Kiwi Danielle McKenzie produced an outstanding paddle at the ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships in France to bank a richly-deserved gold medal following a dominant display in the open women\u2019s race.<\/p>\n
On another memorable day for New Zealand female paddling, following their recent gold medal success at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, the 2015 world champion Teneale Hatton also grabbed a podium spot to take bronze behind Danielle.<\/p>\n
New Zealand maintained their ongoing medal success in the open women\u2019s division, and have now snared five of the nine medals available at the past three World Championships.<\/p>\n
Competing into a tricky sidewind on the 22km course in Saint-Pierre De Quiberon, Danielle, a Ironwoman specialist competing in only her third surfski race, dominated from the early stages to complete the race in 1:43:48 \u2013 one minute and 20 seconds clear of the defending champion Hayley Nixon of South Africa in silver.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is pretty awesome to win against such a stacked field,\u201d explains Danilelle, who was born and raised on Auckland\u2019s North Shore but is now based in Gold Coast, Australia. \u201cI don\u2019t think it has fully sunk in yet. Ski is my strongest discipline in surf lifesaving and I have wanted to do more surfski competitions. I was heading to Durban, South Africa for an international surf rescue event and when I saw that the World Ocean Racing Championships were in France, and while I was over in this part of the world, I decided to give it a crack.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first 2km I paddled with Teneale, I was feeling really good and then just took off. I had a feeling I was leading, but it was hard to know. The open men, who started two minutes behind, caught up at 7km and I jumped on their line.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I crossed the line all the boys were clapping and cheering me, it was a pretty awesome accomplishment to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danielle also had an additional reason to perform well following the death of her grandad, Bob, from cancer just two days earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always called me his number one granddaughter and always loved hearing of my accomplishments,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was an extra motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danielle is an outstanding all-round athlete. She won a World Championship U19 silver medal in the sport of triathlon, is three-time surf lifesaving world champion and also a successful ironwoman performer.<\/p>\n
Teneale was happy to secure a fourth successive ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championship medal \u2013 2:42 down on Danielle – after a difficult year following surgery in March.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe course was quite challenging and it was a little disconcerting because of the conditions to figure out where to go,\u201d adds the Aucklander, who has also previously won the 2013 U23 gold medal, 2015 open gold and 2017 open bronze medal at these championships. \u201cIt was hard to get into much of a rhythm but I worked hard and I am pleased to come away with a medal.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Zealand\u2019s outstanding strength in depth in women\u2019s surf ski racing was further illustrated as the 2015 World bronze medallist Rachel Clarke claimed eighth \u2013 7:11 behind the gold medal winner.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, New Zealand produced a number of other highly creditable performances on an overcast day in Brittany as Samalulu Clifton placed fifth in the women\u2019s under-23 race. The Aucklander finished 7:55 down on Australia\u2019s gold medal winner Jemma Smith (1:46:59), but it was a top-quality display, which bodes well for the future.<\/p>\n
In the men\u2019s junior race, Australian-based Kiwi Ben Regan also showed great promise to place sixth. Ben completed the 22km distance 9:11 behind South Africa\u2019s race winner Ulvard Hart (1:40:36) and can be proud of his accomplishments.<\/p>\n
South Africa\u2019s Sean Rice (1:34:15) was crowned men\u2019s open champion with Cory Taylor, the top-placed Kiwi, in 16th \u2013 6:54 behind the gold medallist. Taylor\u2019s countryman Sam Mayhew was 32nd (14:49).<\/p>\n
Toby Brooke was the top Kiwi finisher in the men\u2019s under-23 race, placing 16th \u2013 9:11 down on the race winner Joshua Fern of South Africa (1:39:05). New Zealand\u2019s Timothy Waller placed 24th \u2013 11:39 adrift.<\/p>\n
For full race results \u2013 www.canoeicf.com <\/p>\n
Image: Danielle McKenzie on her way to the open women\u2019s title at the ICF Ocean Racing World Championships in Brittany, France <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kiwi Danielle McKenzie produced an outstanding paddle at the ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships in France to bank a richly-deserved gold medal following a dominant display in the open women\u2019s race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Article: Steve Landells <\/em><\/p>\n