Canoe Slalom: Locals shine in Oceania contest

Callum Gilbert is the new Oceania under-18 champion in the men's K1. Photo/Supplied

Tauranga paddlers have again underlined their credentials at the Oceania Canoe Slalom Champs in Sydney.

Callum Gilbert took the Oceania under-18 title in the men's K1 in an event that doubled as an International Canoe Federation ranking race.

A starting line-up that included five of the top 12 world ranked paddlers meant Gilbert's semifinal time of 94.51 was an impressive 4.65secs behind the winning time.

Gilbert, who has just turned 18, was on the leader board for some time in the K1 semi and was just pipped for a finals place by less than 0.5 of a second, finishing 12th overall ahead of some top ranked internationals. His result placed him first among Oceania juniors and second in the under-23 division.

Showing the depth in the junior programme, another Tauranga paddler, Jack Dangen (104.21) was the top Oceania under-16 and third junior overall in the event.

CSBOP paddlers Jane Nicholas and Haylee Dangen made the final in the C1W. As expected, the finals course was difficult and the crunch move under the bridge caught Dangen, adding two 50 second penalties to her time, placing her in 10th on 239.06.

Nicholas had a solid run to finish in 8th (146.66).

The day before Ben Gibb of Tauranga had won the Oceania under-23 title in C1M with a 9th place finish, with Nicholas the best of the NZ kayak women placing 11th in the K1.

A large group of the New Zealand Performance squad had been training over the summer on the artificial course built at Penrith for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but now have returned home for school and university.

The group will return as the NZ team for the junior and under-23 world champs from April 22-27th, with 14 of the 18 member team originating from Tauranga.

Team manager Sue Clarke said the furious competition prepared the paddlers for what lies ahead.

"Many of our athletes are positioned around New Zealand for study and don't have full-time access to quality coaching and training facilities, so it was good to be able to get in a solid block of training and racing," Clarke said.

"Of course it's always nice to beat the Australians on their home course and the younger paddlers in the squad now have a better indication of where they stand internationally and what they need to do to be at the top."