Tom Green turned a few days of ‘having fun’ into a gold medal when the big Australian powered over the 1000 metres to win gold at the 2019 ICF junior and U23 canoe sprint world championships in Pitesti on Friday.
Green has been talking down his chances all week in Romania, but there could be no denying the 20-year-old in the race for gold. His victory was followed a short time later by a silver medal for Jean van der Westhuyzen and Jackson Collins in the U23 K2 1000.
The Queensland trio will team up with 2016 Olympian Riley Fitzsimmons on Saturday in the heats of the U23 K4 1000, giving Australia a strong chance of another medal.
Green said he was hoping to use this week as an opportunity to develop his skills further ahead of the senior world championships, but from his first heat win it became obvious he was the man for the rest to beat. He took the lead early in Friday’s final, and never looked in danger.
“It was good fun, but it was also a bit tough,” Green said.
“There was a bit of wind in that race, and also a bit of weed, but it was fun. I was trying to have control, to go out and stay in control for the whole thing. It worked and definitely helped me throughout the race.”
Green tasted success in the U23 K2 1000 last year alongside Joel McKitterick, and says his win on Friday is a big step in his overall development.
“It’s one of the pieces of the puzzle,” he said.
“At the end of the day it all helps, these little things you learn from each event.”
Green surged on to the international scene in 2018 and following his u23 gold, he also made theA final at his firstsenior world championships in the men’s K1 500 and finished fourth in the men’s K4 500 together with Olympians Riley Fitzsimmons, Jordan Wood and Murray Stewart.
This year, Green will once again contest the senior world championships, which will also be the Olympic qualification event, as will newcomers to the team Jackson Collins and Jean van der Westhuyzen.
Van der Westhuyzen and Collins pushed the Hungarian gold medallists all the way to the finish, but could not quite get their noses in front.
“We’re pretty stoked, but obviously we were going out there for the gold,” van der Westhuyzen said.
“We didn’t execute our best race, but a silver medal, we can see the silver lining there, so we’re pretty stoked.”
Collins said it was a challenge in their first world championship final together.
“The final was completely different, it had a completely different feel to the heat,” he said.
“It was just an experience, a learning experience, something I have never been through before so it was really cool to get out there.”
It Is the first World Championships medal for the 20-year old former AFL player and surf ski paddler Jackson Collins, who is the son of four-time Olympian and dual Olympic medallist Daniel Collins and only switched to kayaking last year.
Jemma Smith (NSW) also made her mark on Saturday, qualifying for the final of the women’s U23 K1 1000, and then fighting all the way to the finish to cross the line in sixth position.
South Australians Daniel Kucharski and Jesse Kneebone-Ellis finished third in the B final of the men’s K2 junior 1000, and Yasemin Ray (WA), Alicia Fay (QLD), Ashlee Schoene (SA) and Caitlin Webber (SA) finished seventh in the B final of the women’s junior K4 500.
Racing continues today with the event wrapping up tomorrow.
Follow race livestream here: https://www.canoeicf.com/canoe-sprint-world-championships/pitesti-2019
Follow live results here: http://pitesti2019.spotfokus.com
Head to www.facebook.com/auspaddleteam for more interviews.
A-Final Results Australia, Friday, 3 August
K1 U23 Men 1000
1 | AUS | Thomas GREEN | 00:03:41.946 | |
2 | GER | Jakob THORDSEN | 00:03:43.024 | |
3 | HUN | Adam VARGA | 00:03:43.444 |
K2 U23 Men 1000
1 | HUN | Matyas KOLESZAR Viktor NEMETH |
00:03:27.774 | ||||
2 | AUS | Jean VAN DER WESTHUYZEN Jackson COLLINS |
00:03:29.139 | 00:00:01.365 | |||
3 | GER | Martin HILLER Jakob KURSCHAT |
00:03:29.602 | 00:00:01.828 | |||
K1 U23 Women 1000
1 | GER | Jule HAKE | 00:04:13.363 | ||
2 | HUN | Noemi PUPP | 00:04:13.396 | 00:00:00.033 | |
3 | CZE | Anezka PALOUDOVA | 00:04:19.291 | 00:00:05.928 | |
6 | AUS | Jemma SMITH | 00:04:21.864 | 00:00:08.501 |
Team Aus Race Schedule Saturday, 3 August 2019 – AEST +7hrs
SATURDAY | ||||
TIME | EVENT | Lane | NAME | |
08:55 | 18 WK1 200m | SEMI 1 | Charli Smyth | |
Progression: 1/2+ Next BT to A, 3x3rd + 4x4th + 2x5th BT to B, | ||||
2x5th +4x6th + 3next BT to C | ||||
09:10 | 18 MK1 200m | SEMI 1 | Jesse Kneebone – Ellis | |
Progression: 1/2+ Next BT to A, 3x3rd + 4x4th + 2x5th BT to B, | ||||
2x5th +4x6th + 3next BT to C | ||||
09:55 | 23 WK1 200m | SEMI 1 | Brianna Massie | |
Progression: 1/3 to A, 4/6 to B | ||||
10:10 | 23 MK1 200m | SEMI 1 | Ethan Neville | |
Progression: 1/3 to A, 4/6 to B | ||||
15:54 | 23 MK4 500m | Heat 1 | Lane 6 | Fitzsimmons/Green/Collins /vdWesthuyzen |
Progression: 1st to A, 2/7 to Semi | ||||
16:18 | 23 WK1 500m | Heat 2 | Lane 9 | Brianna Massie |
Progression: 1st to A, 2/7 to Semi | ||||
17:12 | 18 MK1 500m | Heat 4 | Lane 2 | Daniel Kucharski |
Progression: 1/6 to Semi + 3 next best | ||||
17:18 | 18 WK2 500m | Heat 1 | Lane 3 | Charli S/ Caitlin W |
Progression: 1st to A, 2/7 to Semi | ||||
18:12 | 23 WK2 500m | Heat 1 | Lane 3 | Lucind K/ Jemma S |
Progression: 1/3 to A, 4/7 + next BT to B | ||||