Bay kayakers eye success at worlds

Tauranga kayak sprinters Andrew Roy and Karina Radley will be out to build a full head of steam on their medal-winning momentum as they take on the world's best over the next three days.
Set to hit the water at the world junior championships in Germany tomorrow, the teens bagged a silver medal each at last week's Czech nationals, in a heartening warm-up for the ICF world juniors regatta at Brandenburg.
After a fortnight's training at Czech venue Racice as part of the New Zealand junior contingent, Roy and his K4 1000m crewmates powered to second in their junior men's final, while Radley and partner Aimee Fisher claimed silver in the junior women's K2 200m.
The Racice regatta was an encouraging primer for the ICF event, which sees about 650 athletes gathering to compete at Lake Beetzsee.
The Tauranga pair also chalked up creditable individual performances at Racice, Radley pipped into fourth in the junior women's K1 200m A final and Roy edged to fifth in the male equivalent. Radley and her women's K4 500m colleagues notched a promising performance as well, placing fourth among a mix of open and junior crews.
In their run for silver, Radley and Fisher clocked 42.621secs - 0.75secs off gold - while Roy's K1 200m time of 38.711secs was 1.29secs off the winning pace. At the worlds, Radley is likely to again tackle the 500m distance with Fisher and K4 partners Danielle Currie and Kim Thompson, plus the K2 200m campaign.
Roy's schedule is expected to focus on the K4 1000m with Cory Taylor, Alex Fort and Zac Quickenden, alongside the K1 200m.
Reflecting on his efforts shortly after the Czech event, Roy was upbeat: "I was hoping to make some A finals and to get some good placings against a nation where kayaking is one of their national sports, so to get the results I did was a big confidence boost.
"I'm pretty pleased where things are at - my times were good and around where I want to be but I just need to work on my starts in the next week.
"The European scene is pretty wicked - the regatta lakes are all perfect to train on and there's a much bigger athlete base to train against.
"The world champs will just be incredible. All the European nations are so strong and there are 64 countries competing all up. I'm really looking forward to it."
Completing high school at Otumoetai College in 2010, Roy has spent this year in Auckland, training full-time with North Shore Canoe Club coach Gavin Elmiger.
An excellent summer included winning the under-19 K1 200m and 1000m in the Blue Lake 2 regatta at Rotorua in December, having earlier taken out the under-19 K2 200m and 500m at the Blue Lake 1 event with partner Sam Shergold.
A Bethlehem College student, Radley dominated the under-19 divisions at February's Oceania and New Zealand titles at Blue Lake - collecting gold in the K1 200m and 500m, plus the K2 200m and 500m. She was also runner-up in the K1 400m.
A top surf ski competitor but relatively new to kayak sprinting, Radley has rocketed ahead in the two years she's been competing nationally, aided by Mount surf lifesaving coach John "Spindles" Bryant.
"I'm able to laugh at people who fall out now without fear of falling out myself," Radley said prior to departing for Europe. "Aimee and I are so alike with our stroke rate. We seem to have a natural combination, which helps a lot. Getting into a final at the worlds would be amazing. Long-term, making it to the Olympics would be fantastic but I'm taking it as it comes."
The Tauranga paddlers' successes at Racice helped the 11-strong Kiwi team to five medals, including gold in the women's K2 1000m for Danielle Currie and Kim Thompson. Currie won New Zealand's only individual medal, with bronze in the K1 500m.
Race schedule
Tomorrow: Morning - 1000m heats; afternoon 200m heats, 1000m semifinals.
Saturday July 30: Morning - 500m heats; afternoon - 1000m finals, 500m semifinals.
Sunday, July 31: Morning - 200m semifinals and finals; afternoon - 500m finals.