Ward and Purchase aim for gold

AS Jenna Ward and Kyeta Purchase pack their bags for the trip to Brandenburg, Germany, their sole aim is to bring home medals from the 2016 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships which takes place from 16 to 18 September.
The Durban North based pair have every intention of racing onto the podium this weekend, and winning their respective U23 women’s and junior women’s K1 clashes outright.

“No one goes to a World Championships not wanting to win. I definitely want to do better than the two U23 bronzes I’ve won at the past two Worlds, but the main aim is most definitely gold. Kyeta is also so incredibly talented and having gone to worlds for the first time last year and finished fourth without any experience – I just can’t see any other junior girl in the world being faster than her,” Ward said.

Ward draws added comfort from Germany and South Africa sharing the same time zone as well as the double U23 bronze medalist having experienced the Brandenburg course once previously.

“Not having to deal with much East-West travel is a real bonus for us plus we’re heading to Germany nice and early this year so even if we are a little tired from the travels, we’ve got plenty of time to recover fully before race day.”

While their respective K1 events remain their top priority, Ward and Purchase’s combination in the Senior Women’s K2 clash is another element of the trip the pair are looking forward to.

“We’re definitely focusing on our K1 races first and foremost. We’ve spent a lot of time together in a K2 over the past 18 months or so and really combine well together in the boat. We got a fifth in the same race last year in Hungary so it would be great to better that this time around and if all can go well for us on the day then perhaps we could even podium.”