Kayaking: Lisa Carrington remains on course for triple assault at canoe racing world championships

Lisa Carrington, Aimee Fisher, Kayla Imrie and Caitlin Ryan in action. Photo / Photosport

New Zealand enjoyed a successful day two of the 2019 Kayaking World Championships in Szeged, Hungary with a series of impressive performances, led by their top-quality women's K4 500m crew.

Lining up in the third and final heat, the crew of Lisa Carrington, Kayla Imrie, Aimee Fisher and Caitlin Ryan were chasing top spot to secure an automatic passage to Sunday's A final, bypassing a semifinal.

Dominant from the first few strokes, the Kiwis built on their early advantage and claimed a comprehensive win in 1:29.00, finishing 2.62 clear of second placed France, with China third.

Defending world champions Hungary, who pipped New Zealand to gold by just 0.01 at the 2018 world championships, took out the second semifinal in 1:29.06.

Belarus were the fastest crew to advance to the A Final, winning heat one in 1:28.58.

In the women's K2 500m, the new Kiwi combination of Alicia Hoskin and Caitlin Ryan produced an impressive display to advance to the A final.

Hoskin, 19, was making her open world championship debut but seemed unfazed by the occasion, competing alongside the experienced Ryan, who 12 months ago won a world championship silver in this event,.

New Zealand placed third in the morning heats, ahead of a semi final where they were chasing one of the three automatic qualification spots for the A final.

Making an aggressive start, the Kiwi K2 boat reached the halfway checkpoint in third, and over the final 250m Hoskin and Ryan maintained their form and composure to bank third spot in 1:38.93 – 2.15secs behind the world-class Belarus.

The final will take place on Saturday night (NZT).

On day one Scott Martlew impressed to win his semi-final in his speciality KL2 200m event and on the second day the Cantabrian also caught the eye in his secondary event – the VL3 200m, to place second in the B Final.

There was also joy for Quaid Thompson, who qualified for the semi-finals of the men's K1 1000m, with a fifth placing in his heat.

The Gisborne-based paddler stopped the clock in a personal best time 3:32.52.

On day three, which begins on Friday evening (NZT), Carrington returns to the water in the heats of the K1 500m and also takes her place in the semi-finals of the K1 200m.

Max Brown and Kurtis Imrie make their open world championship debuts in the heats of the men's K2 1000m, while Thompson competes in his semi-final of the men's K1 1000m.