KEY POINTS:
Olympic silver medallist Ben Fouhy made an encouraging return to form with a second placing at the World Cup canoeing regatta at Gerardmer, in France, yesterday.
And K2 1000m pair Steven Ferguson and Mike Walker, building on a solid effort in Hungary a fortnight ago, achieved a third placing, their first podium finish.
Fouhy, world champion in 2003, made a grim start to his world championship campaign in Hungary, doing no better than making the C final in his specialist K1 1000m event.
But yesterday he clocked 3m 34.68s, crossing just .36s behind Canadian Adam van Kouverden, and 1.34s ahead of Olympic champion Eirik Veras Larsen.
"Today was a much better day for me coming second," he said.
Fouhy, who won both his heat and semifinal, admitted his times in training had been modest but Gerardmer represented a significant step up.
Ferguson and Walker clocked 3m 17.18s in finishing behind two German crews, and 1.82s behind winners Andreas Ihle and Rupert Wagner.
In their semifinal, Ferguson and Walker actually recorded a quicker time, 3m 16.03s, in winning their race than Ihle and Wagner did in winning the other semi, 3m 17.18s.
Women's quartet Anne Cairns, Connie Richards, Agnes Szabo and Erin Taylor were fourth in the K4 500m final in 1m 37.26s, 4s behind winner Germany.
The New Zealand squad head home to prepare for the world championships - which double as an Olympic qualifying regatta for Beijing next year - in Duisberg, Germany, in August.
