Italian sensation Cecilia Pampinella was the fastest in the junior women's 100m sprint, qualifying for the semi-finals in 31.06, as the event made its debut at the 2024 International Canoe Federation Stand Up Paddle World Championships in Sarasota.
Four heats took place in the category, with the top four in each going through.
Spaniards Alexia Soto and Amelia Morel finished first in two of them. The former recorded a time of 32.86, second-fastest overall, while Morel crossed the line in 33.02.
Skadi Langbein of Germany won the last heat, clocking 32.93. Italy finished strongly, with three from the country joining Pampinella in the semi-finals.
Japan, Greece, Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, and Czechia will all have representatives vying for a spot in the final.
Main draw athletes were determined in the open men's category as Spanish star and European bronze medallist Manuel Hoyuela finished quickest in the preliminary round two.
Big names in Noic Garioud of France and Denmark's Christian Andersen also qualified, but the duo were not the fastest in the field.
View this post on Instagram
Garioud won his heat in 24.86, but Brazilian David Leao pipped the Dane to first place in their race. Leao clocked 23.99 while Andersen came second in 25.24.
Brazilian Arthur Santacreu, a world bronze medallist in the 200m sprint in 2019, won the first heat in the category by getting the better of Spain's Fernando Perez Serra in 25.32.
Olivier Drolet of Canada, Bastian Grimm of Germany, Spaniard Anton Sans and Puerto Rico's Ricardo Avila finished first in the other preliminary-round races in Florida.
The masters over 40 men's sprint races saw the quarter-final line-ups confirmed on day one. After seven heats, Japan's Ryohei Yoshida finished fastest, with an impressive 27.46 to beat Argentinian Francisco Giusti, who had the next best time of 27.84. Tim Oliver of Canada was third-fastest overall in 28.80.
Edith Turcotte led from the front in the masters over 40 women's sprint races, qualifying for the semi-finals in 34.03. After four heats, Giannisa Vecco of Peru in 34.19, Ariel Amaral of Canada in 34.66 and Juliana Gonzalez in 35.10 all finished first in their respective races.
Penny Tsaoutou of Greece impressed the most in the masters over 50 women's 100m, finishing first in her heats in 35.37 to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The top six from the five heats have all secured a place in the next round, with Israeli Diva Hatami finishing second fastest in 35.70.
View this post on Instagram
Lisa Champion of Canada emerged victorious in heat three in 35.76, while compatriot Wendy Tillet in 36.31 and Ana Little of Great Britain in 36.20 were the other two winners.
It was a great start for the hosts in the masters over 50 men's 100m heats, with two Americans in the top three from eight heats.
Packet Casey in 28.34 and Steve Miller in 29.94 will be joined by second-fastest Peter Weidert of Germany, who clocked 28.52 to reach the quarter-finals.
The other athletes who won their respective heats are Czechia's Jaroslav Soukup, Argentina's Rodrigo Cason, Canadian Chris Stringer, another American in Eric Carter and Benoit Sfiligoi of France.
Pictures by Romain Bruneau.
Related links
