Swiss kayaker Michael Kurt has won the New Zealand Open canoe slalom K1 title for the second consecutive year, beating a star-studded field of international paddlers on the Mangahao River near Palmerston North today.
Kurt, ranked seventh in the world, posted a clean run in the 10-boat men's final, recording a time of 91.74secs. He was just 0.36 secs ahead of Fabian Doerfler (Germany), with Canadian John Hastings a further 0.94 secs back in third. Top Kiwi Mike Dawson picked up two 2sec penalties in the final to drop him back to seventh, with a time of 97.95secs.
Young Czech star Karolina Galuskova narrowly beat Kiwi Olympian Luuka Jones for the women's title, with the 17-year-old posting a time of 111.48secs. Jones was just 1.39secs adrift, with third place going to Tauranga-raised Ella Nicholas, who has also qualified an Olympic place for the Cook Islands.
In the C1 category, top Argentinian Sebastian Rossi and Australian Ian Borrows went head-to-head, with Borrows grabbing the title by 1.27secs. Tauranga's Shaun Travers was the best of the locals in third, 8.19secs behind the winner.
Results:
