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Van Coller breaks elusive barrier
23 June 2004
Competing in the World Cup in Racice in the Czech Republic over the weekend of 19-20 June, Alan van Coller became the first South African paddler to break the elusive 3 minute 30 second barrier for the 1000m K1, in the process proving that his preparations for the Olympic Games in August are right on track.
The South African sprint specialist recorded back-to-back fourth-place results to finish in among a number of Olympic hopefuls in the both the 500 metre K1 final and the 1 000 metre K1 final.
In the 1 000 metres, Van Coller scorched across the water in three minutes, 29 seconds in favourable conditions to finish just behind reigning world champion Ben Fouhey of New Zealand, and a few paddle strokes short of Australian star Nathan Baggaley.
In the 500m final, he missed out on a medal by three-quarters of a second, finishing less than a boat-length behind Baggaley.
Two South Africans in 500m final
In a
rare feat for South Africa, Shaun Rubenstein also made the 500m final, and finished fifth, a tenth of a second behind Van Coller. It marked the first time since Duisburg in 2000 that South Africa had two paddlers in a World Cup final; on that occasion it was Van Coller and Andrew Blackburn.
Reaching the final is a major milestone for Rubenstein, who at 20 has a long and very promising career ahead of him. It marks his first World Cup A-final, and it came against a very strong field from 30 nations.
"I cannot believe it", said a very excited Rubenstein afterwards. "I am so excited, especially as I was right behind my countryman Alan van Coller."
Van Coller and Rubenstein now travel to Germany for the weekend's Duisburg World Cup Regatta, an event that has become known as the "Wimbledon of Canoeing".
They will join up with the touring South African junior squad, which took part in the Bochum regatta on the weekend. At that event Umkomaas star Marc Holtzhausen
turned in the seventh fastest 1 000m K1 time when the claimed third in the B final. He then teamed up with Jonno Bennett to win the 1 000m K2 B-final, recording the sixth-best time overall.
Summary Of Results
500m A final
1. Erik Larsen (Nor) 1:38,18
2. Adam van Koeverden (Can) 1:38,74
3. Nathan Baggaley (Aus) 1:40,27
4. Alan van Coller (RSA) 1:41,03
5. Shaun Rubenstein (RSA) 1:41,15
6. Steve Ferguson (NZL) 1:41,30
7. Javier Correa (Arg) 1:41,96
8. Egidjius Balciunas (Ltu) 1:42,99
9. Lutz Altepost (Ger) 1:43,44
1000m A final
1. Adam Koeverden (Can) 3:25,84
2. Nathan Baggaley (Aus) 3:27,73
3. Ben Fouhey (NZL) 3:28,66
4. Alan van Coller (RSA) 3:29,92
5. Clint Robinson (Aus) 3:30,71
6. Jan Schafer (Ger) 3:31,09
7. Javier Correa (Arg) 3:33,10
8. Marc Westphalen (Ger) 3:33.67
9. V.Pyreev (Blr) 3:44,50
1000m B final
1. Jernej Zupanic (Slo)
3:36,60
2. Shaun Rubenstein (RSA) 3:37,92
3. Jan Soucek (Cze) 3:41,06
4. Troy Burbridge (NZL) 3:41,36
5. Sebastian Cuattrin (Bra) 3:42,00
6. Andy Bussey (USA) 3:42,10
7. Jaka Jazbek (Slo) 3:44,07
8. Gaicomo Costantini (Ita) 3:44,71
9. Jeff Smoke (USA) 3:44,83
Source: Canoeing South Africa
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Alan van Coller delivered a breakthrough performance at the 2004 World Cup in the Czech Republic |
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