The Cook Islands made its debut at the Canoe Sprint World Championships in Halifax Canada. Joshua Utanga lined up in Heat 3 of the K1 1000m and automatically qualified for the semi finals by finishing 6th in his heat which also saw the New Zealander Steven Ferguson finish 2nd. He flew out to Canada after returning from Romania where he participated in the International Canoeing Federation Talent Identification Camp
In his first ever competitive canoe sprint race the 21 year old was elated by his first up effort, "I'm pretty stoked to have made it through but I certainly know where the bar is with so many great paddlers here."
Although disappointed not to break the four minutes he knows there is a lot of improvement to come "I was pretty happy with how things went in the race but I am determined to get my time down under 4 minutes in the semis."
One of the experiences of the race was the noise generated by the crowds at the championships, 'I could hear the crowd cheering about 300metres from the finish and it was unbelievable the closer I got to the finish line to the point where I could not hear myself think". The Cook Islander is also drawing support from the local crowds" Bit of surprise to hear people cheering for the Cook Islands but it was great"
Today he lines up in the Men's K1 100m semi finals and the Men's K1 200m heats. We await further results.
Congratulations Joshua and best of luck for your semi finals.
Last Modified on 20/08/2009 04:15