Tauranga's Callum Gilbert has qualified second-fastest in the K1 at the ICF junior and Under-23 canoe slalom world championships overnight.
The champs are held in held in Krakow, Poland, and he was one of three New Zealanders to move through to the semifinals on the first day of individual racing on the Kolna slalom course, with fellow Under-23 teammates Kensa Randle and Jack Dangen also making it through qualifying.
Gilbert's effort was easily the highlight, however, as he posted a 93.53sec time - which included a touch and 2sec penalty on Gate 16 - to be just behind leading qualifier and 2018 European K1 champion David Llorente (Spain) and ahead of a clutch of Olympians and world age group champions. It's the third successive year Gilbert has made the Under-23 semifinals.
It has continued Gilbert's positive season, after picking up New Zealand's best K1 men's result - a fifth - at the opening World Cup of the season in London last month.
Dangen, meanwhile, also qualified for the semifinals in his first run, with a 98.45sec effort leaving him 22nd and comfortably inside the top-30 who progressed from the first round. His run included four seconds' worth of penalties, however, and his raw time of 94.45 would've been quick enough for seventh overall.
