After 3 days of racing and invaluable paddling and cultural experiences, the young Asia Pacific team have arrived home and are reflecting on their time in Komatsu.
“This year’s trip to Japan for the Asia Pacific Sprint Cup has been really valuable and the experience and learnings both on and off the water for the entire team has been amazing.” Said Craig Mustard, CRNZ Development Coach. “We will continue to build off for the 2023 season”.
From a racing perspective, highlights from the boys included the gold medal in the U21 MK4 500m (Fletcher Moles, Jonty Laver, Thomas MacGibbon, Sam Ferkins) and silver (Fletcher Moles & Jonty Laver) and bronze (Thomas MacGibbon & Sam Ferkins) in the U21 MK2 500m. Thomas MacGibbon also performed well individually with a silver in the U21 MK1 1000m and a bronze in the 500m. The U18 K4 men also finished 3rd (Tiago Chamberlain, Logan Ferguson, Angus Sewell and Kaiha Gilbertson) and the U21 MK1 200m relay team won gold on the final day of racing.
In the women’s events, Natasha MacGibbon came away with a silver in the U18 K1 500m, the U18 WK4 girls (Isla Joyce, Genna Robertson, Natasha MacGibbon and Brieanna Cox) got silver in the 500m, and bronze medals were also claimed in the U18 K2 500m (Isla Joyce & Natasha MacGibbon) and the U21 WK4 500m (Claudia Rogers, Emma Brownlie, Jess Marquet, Scarlett Old).
The Asia Pacific Sprint Cup is the result of a collaboration between Australia, Japan and New Zealand back in 2018 to address a gap in competition in this part of the world for youth paddlers. With a focus on development, this event has different age categories – U16, U18 and U21- than traditional sprint events and exposes athletes to international competition to help further develop skills and racing experience.
Canoe Racing NZ selected a non-traveling U16 team this year, who instead took part in a domestic camp.
For many of the young paddlers, it was not only a first international paddling regatta but a first overseas experience. The athletes all embraced the different way of eating and living and fully immersed themselves in the culture and opportunities including English Exchange, Sake brewery tour, Magatama (bead making), Japanese sweet making and temple tours.
“This is my first CRNZ campaign and it has been the most amazing trip.” Said Jess Marquet of Arawa Canoe Club. “I have loved every aspect of this trip from all the cultural activities we got to partake in, the team bonding experiences and understanding myself and my processes when competing. This is something that I can learn and improve from as I continue my paddling journey and, it makes me excited about what’s to come.”
Fletcher Moles from Waitara Kayak Club agreed. “Definitely my favourite international canoe racing trip so far! Such an amazing culture, very different to home in every way. Lake Kiba provided great paddling conditions and close racing. A perfect balance of on water focus and cultural experiences.”
The Japanese Canoe Federation put on an extremely well-run event and we would just like to thank them for the great week of training and racing. Also to all the officials and volunteers thank you so much for making the weekend possible.
Craig also recognises the work that had gone on at clubs to develop and prepare these young paddlers. “To all the club coaches well done and thank you for all your work that you put into preparing your athletes for the event.”
Day One Results
Race 1 – Women K4 U21 500m Final
3rd Place – Claudia Rogers, Emma Brownlie, Jess Marquet, Scarlett Old
Race 6 – Women K4 U18 500 Final
2nd Place – Isla Joyce, Genna Robertson, Natasha MacGibbon, Brieanna Cox
Race 7 – Men K1 U18 1000 – Heats (Final is 1pm 1/10/2022)
Heat One
3rd Place – Angus Sewell
4th Place – Damien da Silva
Heat Two
2nd Place – Logan Ferguson
Race 11 – Men K2 U18 500 Final
5th Place – Zane Mills-Nossiter, Damien da Silva
7th Place – Angus Sewell, Kaiha Gilbertson
9th Place – Tiago Chamberlain, Logan Ferguson
Race 13 – Women K2 U18 500 Final
3rd Place – Isla Joyce, Natasha MacGibbon
6th Place – Jessica Cleghorn, Brieanna Cox
7th Place – Madison Garrett, Genna Robertson
Race 14 – Men K4 U21 500 Final
1st Place – Fletcher Moles, Jonty Laver, Thomas MacGibbon, Sam Ferkins
Race 16 – Men K1 U21 1000m Final
2nd Place – Thomas Mac Gibbon (also came second in his heat)
4th Place – Jonty Laver (came 3rd in his heat)
8th Place – Sam Ferkins (came 3rd in heat)
Race 19 – Women K1 U21 500 Final
6th Place – Emma Brownlie (came 4th in her heat)
8th Place – Jess Marquet (came 4th in her heat)
9th Place – Claudia Rogers (came 5th in her heat)
Day 2 Results
Race 22 – MK1 U18 1000 Final
6th Place – Damien da Silva
7th Place – Angus Sewell
9th Place – Logan Ferguson
Race 23 – MK2 U21 500 Final
2nd Place – Fletcher Moles, Jonty Laver
3rd Place – Thomas MacGibbon, Sam Ferkins
Race 26 – WK1 U18 500 Final
2nd Place – Natasha MacGibbon
Race 28 – WK2 U21 500 Final
4th Place – Emma Brownlie, Jess Marquet,
5th Place – Claudia Rogers, Scarlett Old
Race 29 – Mixed K4 U18 200 Final
5th Place – Angus Sewell, Zane Mills-Nossiter, Genna Robertson, Brieanna Cox
Race 37 – Mixed K4 U21 200 Final
4th Place – Jonty Laver, Scarlett Old, Genna Robertson, Kaiha Gilbertson
Race 39 – MK1 U18 500 Final
6th Place – Tiago Chamberlain (also came 3rd in his heat)
7th Place – Damien da Silva (also came 3rd in his heat – Logan Ferguson placed 6th in the same heat)
Race 40 – MK1 U21 500 Final
3rd Place – Thomas MacGibbon (also came 1st in his heat)
4th Place – Fletcher Moles (also came 2nd in his heat)
9th Place – Sam Ferkins (also came 3rd in his heat)
Race 44 – WK1 U21 200 Final
7th Place – Emma Brownlie (also came 4th in her heat)
8th Place – Jess Marquet (also came 4th in her heat – Claudia Rogers placed 5th in the same heat)
Day 3 Results
Race 48 – K-1 relay – Men’s U18 200m Final
3rd Place – Tiago Chamberlain, Angus Sewell, Zane Mills-Nossiter, Kaiha Gilbertson
Race 49 – K-1 relay – Women’s 200m Final
2nd Place – Madison Garrett, Isla Joyce, Genna Robertson, Natasha MacGibbon
Race 50 – K-1 relay – Men’s U21 200m Final
1st Place – Thomas MacGibbon, Jonty Laver, Sam Ferkins, Fletcher Moles
Race 51 – K-1 relay – Women’s U21 200m Final
3rd Place – Emma Brownlie, Jess Marquet, Claudia Rogers, Scarlett Old
