Versatile New Zealand kayer Steven Ferguson has qualified for the Olympic K1 500m semifinals but was left well behind a Canadian superstar in an electric heat at Shunyi today.
Ferguson was well beaten into fourth by gold medal favourite Adam van Koeverden, who powered clear to win inan unofficial world record time of one minute 35.554 seconds.
The time won't be recorded by the International Canoeing Federation as it didn't take place in a semifinal or final but van Koeverden underlined why he is the man to beat.
He is unbeaten this year and set the official world's best time at his last regatta, the World Cup in Poznan, Poland when he was 0.08sec slower than today.
"He's obviously flying," Ferguson told NZPA.
"It's a hard race to be in when someone's going that quick and you're just trying to get used to racing again.
"Hopefully he runs out of steam for the finals but at the moment, yeah, it's a great paddle."
Ferguson, who was 1.984sec off the winning time, said he made technical mistakes when trying to match the Canadian's early pace. He paid for it by slipping behind veteran Norwegian Eirik Veraas Larsen and Italian Michele Zerial.
"The quality of paddlers here is fantastic. They've definitely stepped it up a gear. Every year it's getting quicker and quicker," he said.
"My goal is to get in the final and re-evaluate from there."
The top six paddlers from each of the four heats today qualify for Thursday's semifinals.
Ferguson was eighth fastest in the field of 29 - the biggest of the kayaking/canoeing flatwater regatta.
Yesterday Ferguson and crewmate Mike Walker also advanced to the semis after finishing fourth in their K2 1000m heat.
Ben Fouhy qualified for the K1 1000m semis yesterday - third behind another van Koeverden master class - while K1 500m woman Erin Taylor will look to make it a clean sweep of semifinalists later today.
