Ninth place in the K1 1000m final was not quite what Ben Fouhy had in mind at the world championships in Hungary.
Even so, only a quirk of the regulations stopped him securing a K1 1000m spot at the London Olympics next year over the weekend.
Having won his heat,and come second in his semifinal, Fouhy finished ninth in the final in 3m 48.182s.
The top eight places qualified automatically for London. However, in a complicated rule, paddlers who have qualified in two disciplines open an extra space up in the K1. That did apply and would have put Fouhy, or certainly New Zealand, into the event, except for another rule which states that the host nation - in this case Britain - must have a representation. That closed the door just as quickly on Fouhy.
"We had an expectation of slightly higher than that," team manager Grant Restall said from Szeged last night. "He had two very good races and one not so good. Unfortunately that was in the A final.
"Perhaps he's not race hardened. His last actual race was in the world champs last year. We think probably he's a little bit underdone, so the signs were there and it's made him quite determined to move on and take London."
New Zealand's last qualifying chance is at the Oceania regatta in Penrith next March, where the winners will advance to London.
There was an encouraging result from K2 500m pair Erin Taylor and Lisa Carrington, who finished ninth in their A final, when a top-six finish was needed for an Olympic spot, while Steven Ferguson and Darryl Fitzgerald won the K2 1000m B final to be ranked 10th.
Bay of Plenty paddler Carrington was racing the K1 200m final late last night, having qualified fastest from the semifinals.
