT- MK2 500m Final- Zach Ferkins and Kacey Ngataki, Max Brown and Kurtis Imrie
10.05 NZT- WK2 500m Final- Aimee Fisher and Danielle McKenzie
10.25 NZT -Para Canoe MK1 500m Heat – Scott Martlew
11.40 NZT- MK1 500m Heat- James Munro
11.50 NST- WK1 500m heat- Aimee Fisher
12.00 NZT- WK1 500m heat- Danielle McKenzie
12.20 NZT -Para Canoe MK1 500m Final- Scott Martlew
From 13.00pm NZT- 500m Semis and finals
15.10 NZT -Para Canoe MV1 500m Final- Scott Martlew
18.00 NZT- MK1 1000m heat 1 (Olympic qualifier) – Quaid Thompson
18.21 NZT- MC1 1000m Final (Olympic qualifier)- Kacey Ngataki
How to follow the results
Live results can be found here https://regattas.paddle.org.au/regattas/1204/live
Stay tuned to CRNZ social media platforms for updates and results. We hope to be able to have live footage of the major race on our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/canoeracing
