The 18-and-under team (from left) of Jacqueline Kennedy, Taylor Newman, Georgia Hamblyn and Holly Rowland cut through the chop on Lake Karapiro.
Gisborne canoeist Jacqueline Kennedy won gold medals in all six events she contested at the Canoe Racing New Zealand National Kayak Sprints on Lake Karapiro last weekend.
Competing in the women’s 18-and-under division, Kennedy won individual titles in the K1 1000m and K1 500m, and team gold with Arawa Canoe Club’s Stella Crossan in the K2 500m and K2 200m, and with Poverty Bay clubmates Georgia Hamblyn and Taylor Newman and Eastern Bay Canoe Racing Club’s Holly Rowland in the K4 500m and K4 200m.
It could have been more. Events cut from the programme because of the weather included the 18-and-under K1 200m, mixed K2 and K4 events, and 2.5km and 5km races.
Kennedy, 17, is a Year 13 student and deputy head prefect at Gisborne Girls’ High School. She plans further study next year in Auckland, where she will be able to continue her kayaking career.
Quaid Thompson, clubmate of Kennedy at Poverty Bay Kayak Club, maintained his national supremacy in the open men’s K1 1000m, although he was pushed hard by Grant Clancy of North Shore Canoe Club.
Thompson was third in the open men’s K1 500m and teamed up with Poverty Bay’s Max Kennedy (Jacqueline’s brother) for silver in the open men’s K2 200m and fourth place in the K2 500m.
Max Kennedy claimed a close silver in the U23 age group of the 1000m.
The usual three days of competition were compressed into one and a half to avoid the effects of Cyclone Vaianu.
Competitors raced from dawn to dusk on Friday to get through as many races as possible.
On Saturday, competition was cut short because of strong winds, choppy waters and the possibility of worse to come.
Jacqueline and Max Kennedy and Taylor Newman will represent New Zealand at the Asia Pacific Sprint Cup in Rotorua at the beginning of May and will then go on to the world championships in Halifax, Canada, in July.
Geoff Mould and Kim Hedley won the master men’s K2 200m on Lake Karapiro.
Long-time Poverty Bay paddler Mould took third place in the master men’s K1 500m, and silver in the master men’s 1000m race.
Thomas Bull won the boys’ 12-and-under K1 100m and K1 500m.
The results in detail:
Jacqueline Kennedy won the A Final of the women’s 18-and-under K1 500m in 1m 56.75s, 3.44s faster than the runner-up from Wanganui Multisport Club.
She also won the A Final of the women’s 18-and-under K1 1000m, in 4m 06.21s, 3.38s ahead of the runner-up from Wanganui Multisport Club.
Kennedy, Hamblyn, Newman (all Poverty Bay Kayak Club) and Rowland (Eastern Bay Canoe Racing Club) won the women’s 18-and-under K4 200m in 40.39s, 1.28s ahead of the runners-up from Hawke’s Bay Kayak Racing Club.
They also won the women’s 18-and-under K4 500m, in 1m 45.39s, 1.78s ahead of the runners-up from Wanganui Multisport Club.
Newman was third in the A Final of the women’s open and 23-and-under K1 200m, in 46.36s.
Kennedy linked up with Arawa Canoe Club’s Crossan to win the women’s 18-and-under K2 200m A Final in 42.91s, 1.10s ahead of the runners-up from Wanganui Multisport.
Hamblyn and Rowland made the A Final too, finishing seventh in 50.03s.
Crossan and Kennedy also won the women’s 18-and-under K2 500m. Their time of 1m 51.94s was 2.04s faster than that of the runners-up from Wanganui.
Hamblyn and Rowland were also in the final, finishing sixth in 2m 11.83s.
Quaid Thompson won the A Final of the men’s open K1 1000m in 3m 29.81s, 1.75s ahead of Grant Clancy of North Shore Canoe Club.
Poverty Bay’s Max Kennedy was third in the 23-and-under division in 3m 46.16s.
Thompson and Kennedy were second in the open men’s K2 200m A Final in 34.89 seconds, 0.09 of a second behind winners Kurtis Imrie and Tom Lowe from Mana Kayak Club.
Kennedy and Thompson were fourth in the A Final of the open men’s K2 500m in 1m 31.92s.
Thompson was third in the A Final of the men’s open and 23-and-under K1 500m in 1m 42.11s, 0.51s behind the winner Imrie.
Kennedy made the B Final of the same event and finished fifth, in 1m 48.40s.
AJ Kinsella made the A Final of the men’s 18-and-under K1 1000m final, finishing eighth in 4m 11.03s, and was third in the B Final of the men’s 18-and-under K1 500m in 1m 57.60s.
Poverty Bay’s Hedley and Mould won the master men’s K2 200m in 51.43s, 1.59s ahead of the runners-up from North Shore Canoe Club.
They were fourth in the master men’s K2 500m in 1m 55.82s.
Mould was third in the men’s 55-and-over K1 500m in 2m 19.63s, and second in the men’s 55-to-64 K1 1000m in 4m 52.89s, 22.76s behind the winner from Bay of Plenty Paddlesports.
Thomas Bull won the boys’ 12-and-under K1 100m in 29.52s, 1.05s ahead of the runner-up from Waitara Kayak Club. Poverty Bay’s Ben Quilter was sixth in this race.
Bull also won the boys’ 12-and-under K1 500m in 2m 37.78s, 6.36s ahead of the runner-up from Hawke’s Bay. Quilter finished fourth.
Nessa Tiaki Berry was fifth and Beatrix Pauwels was eighth in the A Final of the girls’ 12-and-under K1 100m.
Berry also made the A Final of the girls’ 12-and-under K1 500m, finishing eighth.
In the mixed 14-and-under K4 500m, Berry, Toby Garrett, Ned Cook and Blake Taylor made the A Final and finished fourth in 2m 0.76s.
Two Poverty Bay crews made the A Final of the boys’ 14-and-under K2 500m. Taylor and Garrett were fifth and Sam Quilter and Liam Morley were ninth.
Cook made the A Final of the boys’ 14-and-under K1 500m and was eighth, while Garrett made the B Final and finished seventh.