After the impressive thunderstorm at the very end of the races yesterday, the sun was back this morning for the 40 athletes running the K1 Women and the 20 in C1 Men.
The U.S. women team took the lead in K1 with Adriene Levknecht (USA) who has been training here for three months before the competition. The 2013 bronze medallist achieved today the best score of 950 thanks to a fantastic Panam move that she was the only one to perform. Her team mates Emily Jackson with her brand new boat and Rowan Stuart respectively squeezed 3rd and 5th positions.
Contender Claire O’Hara (GBR) and local Katie Kowalski will also be part of the ten athletes to go to the semi finals tomorrow.
Nuria Fontane y Maso from Spain achieved the 8th position. The double Junior European Champion and World Junior silver medallist in 2013 said; "Paddling in the wave, and in senior category is a double challenge”.
"It's my first time in Canada but with my brother Joachim we arrived earlier to take the time to practice more in the waves, we also travelled to Uganda to practice a bit more on the Nile River."
"The waves are super big and fast here! If you missed the wave or flush, it's a non-attainable feature so you miss your run and you’re done. It's more pressure for the following runs".
Amina Tayona (UGA) is the only female representative here for her country. She did not qualify for the semi-finals but the crowd was very supportive. She has been paddling for four years only and it was the first time for her competing out of Uganda.
"The waves are super big and fast here! If you missed the wave or flush, it's a non-attainable feature so you miss your run and you’re done. It's more pressure for the following runs".
For the C1M, contenders were Jordan Poffenberger (USA - 2013 gold), Dane Jackson (USA - 2013 bronze), and Sebastian Devred (FRA). Main absentee was Tad Dennis from USA, 2013 silver medallist.
Not surprisingly, Dane Jackson (USA) took the top spot scoring 1263 points after amazing runs and several pistol flips. The three Canadian athletes, Zachery Zwanenburg (863.33 pts with a strong 4th run), Chris McDermott (370 pts) and Vincent Dupont (353.33pts) will advance to the semis.
Sebastien Devred (FRA), finishing 4th scoring 825 pts also competed in K1. He declared "When changing from K1 to C1, I just keep focusing and preparing the same way, whatever the boat."
"I have been here for more than one week to practice; it’s my first time competing in the Ottawa River. The wave is really big and strong with lots of foam pushing you back and it allows no room for any mistakes at all."
The 10 bests from both categories will go to the Semi-finals tomorrow Friday 4th starting at 2pm, 5th day of the Worlds. We will watch K1 Men Quarter-finals at 8am, followed by Junior K1 Women and Junior K1 Men semi-finals and K1 Men semi-finals last.
Full results here: 
women_k1_preliminaries_official_results.pdf c1_men_preliminaries_official_results.pdf
