New Zealand paddlers finished out of the medals on the first day of finals at the world canoeing championships in Nova Scotia, Canada.

The best of the four crews in finals on the 1000m finals day were K1 pair Steven Ferguson and Erin Taylor.

They both finished sixth in their finals. Ferguson clocked 3min 34.752, over five seconds behind the winner, German Max Hoff. Ferguson had been third fastest qualifier for the final.

Taylor also took sixth place in her 1000m final. Hungarian Katalin Kovacs won the gold in 3:59.846, less than a second ahead of German Franziska Weber. Taylor, who had been fourth fastest out of the semifinals, recorded 4:04.650.

Novice K2 pair Lisa Carrington and Teneale Hatton, who have been together less than six months, finished seventh in the 1000m final, in 3:51.453, having been an encouraging second in their semifinal. Polish pair Beata Mikolajczyk and Malgorzata Chognacka won in 3:40.425.

Scott Bicknell and Troy Burbidge, in the men's K2 1000m final, finished eighth in 3:18.671, 4s adrift of winners Emilio Merchan and Diego Cosgaya of Spain.