Poverty Bay crews shine on Day 1 of nationals

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

POVERTY Bay Kayak Club’s crew of Courtney Hoskin, Britney Ford, Kim Thompson and Sarah Guyot won the open women’s K4 200m on the first day of the New Zealand Canoe Sprint Championships at Lake Karapiro yesterday.

Their time of 38.08s was just under a second faster than the Mana Kayak Racing Club four who were runners-up.

Poverty Bay’s Alicia Hoskin and Alex Bermingham won the A final of the under-18 women’s K2 200 metres.They completed the distance in 41.51 seconds, 1.72 seconds ahead of the Arawa Canoe Club crew in second place.

Alicia Hoskin was second in the u18 women’s K1 200m A final in a time of 44.16s, just 0.02 of a second behind Arawa’s Olivia Brett. Bermingham also made the A final, finishing eighth.

Jordan Robertson, Alicia Hoskin, Bermingham and N Lee were runners-up in the u18 women’s K4 200m in 41.28s, 1.06s behind the winning Arawa four.

Poverty Bay paddlers filled three of the top five placings in the u18 men’s K1 200m A final.

Jordan McLarin was second, in 39.37s, Sam Ferkins was third in 39.97s and Ben Bristow was fifth in 42.10s. Sam Blackburne also made the A final.

The winner, Arawa paddler Dylan Neal-Hill, had a time of 38.50s.

McLarin, Ferkins, Bristow and Blackburne then combined to win the u18 men’s K4 200m in a time of 35.40s, beating Neal-Hill’s second-placed Arawa crew by 1.25s.

Bristow and Ferkins were runners-up to Arawa’s Neal-Hill and Liam Walker in the u18 men’s K2 200m. The winners’ time was 37.08s, and Bristow and Ferkins were 0.3 of a second back.

Britney Ford and Kim Thompson were third in the open women’s K2 200m A final in 40.15s, just 0.75 of a second behind winners Elise Legarth and Aimee Fisher of Hawke’s Bay.

Mana pair Kayla Imrie and Danielle Watson were second in 39.81s.

Thompson made the open women’s K1 200m A final won by Lisa Carrington, finishing eighth, and Ford was third in the B final.

Quaid Thompson and Zach Ferkins finished fourth in the open men’s K2 200m A final in 36.34s, a second outside the medals.

Genna Robertson and Lucy McLaughlin won the u14 women’s K2 200m A final in 47.51s, beating the second-placed Arawa crew by 1.64s.

Robertson won the u14 women’s K1 200m A final in 48.01s, 1.65s ahead of the Arawa runner-up. Poverty Bay’s Charlotte Blackburne and McLaughlin were fourth and fifth respectively. Manon Rogers also made the A final.

Robertson, McLaughlin, Blackburne and Grace Roddick won the u14 women’s K4 200m in 46.43s, over two seconds ahead of the runners-up.

In other Poverty Bay results, M Rogers, J Egan, W Hall and A Falwasser-Logan won the tyros mixed K4 200m final; and Rogers and Egan were second in the tyros mixed K2 200m A final.