Jones' season ends on a high

Kayaker Luuka Jones secured New Zealand's best finish at a world canoe slalom championship today, finishing 10th at Deep Creek Lake in the United States.

But it could've been so much better for the 25-year-old, who was ruled to have missed a gate in the 10-boat final after qualifying second-fastest.


Tauranga kayaker Luuka Jones after finishing 10th at the world championships today. Photo: Canoe Slalom NZ.

"I felt good over the entire weekend and it was a shame that one small mistake cost me so much," Jones lamented. "I was having a good run and on one move turned too early for a gate and missed it. I paddled back for it but they still gave me a 50sec penalty. That's the nature of canoe slalom I guess - being a few inches off-line can cost you a lot - but qualifying for the final in second place was a massive highlight."

It's already been a breakthrough year for the Bay of Plenty paddler, becoming the first New Zealander to finish the World Cup circuit ranked in the top-10, with a season-best of 10th in Slovenia in June. Her world championship finish is a huge confidence booster a year out from qualifying for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where Jones hopes to represent New Zealand for the third successive Games.

"It's been a good season for me and it's really nice to finish on a high but I'm definitely looking forward to a bit of a break."

Jones' result capped a great weekend for the small New Zealand contingent, with Mike Dawson also collecting his best world championship result, finishing 12th in the men's K1`.

Dawson was just 1.13secs away from progressing to the top-10 final.

"I'm a bit gutted to have come so close to making the final but overall I'm stoked - this is my best worlds result and it came after a tough start to the year when I had my wrist operated on," Dawson said. "The semifinal course was really technical and particularly tricky and I made a few small mistakes but it was great to lay down a good, solid run in the semifinal of a world championship, on a hard course, under pressure."

Young C1 paddler Ben Gibb also had his best world championship result, finishing 39th, after fighting back from a missed gate in his first run. Shaun Higgins also made positive gains since coming back after his shoulder surgery last year, finishing 45th.

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