Bell and Jeffery Miss Out in Spain
WAIS athletes Robin Bell and Robin Jeffery have missed out on the semi final stage at the ICF World Canoe Slalom Championships in Spain.
Australia’s K1 and C1 paddlers missed qualification for the semi-finals at the ICF World Canoe Slalom Championships in La Seu d’Urgell, Spain.
Robin Bell (WA), Australia’s most successful ever slalom athlete, finished 22nd in the C1 heats, just 0.05 hundredths of a second outside the top 20 cut off for the semi final.
Bell sat in 16th position after the first run and while he improved his time by over two seconds on the second run, a penalty on gate 12 proved too costly. The Beijing bronze medallists’ total of 96.62 was 4.88 seconds behind leading qualifier Jon Erguin of Spain.
Ian Borrows (NSW), showed promise for the future with running times close to the pace of the top 20, but with penalties, his best run total of 99.83 left him in 30th position out of a field of 69. Robin Jeffery (WA) struggled to find his best form finished in 47th position with a total of 107.33.
In the men’s K1 there were similar frustrations for the Australians, with Will Forsythe (NSW) in 24th place only 0.4 seconds behind 20th place.
For Warwick Draper (VIC) it was a frustrating penalty on the last upstream gate that kept the Beijing and Athens Olympian out of the next round. The simple error dropped the Australian from a possible 12th place finish to 35th.
Sam Lyons (NSW), with a total of 93.15 seconds, finished in 51st place out of a field of 98 starters.
Head Coach, Mike Druce, said the day held disappointment tinged with some hope for the future,
“There is no doubt our athletes are good enough to make the cut, and they were close to this,” Druce said. “For Bell and Draper the penalties made the obvious difference when there is no margin for error on a fast easy course of 90 seconds or less.
“On the bright side, our younger athletes like Forsythe and Borrows have progressed significantly this year and can be confident of a bright future in the sport.”
In the women’s C1 demonstration event, Victorian Leanne Guinea (123.09) and Rosalyn Lawrence of New South Wales (126.78) finished the day on a bright note for the Australians, qualifying in second and third place behind Teng of China (120.84). Youngster Jessica Fox finished in 14th place, completing the hat trick of Australians advancing to the semi-finals of the event.
– Canoeing Australia