Melbourne’s Robert Janiszewski is optimistic about his form ahead of next month’s Under 23 Wildwater Canoeing World Championships, despite “mixed feelings” about his senior World Championships debut in Germany last weekend.
Meanwhile, Western Australia’s Georgina Collin says her own mistake, rather than competing with borrowed equipment, narrowly cost her a spot in the women’s K1 final.
Collin and Janiszewski represented Australia at the Wildwater Canoe World Championship in Augsburg last weekend, with Collin finishing 16th and missing the K1 final by less than half-a-second, while Janiszewski was 18th in the men’s C1.
Disappointed with his final heat at his senior World Championships debut in Germany, 22-year-old Janiszewski will get a quick chance to rebound when he represents Australia at the Under 23 World Championships in Czechia, July 5-9.
Janiszewski made a solid start in Germany by finishing 17th in his first heat in a time of 70.03 seconds. But he was much slower in his second heat, 71.51 seconds, leaving him six places outside final qualification.
“Overall, it’s mixed feelings with my performance,” Janiszewski said. “It was a solid first run with a few small mistakes, but the second run wasn’t what I was capable of. It’s always valuable experience though, I got some good coaching and development from the ICF and it was my first senior world champs, so I’m happy to get that out of the way and I understand the pressure going forward next year.
“I’m feeling more satisfied with my paddling since arriving in Europe. I’m feeling a lot stronger, so I’m going to try and continue that into the Under 23s world championships. I’m feeling optimistically good.”
Collin’s car broke down just on the eve of the World Championships and she had to rely on borrowed equipment to compete.
It was a tough opening heat, finishing 29th in a time of 87.86 seconds. But the 26-year-old was able to show her true colours in the second qualifying heat, improving by more than 16 seconds to finish 11th in 71.36 seconds. It was one spot outside of making the K1 final, just 0.45 seconds behind the final qualifier.
Given the adversity, Collin was content with her performance.
“I was really proud of the composure I kept coming in,” Collin said.
“I had a bit of a mistake in the first run, so I was really proud to pull it together and put down a second run that was really competitive with the other girls. I’m pretty gutted to have ended up in 16th place and just miss the final. I had a mistake at the top, and I think that definitely was the tiny margin I missed the final by, But it gives me the motivation to come back stronger next year.
“I had a really great week with the amazing Wildwater community and it was really great for Rob and I to be there and working hard.”
