THE coach who prepared Wanganui's three young kayakers to take on the world said they should not be discouraged by their final placings at the 2015 Junior and Under-23 World Sprint Championships in Portugal.
Brian Scott stayed up to the early hours to watch the live streaming from the Montemor-o-velho course in Lisbon, where Toby Brooke competed in K1 and K4 events in the Junior (Under 18) events, while Max Brown and Aiden Nossiter were the Under 23 team for the K2 races.
Brooke and Thomas Cole, Karl McMurtrie and Alex Bristow finished seventh in the K4 1000m B Final in 3m 15.872s, around 4.7s behind the winning Canadian crew, leaving them with a world ranking of 16th.
Having previously been the Junior K2 crew at the world championships, Lisbon was Brown and Nossiter's first crack at Under 23 level, being eliminated at the semifinal stage of both the 1000m and 200m.
"A couple of results that they won't be happy with but shouldn't be disappointed with," said Scott, who spent many dawn Saturday mornings on the Whanganui River with the trio.
"But there are some good reasons for some less than perfect results.
"Unfortunately the course is known for its prevailing cross wind, which means one side of the course is really sheltered while the other is left really exposed.
"The course designers had rows of bamboo grown specifically to create some shelter to alleviate the cross wind, which is a real issue in tippy boats, but for some reason the bamboo didn't grow very well."
As Scott watched, he realised the Wanganui kayakers always drew the "choppy" side for their semifinals, with conditions windy.
Brooke made the B Final of the K1 1000m, where he finished second to be ranked 11th in the world for his age.
"His K1 1000 final was paddled brilliantly - was super proud watching that one," said Scott.
"In the semifinals he drew a bad lane so didn't get to showcase what he was really capable of, and it may have compromised his ability to challenge for that coveted A Final spot.
"But for the [B] finals there was hardly any wind and the racing was much fairer.
"Toby is also the leader in the K4 boat and his influence meant their [B] final was their best race after steady improvement throughout the regatta.
"The most pleasing aspect was how well they controlled their race and, in the end, their times were well in touch with the higher ranked boats."
Cole, from New Plymouth, had only joined the K4 crew at the last minute after another teammate pulled out, but Scott said Cole was familiar with Brooke as a teammate from racing together in Wanganui boats and at the national championships.
Brown and Nossiter were up against it from the start at Montemor-o-velho, with Nossiter having suffered a shoulder injury two weeks out which hampered final preparations.
"In their K2 1000m heat they had to race the teams that eventually were the world champions [Australia] and the bronze medallists [Hungary]," said Scott.
"Both of these teams would be capable of making an open world championship final - that is the standard of competition - it's unreal and very close."
The pair drew an outside lane for the 1000m semifinal, but found the strong cross wind hard to deal with.
"They also made the semi-final in the K2 200m and were performing really well until they had a timing mishap which cost them 2-3 places and what was shaping up to be their fastest time over that distance," said Scott. A late withdrawal from the Under 23's K4 team meant Brown and Nossiter could not compete in the K4 1000m.
"I suspect the boys will be looking forward to a little bit of good luck and a whole heap of hard training to bridge the gap to the top in the world," said Scott.