Poverty Bay kayaker Jacqueline Kennedy on her way to winning the B final of the Under-18 women's K1 500 metres at the ICF Junior and Under-23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Portugal.
Poverty Bay kayaker Jacqueline Kennedy on her way to winning the B final of the Under-18 women's K1 500 metres at the ICF Junior and Under-23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Portugal.
Gisborne’s rising kayaking star Jacqueline Kennedy won the B final to finish 10th in her age group in the K1 500 metres at the ICF Junior and Under-23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Portugal.
She was one of three athletes from Poverty Bay Kayak Club to represent New Zealandat the champs, held in Montemor-o-Velho.
Gisborne teenager Jacqueline Kennedy was clearly stoked to win the K1 500m B final in convincing fashion.
Kennedy, older brother Max and Hannah Webb were part of the Canoe Racing NZ U18 squad, with Max making the junior (Under-18) men’s A final as part of the New Zealand K4 crew.
More than 1000 athletes from 66 countries competed in the champs over four days.
Kennedy, at 16 years old, was one of the youngest athletes in the junior women’s division, in which she competed in the K1 500m and K2 500m.
She progressed to the K1 semifinals after placing third in her heat in a time of 2m 1.03s.
In her semi, she set an outstanding personal best time of 1m 55.08s in finishing fourth, but only the top three in each of the three semis advanced to the A final.
Kennedy’s time would have got her into the final in the other two semis.
She dominated the B final to win in 2m 1.17s – 2.7s clear of the second-placed paddler.
The A final was won by Germany’s Caroline Heuser in 1m 56.55s.
Jacqueline Kennedy set a personal best time in her semifinal of the K1 500 and only just missed out on a place in the A final.
Kennedy combined with Stella Crossan from the Arawa club in Christchurch for the K2 500.
They were fifth in their heat in 1m 54.3s and fifth in their semifinal in 1m 48.35s, with the top three qualifying for the A final.
It put them in the B final, which they led for most of the 500m before finishing fifth (14th overall), with only 0.58s separating first to fifth.
Maxwell Kennedy, 18, competed in the junior men’s K4 500m and K2 500m.
The K4 crew of Dylan Monk, Brydon Storey, Kennedy and Lewis Monk were sixth in their heat in 1m 28.33s and third in their semifinal in 1m 25.81s to become the first Kiwi men’s junior crew to make an A final at an International Canoe Federation event.
Maxwell Kennedy (third from left) and his K4 teammates were the first New Zealand junior men's crew to make an A final at an ICF event.
They finished eighth in a tight final won by Hungary in 1m 27.6s.
Kennedy also competed in the 150-crew K2 races with Lewis Monk from Christchurch.
They were seventh in their heat and sixth in their semifinal, which put them into the B final, where they placed ninth for 18th overall.
Hannah Webb, 18, showed courage and resilience to overcome illness while competing in the junior women’s K4 500m and K1 1000m.
The K4 crew of Mia Padrutt, Stellan Crossan, Hope Duffett and Webb faced tough competition, but paddled solidly in placing fifth in their heat and ninth in their semifinal.
Webb was eighth in her K1 1000m heat and did not progress to the semis.
“The whole New Zealand team put on a strong performance with most of the athletes making finals,” said head development coach and former Gisborne woman Emily Willock.
“They produced solid improvements in rankings in all the races they were in and I was super proud of them.”
The Kennedy siblings and Webb said they were grateful to the Gisborne community for all the funding support and good wishes they received, especially Ovation NZ, the team at Whiti Ora Tairawhiti for the Rising Legends programme the three have been part of, and Eastland Port for its support of water sports.
