The 5^th International Kayak Regatta in Cyprus yielded excellent results from local athletes who competed in the sprint races last weekend.  The sprint races, held in Yermasogia Dam, attracted athletes from Hungary, Serbia,Czech Repulic, Greece and Malta alongside a number of Cypriot canoeists.

Veteran Gerald Degaetano set the bar for the Maltese team after placing fourth in the senior Mens 1000m sprint race.  Despite only training in an Olympic kayak for 9 months, DeGaetano maintained his pace with a close finish behind Michalis Kyriakou who placed third.  First place went to Manos Manoli (Cyp) whilst Michl Pavel (Cze) placed second. No times were taken for this race.

DeGaetano's spirit spilled over into the women and junior 1000m's and the national records were tumbling the Maltese team consistently putting themselves in the medal zone time and again. Nicola Borg Costanzi stepped up the pace to snatch the silver medal in a personal best time and new national record of 4.56.20 being the first Maltese athlete to capture an international sprint medal behind heavyweight Serbia’s Nikolina Moldovin who crossed the finish line with 4.40.45.  Borg Costanzi provied you can turn a marathon paddler into an effective sprinter and with a little more polish the potential to really rock the ladies podium.

With the Maltese camp on form and doing better than ever expected the young and promising athlete, Matthew Schembri fought off the attentions of far more experienced international paddlers for 4^th place in the juniors 1000m race that was so close it went to a photo finish. This hard won place however earned him an outstanding time and new national record of 4.29.56, proof that hours and hours of dedicated training do pay off.  First and second place went to Hungarian’s Dudas Miklos and Hufnagel Tibor sprinted to the finish line with 354.78 and 3.57.55 respectively.  3^rd place went to Daniel Hofman (Cze) who finished at 3.58.06

The 500m races meant athletes had to fight even harder to get ahead.  Degaetano fought against heavy competition and finished with a respectable time of 2.28.25.  First place went to Tahmatzin Hooten (Cyp) 2.02.32, second to Michl Pavel (Cze) 2.03.28 and Manos Manoli (Cyp) 2.04.15.

In the senior women’s race, Serbian Moldoven and Hungarian Alexandra Georgopoulou shot to the lead both fighting for first place whilst Borg Costanzi was in third place from the start.  It was Moldoven who took the gold with a time of 2.34.43, whilst Georgopoulou took silver with 2.35.46.  Nicki fought off the rest of the field to go home with the bronze medal, to keep her silver company, finishing with a time of 2.47.86

Perhaps one of the closest races of the day was the Juniors 500m sprint.  As the athletes took off, it was anyone’s guess who would finish first.  After waiting for the officials to confirm the placings, Matthew Schembri only just missed out on a place on the podium after crossing the finish line with a time of 2.07.  First place went to Hufnafel who finished with 2.02.88, second to Dudas who finished two seconds behind with 2.04.16 and Hofman at third place with 2.05.96

The last distance of the day was the 200m sprint which, without a doubt, was the fastest and hardest distance.  In the senior women’s category, Moldovan and Georgopoulou once again dominated the race finishing at 48.12 and 50.99 respectively.  Avgoustinou snapped up third place with a time of 1.02.90 whilst Borg Costanzi finished fourth with a time of 1.05.07.

The men’s category saw both Chris Camilleri and Matthew Schembri duke it out against some kayak heavyweights.  Camilleri was unable to give it his all as he was in a borrowed kayak far too small and could not bring the power through the boat, placing 7^th with 48.26 followed by Schembri with 49.63. First place went to Pavel – 44.27, followed by Hofman- 44.63 and Tahmatzin who finished third with 44.98.

The last race of the day, the men’s 200m K2 sprint proved to be the closest finish of the event.  Although Schembri is a junior, he teamed up with Camilleri, both of whom proved a force to be reckoned with, although they had not been training in K2's recently.  As Hungary took the lead with 38.58, it was a close call for the rest of the places as the kayaks were neck and neck.  In the end, it was the Czech’s who finished second with 42.28 whilst the Cypriot Manoli brothers took third with 43.13.  Camilleri and Schembri came in a few split seconds later with a time of 43.33

The Cyprus Canoe Federation organizes these races on an annual basis with the aim of allowing athletes from numerous countries to compete on a respectable level.  As results show, Maltese athletes prove to be competitive in these races which have allowed them to test themselves against their foreign counterparts and the team left Cyprus well respected by their fellow international elite athletes.

Special thanks goes to the Cyprus Canoe Federation for hosting the event and inviting the Maltese national racing team, the Malta Canoe Federation and especially the Malta Olympic Committee for its unwavering support and confidence in the national kayak team.