Canoe racing world championship: Women's K4 crew impress in debut outing as Dame Lisa Carrington progresses in K1 500m

Lisa Carrington. Photo / Photosport

The promising signs continue for the New Zealand women's K4 500m crew, achieving direct qualification to the A final at the canoe racing world championships in Canada.

The scratch combination of Alicia Hoskin, Lisa Carrington, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan, who only had their first international race together in May, managed an assured performance to take out their heat on Thursday morning.

They edged top boats from Germany and Hungary and also finished ahead of strong quartets from Denmark and the Czech Republic.

It's an impressive result, on the back of solid performances at two recent world cup events, especially as Brett (20) and Vaughan (18) are competing at their first world championships and Hoskin (22) is still relatively new on this stage.

"When we first selected the boat back in April the idea of making an A final was probably what we would have desired," Canoe Racing New Zealand technical director Gordon Walker told NZME. "It's really, really positive for the team and the future of the K4."

However Walker emphasised it was only a small step, with a much bigger test to come in Saturday's final.

On Thursday, New Zealand were quick out of the blocks to lead at the halfway point by just over a second and consolidated their advantage in the final 250m to finish in 1:36.70, 0.75s ahead of Germany.

The Polish crew set the fastest time of the day in winning the heat (1:34.78), with Spain and Australia also impressive.

"It's the old saying - stay humble or be humbled," said Walker. "We can't get too carried away just because we made a final. The more people in a boat the more complicated it becomes so in a K4 it is really important that you have a plan, stick to the plan and you work together as a team.

"You definitely can't get carried away thinking about outcomes at this stage. The goal still remains to just try and be a bit better every day."

After her work in the team boat, Carrington was untroubled advancing to the K1 500m semi finals, winning her heat in 1.55.75, 1.34s ahead of Anezka Paloudova, after she narrowly trailed the Czech at the halfway stage.

Para canoe athletes Scott Martlew and Corbin Hart were other standout performers on the opening day.

Two time Paralympian Martlew finished second in his heat to advance directly to the KL2 500m A-final, while Corbin Hart also punched his ticket to the decider in the KL3 200m event, after a second place in his semifinal.

"It was a cracking result for them," said Walker. "For Scott to go straight to the final and Corbin has only been paddling for a couple of years and looks like he is on a good trajectory."

James Munro (K1 1000m) and Ashton Reiser (K1 500m) finished sixth in their respective heats and have a second chance via the semifinal, while the men's K4 500m crew of Ben Duffy, Hamish Legarth, James Munro and Zach Ferkins face the same fate, after a sixth place in their heat.