K2 pair showing promise

When you are in a team where one athlete is supreme the rest can sometimes be forgotten.

In a sense that is canoeing's lot with Lisa Carrington, world and Olympic champion, among their number. But Teneale Hatton is one paddler aiming to rectify that.

The London Olympian has teamed up with first-timer Rachel Dodwell to form an encouraging K2 500m combination on New Zealand's European tour which continues with the third World Cup regatta in Poznan, Poland this weekend.

At Szeged, in Hungary, the pair were fifth in their heat, second in their semifinal, in the second-quickest time, before finishing fourth in the final, 1.33s off third.

At Racice in the Czech Republic a fortnight ago, they were fifth again in their heat, won the semi in the quickest time, 1:49.786, before tumbling to last in the final.

Along the way, Hatton has also shown an aptitude for the marathon K1 5000m discipline, finishing second in Hungary and fourth in Racice. She treats it as a time trial, "a fun event" which is a good chance to show how much her training is paying off.

Inconsistency has bugged the young pair, but Hatton is encouraged by developments, considering they had spent little time together in the boat before flying to Europe.

"Because we haven't been in the boat too long there are ups and downs but when we click it's like 'okay that's exciting, we do have a lot of potential'," the 23-year-old said. "The more time in the boat the more consistent we will become. At the moment our sessions are getting better and better. When we get tired, we still hold it together."

After this weekend, the New Zealand crew return home for several weeks.