Paddle Australia’s Laura Lee (NSW) and Mario Vesely (NSW) have wrapped up the 2018 ICF Canoe Sprint Masters Championships with three silver medals. The three day event (14 – 16 August 2018) in Montemor O Velho in Portugal came to a close last night.
Laura Lee had a successful regatta winning silver in both the women’s K1 500m and 200m events in the 35-39 age group.
“What a great experience! I was very pleased with my performance overall as I didn’t know what to expect. I was hoping to put in a better performance today (Thursday) and felt like I could have been closer, but in the end I was happy to do what I did in the wind,” Lee said at the conclusion of the event.
Teammate Mario started the regatta with a fourth place in the men’s K1 45-49 1000. He then went on to win silver in the K1 200 following a strong heat and a win in the semifinal.
“I’m very happy with my results in a tight field. I picked up a little bit of weed on my rudder, but otherwise the course is great and the races have been professionally organised”, Vesely commented after racing.
All eyes will be set again on Montemor O Velho next week with the venue hosting the 2018 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships. As experienced by the masters, the venue is know for some challenging winds, but will be undergoing some changes for the World Championships as Lee described.
“The event has been very well run in a beautiful location. Overall the conditions were great but unfortunately there was a very strong side wind on the last day, which made conditions very tricky for the 200m. It was a pity that they didn’t manage to get the wind wall done in time for the masters events, but hopefully that will make a big difference for the world championships and allow everyone to perform as well as they can. The wind wall looks like it should be ready in time.”
Both Vesely and Lee will continue on to contest the ICF Canoe Marathon Masters World Cup in Portugal at the beginning of September.
See all results: http://canoesprintportugal.com/index.php?page=timetable-results
ICF Canoe Sprint Masters Championships – Australia A-Final results
K1 Women 35-39 500 Final A
| 1 | Ana VARELA (ESP) | 00:02:09.935 |
| 2 | Laura LEE (AUS) | 00:02:22.765 |
| 3 | Csilla SIMON (HUN) | 00: 02:26.566 |
K1 Women 35 – 39 500 Final A
| 1 | Ana VARELA | 00:00:47.801 |
| 2 | Laura LEE | 00:00:50.802 |
| 3 | Patricia DOMINGUEZ | 00:00:51.842 |
K1 Men 45 – 49 200 Final A
| 1 | Oleg ZHILENKO (RUS) | 00:40.617 |
| 2 | Mario VESELY (AUS) | 00:42.107 |
| 3 | Ioachim HASCU (ROU) | 00:42.112 |
K1 Men 45-49 1000 Final A
| 1 | Vidas KUPCINSKAS (LTU) | 04:03.091 |
| 2 | Nikolai UDOT (BLR) | 04:05.576 |
| 3 | Alvaro GALLINAL (ESP) | 04:07.421 |
| 4 | Mario VESELY (AUS) | 04:09.456 |
